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
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Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 186th session
(Bangkok, 1 April 2010)
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, all members of the National Assembly of Lebanon who were assassinated, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/186/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 185th session (October 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; 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,
Noting that no response from the Lebanese parliamentary authorities has been forthcoming,
- Regrets the lack of response of the parliamentary authorities to its repeated requests for information; stresses the importance it attaches to dialogue with the authorities and, in particular, with parliament with a view to advancing towards a satisfactory settlement of the cases before it;
- Reaffirms in this respect its belief that the National Assembly has a special responsibility to ensure that the murderers are identified and held to account in this case in which, in the past 12 months, the Lebanese authorities have borne prime responsibility for the pursuit of justice;
- Is therefore concerned at the absence of any information on file showing that the National Assembly has indeed taken a serious interest in the case; reiterates therefore its wish to receive details as to whether the Parliament is monitoring the investigations and has associated itself, as in the case of Mr. Tueni, with the court action by the public prosecutor in the other three cases; also reiterates its wish to ascertain the stage reached in the investigations and progress made towards identifying the alleged culprits;
- Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent parliamentary and judicial authorities of 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 123rd IPU Assembly (October 2010).
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