April 12, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Simply not good enough

This week, on April 13, Lebanon commemorates the 35th anniversary of the start of the 15-year civil war, a conflict that, between 1975 and 1990, destroyed one of the region’s most vibrant and prosperous societies. The fighting exposed a carefree Lebanon’s fundamental weaknesses, and while the country’s infrastructure has almost been rehabilitated and its pre-war reputation as a center for banking, leisure and entertainment restored, many psychological scars of the conflict remain.

One wound in particular will not heal. It is the fate of thousands of Lebanese who went missing during the fighting – either abducted by rival militias or taken by the Israeli or Syrian security services – and who are either presumed, but not confirmed, dead, or who are thought to be still rotting in a forgotten jail cell.

The official figure puts their number at 17,000, and it is an issue that resonates on many levels. For the families, there is the obvious pain of not knowing, of not having closure on the fate of a loved one; but there are also legal ramifications: If a person is not officially declared dead, it throws up all sorts of inheritance and financial issues that compound what is already extreme grief.

Relations between Beirut and Damascus have thawed in recent months. The easing in tensions now offers a chance to achieve genuine cooperation on determining the fate of the roughly 600 or so Lebanese from all confessions, as well as Palestinians, whose last known whereabouts were thought to be Syrian custody. The 600, whose names have been presented to the Lebanese government on an official list by SOLIDE (Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile), were detained at various points during Syria’s 29-year “presence” in Lebanon, either by the Syrian army, its militia allies or the mukhabarat, the secret police. According to SOLIDE, half of those on the list are thought to still be alive.

There is no doubt that many hundreds of Lebanese were taken to Syria. What is unknown is what happened to them. It is a question that only the Syrian regime can answer. Until now, Syria has never confirmed that it has any Lebanese detainees in its jails, or disclosed any information on the fate of the people on the list.

This is simply not good enough. Syria has an international obligation to come clean on their fate, and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is scheduled to travel to Damascus in the coming weeks, should make any proposed bilateral relations conditional on resolving this highly emotive issue. Indeed, it is imperative that all senior Lebanese leaders, including President Michel Sleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and even Michel Aoun – many of whose supporters were the target of the Syrian intelligence apparatus – make it their national duty to also force some kind of transparency on the matter.

There is no doubt that the issue of border demarcation is important, but stressing Lebanon’s sovereignty at a time when the gains of 2005 appear to be slipping away as each day goes by is too, and the careful diplomatic tightrope that must be walked in this period of regional flux must not be ignored.

But neither must the fate of the disappeared. Redoubled efforts would offer hope to all those Lebanese families who live every day wondering where their son, daughter, mother, father, brother or sister may be right now, still clinging onto a feeble thread of hope that they are still alive. Those touched by death can move on; the pain stays, but they have had closure. For the hundreds who still live in ignorance, every day is a living death.

Let us not sweep them to one side.