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...
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PRESS REVIEW

February 24, 2010 - Naharnet - Syria Threatens to Try Lebanese Officials in Absentia over Sayyed's Case if They Don't Show Up In Damascus Court

Syria has threatened to try Lebanese political and security officials in absentia over a lawsuit filed against them three months ago by former head of Lebanon's General Security Jamil Sayyed.

The threat came in a formal letter sent by Syrian judicial authorities to the Lebanese judiciary asking about the fate of the summoning orders issued three months ago against a number of Lebanese political and security officials.

A statement issued by Sayyed's press office, said the letter, a copy of which was made available to Sayyed's attorney in Damascus, reaffirmed the "need to inform them (sued persons) to appear before the first investigating judge in Damascus."

The letter stressed that "if Lebanese authorities insist on not responding, the defendants will then be informed through a notice posted on the Justice Palace bulletin board in Damascus in line with norms, after which we will go ahead with the case in absentia, including the prosecution of defendants in absentia."

Legal expert Shafiq al-Masri, however, said diplomatic norms should be taken into account.

He told al-Akhbar in remarks published Wednesday that the orders of summonos in Sayyed's case should go through diplomatic channels, and not directly via court.

Sayyed accused Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar of putting the the orders of summons on hold.

The daily al-Akhbar on Wednesday said both Mirza and Najjar declined comment.

It said MP Marwan Hamadeh and police chief Ashraf Rifi also refused to comment.

Hamadeh, who is also a former Cabinet minister, is among the officials included in the order of summons.

The others are:

- Former Cabinet ministers Charles Rizk and Hasan Sabah
- Ex-MP Elias Atallah
- Judges Saeed Mirza, Saqr Saqr and Elias Eid
- Police chief Ashraf Rifi as well as police officers Samir Shehadeh, Hossam al-Tannoukhi and Khaled Hammoud
- Retired army Brig. Gen. Mohammed Farshoukh
- Journalist Fares Khashan, Hani Hammoud, Omar Harqous, Abdel-Salam Moussa, Ayman Sharrouf, Hasan Sabra, Zahra Badran, Nadim al-Munla, Hamid al-Gheryafi and Nuhad al-Ghadry
- Former ambassador Johnny Abdo
- Lebanese citizen Adnan al-Baba
- Two witnesses in the case Murad Akram, Ibrahim Jarjoura

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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