LEBANON
CASE N° LEB/01 - GIBRAN TUENI
CASE N° LEB/02 - WALID EIDO
CASE N° LEB/03 - ANTOINE GHANEM
CASE N° LEB/04 - PIERRE GEMAYEL |
Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 185th session
(Geneva, 21 October 2009)
The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Referring to the case of Mr. Gibran Tueni, Mr. Walid Eido, Mr. Antoine Ghanem and Mr. Pierre Gemayel, members of the National Assembly of Lebanon, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/185/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 184th session (April 2009),
Recalling the following:
- Mr. Tueni, Mr. Eido, Mr. Ghanem and Mr. Gemayel were all outspoken critics of the Syrian Arab Republic and its allies in Lebanon and were all killed between 2005 and 2007 in car-bomb attacks, except for Mr. Gemayel, who was gunned down;
- Following Mr. Tueni's assassination, the National Assembly associated itself with the court action taken by the public prosecutor in his case,
Recalling that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon entrusted with trying those responsible for Mr. Hariri's assassination started its work in March 2009, that it may decide to examine other attacks that took place in Lebanon between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005, and that crimes committed after 12 December 2005 may be eligible for inclusion in the Tribunal’s jurisdiction should it be so decided by the Government of Lebanon and the United Nations, and with the consent of the Security Council,
Considering that on 29 April 2009 the Special Tribunal ordered the release of the four Lebanese generals who had been in the custody of the Lebanese authorities since September 2005 in connection with Mr. Hariri's assassination,
Bearing in mind that Lebanon is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is thus bound to guarantee the right to life,
- Observes that, as long as the Special Tribunal does not examine the cases at hand, it falls to the Lebanese authorities to take full charge of the investigations and proceedings to ensure justice;
- Trusts therefore that the authorities are making every effort to identify and prosecute those who murdered the parliamentarians concerned; wishes to ascertain the stage reached in the investigations and progress made towards identifying the presumed culprits;
- Reaffirms that the National Assembly has a special responsibility for and interest in ensuring that justice is done in this case; regrets therefore that the Speaker of the National Assembly has not responded to its request for information on steps taken by parliament to monitor the investigations and to associate itself, as in the case of Mr. Tueni, with the court action by the public prosecutor in the other three cases; eagerly awaits receipt of such particulars;
- Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent parliamentary and judicial authorities of Lebanon, to the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and to the source;
- Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 122nd IPU Assembly (March-April 2010).
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