Former South Lebanon Army commander Amer Fakhoury. (Credit: NNA archive photo)
BEIRUT — The Amer Foundation announced on Tuesday that the organization, named after Amer Fakhoury, had "won a historic case against Iran." Fakhoury, who died five years ago, was a former South Lebanon Army (SLA) commander accused of torturing detainees at the infamous Khiam prison. The SLA was an Israeli-backed militia that controlled southern Lebanon during Israel's occupation there.
"The Fakhoury family won a historic case against Iran," the organization claimed, "proving for the first time that this country, through Hezbollah, illegally occupies Lebanon."
Fakhoury was accused of murders, attempted murders, kidnappings and torture dating back to 1985. He was arrested on his arrival in Lebanon on Sept. 12, 2019, under pressure from the public, notably from former prisoners of Khiam prison, located in the buffer zone occupied by Israel until 2000.
In 1996, he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for collaboration with Israel. Believing himself covered by the statute of limitations, Fakhoury, who had become a naturalized American, returned to Lebanon in 2019, not expecting Lebanese authorities to apprehend him for other crimes such as the torture and death of former detainees or the alleged acquisition of Israeli nationality.
In March 2020, the military court decided to release him after dropping torture charges against prisoners at Khiam prison. Stricken with cancer, his health had deteriorated in prison in Lebanon. He eventually left Lebanese territory on March 19, 2020, despite calls for him to be tried, which led U.S. President Donald Trump, then in his first term, to express gratitude towards the Lebanese government.
The former militia member was transported by a U.S. Navy transport aircraft that landed at the U.S. embassy in Awkar, north of Beirut. The Hezbollah parliamentary bloc protested at that time and demanded that the judges who made this decision, "having yielded to the pressures of countries sponsoring and supporting the enemies" of Lebanon, "be held accountable and judged." Fakhoury did not survive long after his detention in Lebanon, passing away in September 2020 at the age of 57. His family has always maintained that he was a victim of torture during his detention in Lebanese prisons.
Compensation of nearly $8 million
The judgment condemning Iran and Hezbollah in this case was rendered by the federal court of Columbia (United States District Court of Columbia) in Washington on May 1, 2025, following a complaint filed in 2021 by the daughters of Fakhoury, Amanda and Guila, against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanese General Security.
The American judge ordered the payment of compensation totaling nearly $7.75 million for all of Fakhoury's heirs ($2.11 million), his widow Micheline Elias ($1.4 million), and his children ($4.277 million), stating that Fakhoury's detention and the treatments he underwent, based on his wife's testimony, who was with him in Lebanon, led to the deterioration of his health and then his death. The judgment also establishes the qualification of "hostage" to describe Fakhoury's detention in Lebanon.
"This case revealed how Hezbollah, backed by Iran, fabricated lies to illegally detain Amer Fakhoury – an innocent man – and demonstrated Iran's ongoing interference in Lebanese institutions, particularly the Lebanese General Security, which was led by Abbas Ibrahim at the time of Amer's abduction," the family's statement said.
Speaking to Fox News, his daughter Guila said that "the past four years have been long and difficult," referring to threats targeting her family, moments of discouragement, and the difficulty of "proving that Iran is behind all this, due to its grip on Lebanon."
Several American media outlets have reported this information. In Lebanon, it is noted that it is mainly anti-Hezbollah media and internet users who have amplified this news. The links between the military court and Hezbollah's influence have often been criticized by opponents of the party, as exemplified by the case of the Irish peacekeeper Sean Rooney, killed in South Lebanon in 2022, whose alleged murderer, a Hezbollah member, was released by this same court.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.