Human rights of Lebanese prisoners – CHR – Summary records (excerpts)

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Fifty-fifth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 18th MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,

on Tuesday, 6 April 1999, at 6 p.m.

Chairperson:    Mr. BAUMANIS  ……………………………….  (Latvia)                   

CONTENTS

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, INCLUDING:

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This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages.  They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record.  They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Commission at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The meeting was called to order at 6.10 p.m.

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78. Ms. BECHARA (Nord_Sud XXI) said that she had been freed from Khiam prison on 3 September 1998 after 10 years in captivity, including six in solitary confinement.  Since 1978, Israel had constantly invaded Lebanon in an attempt to occupy ever more territory, massacring men, women and children as at Sabra, Shatila and Qana, and using weapons forbidden by the international community.  The Israeli military coerced the population in the south and the western Bekaa valley to collaborate or leave their homes, and forcibly enrolled children as young as 14 in the army of their lackey, Antoine Lahd.

79. Detainees in Khiam prison could be held for years without ever being brought before a court.  Some were just 15 years old, others were mothers who had been separated from their children.  One detainee, Souleiman Ramadhan, had been held for 14 years and had had a gangrenous leg amputated.  Among the prisoners held in Israeli prisons after being sentenced by kangaroo courts were some who had been in detention for 20 years.  Others had been held since the age of 15 or had remained in prison for up to seven years after finishing their sentences. The Commission should condemn the Israeli occupation and demand that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon in accordance with Security Council resolution 425 (1978).  It should call for the closure of Khiam prison, the existence of which was a violation of international law, demand the immediate release of all Lebanese detainees held there and in Israeli prisons, and condemn the decision handed down by the Israeli Supreme Court on 5 March 1998, which attempted to legitimize the detention of Lebanese citizens in Israel with a view to using them as bargaining chips in prisoner exchanges.

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The meeting rose at 8.55 p.m.