Lebanon's National Commission for the Disappeared demands representation in talks with Damascus

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s National Commission for the Missing or Forcibly Disappeared criticized its exclusion from a government delegation to Syria this week, calling for inclusion as a “full participant” in talks with Damascus over detainees and missing persons.

Two Lebanese delegations traveled to Damascus on Sunday to discuss Syrian prisoners in Lebanon and shared border issues.

The visit followed a Sept. 1 trip to Beirut by a Syrian delegation, which met with Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri in the first such encounter since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. That meeting covered refugees, detainees in Lebanese prisons, border demarcation and the fate of the disappeared.

After Assad’s fall, Lebanese authorities said 725 of their citizens were held in Syria but gave no details on their identities or condition, leaving families still searching for answers about their loved ones.

The commission welcomed the launch of bilateral talks but said it was “astonished” at being sidelined, despite being the only body legally mandated to handle the issue, the state-run National News Agency reported. Established in 2020 under Law 105, the independent commission was tasked by Parliament to address cases of the missing and victims of forcible disappearance.

In its statement, the Commission recalled that it had sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Mitri, urging that Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons — along with non-Lebanese arrested on Lebanese soil — be treated as a priority. It said Mitri had given a “positive” response, including agreement on adding a commission representative to the Lebanese delegation.

Excluding the commission, it said, amounted to “marginalizing the rights of families” and undermined the credibility and seriousness of the talks. It called on the government to revise the delegation’s composition and include the commission as a full partner.