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 189th session
(Bern, 19 October 2011)
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/189/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 188th session (April 2011),
Taking into account the communication from the Prosecutor General of Lebanon, dated 2 September 2011,
Recalling the following:
- Mr. Tueni, Mr. Eido, Mr. Ghanem and Mr. Gemayel were all outspoken parliamentarians and were 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 the case;
- A Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up by the United Nations and the State of Lebanon to try those responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was murdered in a car-bomb explosion on 25 February 2005, and started its work in March 2009,
Recalling that, under certain conditions as specified in its Statute, the Special Tribunal may establish jurisdiction in other situations, including in the cases of the four murdered parliamentarians; considering nevertheless that, as stated by the Prosecutor General of Lebanon, the investigations into the four cases remained for the time being in the hands of the Lebanese authorities, had been assigned to different judges and were ongoing,
Considering that on 28 June 2011 a pretrial judge of the Special Tribunal confirmed an indictment which its Prosecutor had previously submitted in relation to Mr. Hariri’s assassination; the then confidential indictment and accompanying arrest warrants were transmitted to the Lebanese authorities on 30 June 2011; on 9 August 2011 they reported back that no one had been arrested; on 17 August 2011, the Pretrial Judge ordered that the indictment, which concerns four named individuals, be made public,
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,
- Thanks the Prosecutor General for his communication and for his cooperation;
- Is nevertheless concerned that it gives no indication that concrete progress is being made, almost six years after the first murder, towards holding those responsible to account;
- Can but consider in this regard that the Lebanese authorities’ failure to implement thus far the recent arrest warrants of the Special Tribunal raises questions about the effectiveness of their fight against impunity in the cases of the four parliamentarians which, along with the murder of Prime Minister Hariri, are part of a string of assassinations of high-profile political politicians that started in 2005;
- Affirms that, as with the murder of Mr. Hariri, so long as those who killed the four parliamentarians remain at large, their murder serves as a deterrent for others wishing to speak out on critical issues and emboldens those bent on silencing such voices, and thus undermines freedom of expression;
- Trusts that the authorities are, as is their duty, doing everything possible to elucidate these crimes and hold the culprits to account; eagerly awaits therefore information on the stage reached in the investigations into the cases of the four parliamentarians and as to whether any suspects have been identified and apprehended;
- Regrets the continued absence of information from the National Assembly, which has a special responsibility in a case concerning the murder of four of its members, on any action taken to ensure that justice is done; calls again on the National Assembly to be guided by initiatives that other parliaments have taken in exercising their oversight responsibility in similar situations, including by entrusting one of their committees with or creating a special mechanism for regularly monitoring the investigation into the case of the murder of one of their members; eagerly awaits the views of the parliamentary authorities on this matter, along with information on any specific steps already taken in this case, including a decision by the National Assembly to associate itself, as in the case of Mr. Tueni, with the court action by the public prosecutor in the other three cases and the outcome of such an association;
- Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent parliamentary and judicial authorities of Lebanon;
- Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 126th IPU Assembly (March/April 2012).
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