MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2008

Press Release - Hariri case

UN Declares as Arbitrary the Detention of Four Officers and Four Civilians in Hariri Case Almost a year ago, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) with the support of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) submitted a formal request to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention a group of independent experts for its opinion on the detention of eight individuals in the Hariri case. The answer of the UN Working Group is unambiguous: This is an instance of a Category III arbitrary detention. Once again, the Lebanese judiciary and government have been repudiated. The deprivation of freedom of Jamil El Sayed, Moustapha Hamdane, Raymond Azar, Ali El Haj, Ayman Tarabay, Moustapha Talal Mesto, Ahmad Abdel Aal et Mahmoud Abdel Aal is arbitrary in that it contravenes the provisions of Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Lebanon is a party, and it falls under Category III among those categories that are applicable to the consideration of cases submitted to the Working Group. Having expressed this opinion, the Working Group urges the government to take the necessary measures to remedy the situation of these individuals in accordance with the norms and principles set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. CLDH is dismayed at the prolonged inaction by the Lebanese judiciary insofar as the individuals who are the subject of the UN Working Groups opinion remain in detention. We therefore request: Their immediate release if no further charges are brought against them. The initiation of an independent inquiry to determine the reasons for which, in spite of our continued warnings, the Lebanese government persisted in violating international law in a case slated to be prosecuted before an international tribunal which will under no

circumstance be able to ignore this opinion. To take immediate notice of the other two opinions issued by the UN Working Group concerning Youssef Chaabane and Nehmet El Hajj and their regaining of their rights. To aspire to the rule of law cannot materialize without Lebanons adherence to its international obligations and without a scrupulous respect for human rights. These adherence and respect must be impartial and indiscriminate, blind to any political, racial, religious or ethnic consideration. Those are our principles. We would have much preferred that the Lebanese government and judiciary carry out their duties with the full respect of those principles. As long as they fail to do so, we will continue to remind them of that fact. Beirut, January 21, 2008

Beirut - On February 14, 2005 a huge blast rocked Beirut's seaside area, killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 other. The massive blast returned Lebanon to the world's headlines. A week after his death, and following massive demonstrations on the streets of Beirut, a formal investigation by the United Nations was launched to find the culprits. The assassination provoked a domestic and international outcry, with suggestions that Syria was behind the killing. The pressure forced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw the country's troops from Lebanon, ending nearly three decades of military presence in its smaller neighbour. Syria has always denied charges that it had killed Hariri. What follows are key dates in the UN investigation: April 7, 2005: The UN Security Council sets up the International Independent Investigation Commission after a UN fact-finding mission concludes that Lebanon's investigation is seriously flawed, with evidence having been planted and tampered with. October 21, 2005: Detlev Mehlis, the first chief UN investigator, submits reports to the Security Council alleging that senior Lebanese and Syrian intelligence figures were involved in the assassination. Syria categorically denies the reports, saying they are politicized. October 23, 2005: Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son and now Lebanon's prime minister, calls for the establishment of an international tribunal.

August 30, 2005: Four high-level Lebanese intelligence and security officers, once part of the pro-Syrian government, are arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination. They are Raymond Azar, the former chief of military intelligence, Jamil Sayyid, the former chief of general security, Ali al-Hajj, the former chief of internal security forces, and Mustafa Hamdan, the former chief of the presidential guards. May 30, 2007: A Security Council Resolution authorizes the establishment of an international tribunal - the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). November 2008: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the tribunal will begin proceedings on March 1, 2009 in the Hague. February 24, 2009: Robin Vincent, the tribunal's registrar, says it is possible for heads of states to be brought to the tribunal and that the prosecutor general will have to decide whether to do so. April 29, 2009: The tribunal orders the release of the four Lebanese generals, held without charge since 2005 in connection with the death of Hariri. May 23, 2009: German Magazine Der Spiegel reveals a link between Hezbollah and the assassination of Hariri. Der Spiegel's report, based on unnamed sources, said some of the mobile phones, used exclusively for calls among the alleged assassins at the site of the Hariri murder, belonged to Hezbollah operatives. July 22, 2010: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says he expects members of his movement to be indicted by STL. The comment raises tension in the country. August 9, 2010: Nasrallah implicates Israel for the murder, saying he has evidence of Israel's participation in the bomb blast and shows reporters a tape of Israeli surveillance planes over the area where Hariri was killed. September 6, 2010: Saad Hariri, in an interview with the Saudi newspaper al Sharq al Awsat, says he was wrong to accuse Syria of killing his father and says the charge against Damascus were politically motivated. September 22, 2010 - The Lebanese premier backs the UN tribunal's efforts to find the truth about his father's death. October 10, 2010: Nasrallah asks Lebanon to boycott the UN tribunal because it is an Israeli project and announces that his movement will not hand over any of its members if indicted. November 7, 2010: Media reports suggest the STL may indict between two and eight members of Hezbollah by the end of the year. November 12, 2010: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that political tension in Lebanon has increased markedly ahead of the expected indictments.

November 16, 2010: Syrian and Saudi officials start efforts to contain any repercussions from the expected UN indictments against Hezbollah. November 23, 2010: A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) report cites fresh evidence linking Hezbollah operatives with Hariri's assassination. November 29, 2010: In a televised speech, Nasrallah warns rival factions that it might be already too late to avoid a political crisis once indictments are issued.
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