This blog of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) aims at granting the public opinion access to all information related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon : daily press review in english, french and arabic ; UN documents, etc...

Ce blog du
Centre Libanais des droits humains (CLDH) a pour objectif de rendre accessible à l'opinion publique toute l'information relative au Tribunal Spécial pour le Liban : revue de presse quotidienne en anglais, francais et arabe ; documents onusiens ; rapports, etc...
.

PRESS REVIEW

February 25, 2009 - Naharnet - Mehlis Has Evidence of Lebanese, Syrian Involvement in Hariri Murder


Detlev Mehlis, former head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, said that he has a "very clear picture" of the murder, stressing he has evidence of Lebanese and Syrian involvement in the bombing attack.
"The picture is quite clear in my mind," Mehlis said in an interview published by pan-Arab daily Al Hayat on Wednesday. "I have a very clear picture" of Hariri's assassination. Hariri was killed along with 22 other people in a massive bombing that ripped through his motorcade in Beirut's seaside Ein Mreisseh district Feb. 14, 2005. Mehlis said he was looking forward to the day when fingers are pointed in the face of those who commit these crimes. Mehlis assured that the crime was not exclusively committed by Lebanese nationals, but also by non-Lebanese, adding he has evidence that Lebanese and Syrian security service members have "played a role" in Hariri's assassination. He said the investigative team had identified the suspects – the four Lebanese generals, adding that the U.N. commission together with the Lebanese had also pinpointed additional suspects on suspicion of involvement in preparing the murder. The German investigator said he was looking forward to the day when fingers are pointed in the face of those who commit these crimes. He ruled out any compromise on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which will start functioning in The Hague March 1. Mehlis believed that the main thing that could hurt the tribunal is lengthy trials. On the four Lebanese generals detained since 2005 on charges of involvement in the Hariri murder, Mehlis said: "Legally … they should be handed over to the court." He recalled that the generals had been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the Hariri assassination. "As far as I know, they remained in prison for a period of three years after I left for this very reason," Mehlis told Al Hayat. He said he strictly believes that it is the responsibility of the Office of Public Prosecution and the Court to decide the fate of the four generals, who include former presidential guard chief Mustafa Hamdan, the former head of the general security department Jamil Sayyed, Ali Hajj, who was internal security forces chief, and the former head of army intelligence Raymond Azar. Mehlis said Lebanese authorities have the "power to act" to make decisions regarding the detained generals and others arrested in connection with Hariri's killing until the day they are handed over to the court. He said among the two most important conclusions he had reached with his team was that those involved in the murder belonged to an organized group which has extensive resources and capabilities.

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Background - خلفية

On 13 December 2005 the Government of the Lebanese Republic requested the UN to establish a tribunal of an international character to try all those who are alleged responsible for the attack of 14 february 2005 that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. The United Nations and the Lebanese Republic consequently negotiated an agreement on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Liens - Links - مواقع ذات صلة

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, David Schenker , March 30, 2010 . Beirut Spring: The Hariri Tribunal Goes Hunting for Hizballah


Frederic Megret, McGill University, 2008. A special tribunal for Lebanon: the UN Security Council and the emancipation of International Criminal Justice


International Center for Transitional Justice Handbook on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, April 10, 2008


United Nations
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 19 Sept 2007
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 27 Mars 2008


Département d'Etat américain
* 2009 Human Rights report
* 2008 Human Rights report
* 2007 Human Rights report
* 2006 Human Rights report
* 2005 Human Rights report



ICG - International Crisis Group
The Hariri Tribunal: Separate the Political and the Judicial, 19 July, 2007. [Fr]


HCSS - Hague Centre for strategic studies
Hariri, Homicide and the Hague


Human Rights Watch
* Hariri Tribunal can restore faith in law, 11 may 2006
* Letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, april 27, 2006


Amnesty International
* STL insufficient without wider action to combat impunity
* Liban : le Tribunal de tous les dangers, mai 2007
* Jeu de mecano


Courrier de l'ACAT - Wadih Al Asmar
Le Tribunal spécial pour le Liban : entre espoir et inquiétude


Georges Corm
La justice penale internationale pour le Liban : bienfait ou malediction?


Nadim Shedadi and Elizabeth Wilmshurt, Chatham House
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon : the UN on Trial?, July 2007


Issam Michael Saliba, Law Library of Congress
International Tribunals, National Crimes and the Hariri Assassination : a novel development in International Criminal Law, June 2007


Mona Yacoubian, Council on Foreign Relations
Linkages between Special UN Tribunal, Lebanon, and Syria, June 1, 2007