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 188th session
(Panama, 20 April 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/188/13(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 187th session (October 2010),
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 his case;
- A Special Tribunal for Lebanon was entrusted by the United Nations and the State of Lebanon with trying those responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Mr. Rafiq Hariri, who was murdered in a bomb explosion on 25 February 2005, and started its work in March 2009,
Considering the following provisions regarding the competence of the Tribunal: Article 1 of the Statute of the Tribunal grants jurisdiction of the Tribunal over attacks that occurred in Lebanon other than the attack on Mr. Hariri if they are "connected" with that attack; attacks that occurred between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005 (as did that on Mr. Tueni) are "connected" with the attack on Mr. Hariri if they are connected in accordance with the principles of criminal justice, and are of a nature and gravity similar to that attack; Article 1 of the Statute requires further that for attacks that occurred in Lebanon after 12 December 2005 - which would include the attacks on the other three parliamentarians - an additional condition must be met: not only must the Tribunal be satisfied that the attacks are "connected", but the agreement of the United Nations and the Republic of Lebanon, together with the consent of the Security Council, must be obtained before the Tribunal can take jurisdiction over these later attacks,
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,
- Observes that, in the absence of information indicating that the Tribunal has taken jurisdiction over the cases in question, the Lebanese authorities retain jurisdiction for the pursuit of justice with respect to each of these cases;
- Is deeply concerned therefore that, after more than five years since the first murder, it still has no information on file showing that the Lebanese authorities have taken decisive steps towards holding those responsible to account;
- Affirms that, so long as those who killed the four parliamentarians remain at large, their murder continues to serve as a deterrent for others wishing to speak out on critical issues and can only embolden those bent on silencing such voices, and thus undermine freedom of expression;
4. Calls therefore on the authorities, as is their duty, to do everything possible - if necessary, by lending fresh impetus to the investigations - to elucidate these crimes and hold the culprits to account; eagerly awaits information on the stage reached in the investigations and on whether any suspects have been identified and apprehended;
- Reaffirms that the National Assembly has a special responsibility for ensuring that justice is done in this case, and that the Committee's extensive case-load offers many examples of Parliaments taking action 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; calls on the National Assembly to be guided by such initiatives in exercising its oversight responsibility to help ensure that effective investigations are indeed taking place into each of the murders; eagerly awaits the views of the parliamentary authorities on this matter, along with information on any concrete steps already taken to this end, 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 results of such 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 125th IPU Assembly (October 2011).
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