The UN General Assembly in session. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
BEIRUT — "It's a disgrace."
Ali Abou Dehen, a former prisoner of the Syrian regime's jails, spoke to L'Orient-Le Jour about Lebanon's abstention from the UN General Assembly vote to create an Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic.
According to the text of the resolution, the institution is to be tasked with "shedding light on the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, and providing appropriate support to the victims, survivors and families of missing persons, in close cooperation and association with all relevant actors."
The resolution was passed on Thursday evening with 83 votes in favor, 11 against and 62 abstentions, including Lebanon.
"We've been campaigning for this since the 80s, and authorities are turning a deaf ear," lamented Abou Dehen.
Bustros Palace says it understands this perspective, but still does little to heal the wound.
"It is in Lebanon's interest not to go against Arab [near] unanimity. It is just as crucial to maintaining channels of communication with Damascus in order to resolve the issue of missing persons and detainees, as well as that of Syrian refugees," an anonymous source at the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told L'Orient-Le Jour. "We opted for the lesser of two evils."
The ministry issued a press release on Friday, clarifying its decision to abstain from the vote: "If Lebanon had voted for the resolution, the work of the Arab ministerial committee, of which Lebanon is a member, to resolve the crisis in Syria would have been impacted."
This committee was formed last May after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, shortly before the Jeddah summit, marking Syria's return to the Arab fold 12 years after the start of the 2011 uprising.
"The decision to abstain was taken after consultation with [caretaker] Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in line with near-unanimous Arab support," the ministry added.
Qatar and Kuwait were the only Arab countries to vote in favor of the UN resolution.
Lebanon "does not wish to politicize a human issue par excellence, in favor of its policy of distancing itself," the Foreign Affairs Ministry added. "[Nor] does it wish to make a choice that will not resolve the crisis of the Lebanese disappeared."
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was keen to reiterate its commitment to respecting "international decisions and resolutions."
"The Lebanese government has never considered this matter a priority," said Ziad Majed, a political researcher and Syria expert. He emphasized that Lebanon has never made any clear demands of its nationals.
"Only Saad Hariri (ex-Prime minister and leader of the Future Movement) raised the issue when he visited Damascus in 2009," added Abou Dehen.
A member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), founded by former president Michel Aoun, who is close to Syria, argued to L'Orient-Le Jour that Aoun raised the issue on several occasions with Bashar al-Assad, but that the approach did not produce the expected results.
Anti-Hezbollah's unleash their fury: ‘An ignominy’
While waiting for the FPM to take a stand and while Hezbollah — a major local ally of the Syrian regime — remained silent, the anti-Damascus movement quickly took to the stage with a one-word campaign: shame.
Describing Lebanon's abstention from the vote as "shameful," Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea argued that "the government should not only support the UN resolution but also demand that the Lebanese file be brought under UN jurisdiction, in order to determine the fate of hundreds of Lebanese abducted and detained in Syrian prisons since 19
"It's shameful that Lebanon should be neutral about a crime committed by the Syrian regime against hundreds of missing Lebanese," said Ziad Hawat, an MP from the Lebanese Forces. "Even more deplorable is the attitude of governments that have never fulfilled their duty in this respect."
The parliamentarian said he is aware that the Najib Mikati-Abdallah Bou Habib duo is responsible for the choice made Thursday evening in New York. But, in his eyes, they are not the only ones to blame.
"There's also Michel Aoun himself. Many of the detainees were abducted in the wake of his 1989 war against the Syrian Army. More recently, this ally of the regime has not raised the issue with Bashar al-Assad," said Hawat.
Georges Okais, another LF MP, took to Twitter to urge families of the Lebanese concerned to lobby for the future UN body to take up the case on its own.
For its part, the Democratic Rally bloc — affiliated with the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) of Teymour Joumblatt — said it does not intend to content itself with verbal condemnations.
PSP MP Marwan Hamade said his group intends to send an official message to the Mikati cabinet concerning "this ignominy done to the Lebanese, and this insult done to Lebanon."
This depends on the almost discretionary will of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another local ally of Damascus, who is continued to paralyze Parliament while he awaits broader agreement on Lebanon's next president.
Calls for resignation
The PSP's reaction comes against a backdrop of popular anger against caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Bou Habib.
''Following Lebanon's ill-considered and irresponsible position at the UN, we call on the minister, who has failed in his duties and prerogatives, to resign immediately and apologize, firstly to the relatives of the detainees and missing persons in Syria, but also to the Lebanese people who are suffering from certain politicians who took up their posts during the dirty times," the Association of Lebanese Detainees in Syrian Prisons said in a Friday statement.
This position reflects the anger expressed on social media the day after Lebanon's abstention from the vote.
"God and the mothers (of the missing) will curse you," wrote one Twitter user.
