To the Government of Syria
The Syrian government should apply the principles of transparency and accountability to address the problem of foreign nationals and stateless Palestinians who are detained in Syria, and to bring some measure of justice to victims and their families. Human Rights Watch urges the Syrian government to take the following actions:
· Make public the names of all non-Syrians - including Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians - who are currently detained or imprisoned in Syria.
· In addition to releasing the names, the Syrian government should make public the following additional information about each individual:
1. Nationality or place of permanent residence, and date of birth;
2. Date and place of initial arrest, and the name of the security force that took the person into custody;
3. Date of transfer from Lebanon to Syria, and the basis in Syrian or Lebanese law, if any, for such transfer;
4. Name and location of the facility where the person is currently being held in Syria;
5. Whether the person has been permitted to contact his family and lawyer, and the date on which such contact was initially made;
6. Whether the person has been permitted family visits, and the frequency of such visits; and
7. The basis in Syrian or Lebanese law for the continuing detention and imprisonment of each person held in Syria.
· Individuals who are unlawfully detained should be immediately and unconditionally released.
· Syrian authorities should also investigate allegations that Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians have been tortured at Syrian detention facilities inside Lebanon, and should take steps to bring such practices to an immediate halt.
· The Syrian government should instruct its judicial authorities to determine, on a case-by-case basis, if foreign nationals and stateless Palestinians have been subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention in Syria. In cases of arbitrary arrest or detention, authorities should set forth and disseminate widely in Lebanoninformation about the official legal mechanisms by which victims can exercise their enforceable right to compensation, as provided in Article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Syria is a state party.
· To ensure that individuals in the future are not subjected to arbitrary arrest or "disappearance," Syrian authorities should undertake the following measures:
1. Communicate to all Syrian military, intelligence and security forces that "disappearances" will no longer be tolerated, and that commanders who order or condone such actions will be held responsible for these criminal offenses to the fullest extent of the law.
2. Require that at the time of arrest or detention, the arresting authorities identify themselves, and that all individuals take into custody be held only in publicly recognized detention facilities, where accurate registers of detainees and prisoners are maintained and available for public inspection. Such procedures should be instituted at each of the now-secret Syrian detention facilities in Lebanon - alternatively, these centers should be closed.
3. Inform individuals taken into custody of the reasons for arrest, and enable them to challenge the legality of their detention before a judicial authority.
4. Permit individuals taken into custody to inform without delay their relatives and lawyers of their arrest and place of detention.
5. Establish effective procedures for prompt response to inquiries from families, lawyers and nongovernmental organizations about the whereabouts of individuals who have been detained.
To the Government of Lebanon
Initiatives by the Lebanese government are also required in order to hold Syrian security forces in Lebanon accountable for their actions. The following affirmative steps may help break the barrier of fear that has prevented families from coming forward when "disappearances" occur, and has likewise discouraged lawyers from providing legal representation and independent nongovernmental organizations from undertaking advocacy on behalf of the victims:
· Take firm and fully transparent measures to ensure that abuses at the hands of Syrian security forces in Lebanon come to an end.
· Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and President Elias Hrawi should publicly declare that Syrian forces will not be permitted to operate with impunity on Lebanese soil, and should set forth the legal regime by which such forces are disciplined and held accountable for criminal offenses committed in Lebanon. Similarly, Lebanese government officials should convey to commanders of Lebanese military, intelligence and other security forces that their personnel must not participate in "disappearances" in any manner. The government should further make clear that commanders who order or condone "disappearances" will be held criminally responsible for these actions and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
· To ensure that Lebanese military and security authorities in no manner participate in or facilitate "disappearances," the government should require that at the time of arrest or detention on Lebanese soil the arresting authorities identify themselves, and that all individuals taken into custody in Lebanon be held in publicly recognized places of detention, where accurate registers of detainees and prisoners are maintained and available for public inspection.
· As a matter of priority, the Lebanese judiciary and police should be instructed to formulate, implement, and widely publicize procedures for taking written complaints from citizens and lawyers about cases of suspected abduction and "disappearance." As part of these procedures, copies of the complaints should be forwarded promptly to the offices of the prime minister and the president, the justice minister, the head of the parliamentary human rights committee, and the president of the bar association.
· Immediate steps should be taken to establish an independent legal office with full authority to investigate all cases of "disappearances" in a prompt and transparent manner. This office should be empowered not only to determine the whereabouts of the "disappeared," but also to secure prompt access to these individuals for lawyers and family members. The creation of this office should be widely publicized in Lebanon, and its services should be made available to all residents of the country, including stateless Palestinians who are permanent residents.
· Provide medical care and psychological counseling, when required, to "disappeared" individuals who reappear.
To the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
· The Working Group should investigate cases of enforced disappearance in Lebanon, and make demarches to Lebanese and Syrian authorities in order to determine the fate and whereabouts of the "disappeared."
· Given the extraterritorial dimension of the practice of enforced disappearances in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch recommends that the Working Group analyze the issue in light of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and publicize its conclusions in relation to the implementation of the Declaration when there is such a dimension.
To the European Union and Member States
· Publicly acknowledge at a high level and condemn actions by Lebanese and Syrian authorities that result in the "disappearances" of Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians.
· Raise with the Lebanese and Syrian governments at the highest levels, and as an urgent matter, the cases of Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians who have "disappeared" at the hands of state agents, and impress upon both governments the need to respond positively to the recommendations in this report.
· Instruct embassy staff in Damascus to raise and pursue specific cases of "disappearances" with Syrian authorities and to seek access to detainees whose names are known.
· In the context of negotiations over the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement with Lebanon, urge the government of Lebanon to implement the recommendations of this report, and publicly support such initiatives by the government of Lebanon.
· Use all possible means, including linkage of aid and financial assistance to Syria, to obtain a full accounting by the Syrian government concerning persons detained and "disappeared" by agents of the Syrian state, and on a public commitment by the government of Syria to cease such practices immediately.
· The European Union and member states need to demonstrate that they take seriously their previous commitments regarding human rights abuses by the government of Syria. The Council of Ministers should forward to the European Parliament, without any further delay, the report on human rights conditions in Syria that it received in November 1995 from the European Commission, a report that the Council had committed itself to prepare as part of the December 1993 decision to extend Fourth Protocol assistance to Syria. TheCouncil should further instruct the Commission to prepare an update to this report, to be submitted to the Parliament before the Parliament's August recess. These reports should be made public.
To the Clinton Administration
· Publicly acknowledge at a high level and condemn actions by Lebanese and Syrian authorities that result in the "disappearances" of Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians.
· Raise with the Lebanese and Syrian governments at the highest levels, and as an urgent matter, the cases of Lebanese citizens and stateless Palestinians who have "disappeared" at the hands of state agents, and impress upon both governments the need to respond positively to the recommendations in this report.
· Instruct embassy staff in Damascus to raise and pursue specific cases of "disappearances" with Syrian authorities and to seek access to detainees whose names are known.
· In the context of the multilateral "Friends of Lebanon" initiative, launched in 1996 to promote assistance to and investment in Lebanon, urge the government of Lebanon to implement the recommendations in this report, and publicly support such initiatives.