Change and Reform Vows to Follow Up on Issue of Forcibly Disappeared and Missing Persons
The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday said “it is necessary to separate legislative work from political alignments,” stressing that “the issue of the forcibly disappeared and missing Lebanese persons needs efforts and a follow-up.”
“We discussed the legislative priorities, such as the coastal power line and the approval of the oil decrees and the need for the cabinet to convene,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh, stressing that “these are national and not political issues.”
“We will follow up on all these issues,” Kanaan pledged, noting that “the administration and justice parliamentary committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the issue of the parliamentary electoral law in an attempt to find a fair law that represents all political groups.”
The lawmaker also called for separating legislative work from “political alignments.”
“The issue of the forcibly disappeared and missing Lebanese persons needs efforts and a follow-up,” he added.
Meanwhile, caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, who took part in the bloc's meeting, told reporters in Rabieh that “the issue of the forcibly disappeared and detainees is among our priorities.”
“We will never forget it but we don't make seasonal overbids in this regard,” Qortbawi added.
“We put this issue as a priority in the cabinet's ministerial Policy Statement and the Ministry of Justice has send a draft decree on establishing the Independent Committee for the Forcibly Disappeared and Missing Persons.”
“We need an independent body to address the issue, that's why we sought to create this committee,” the minister added.
For his part, Change and Reform bloc MP Hikmat Dib noted that “Lebanese has not respected its missing persons and we must give answers to the families.”
“This is not aimed at reopening the wounds but rather at healing the wounds of the families,” Dib went on to say.
On Monday, Phalange bloc MP Sami Gemayel urged the state to address the issue of the Lebanese who are believed to be in Syrian jails, stressing that they are “detainees” and not “missing persons.”
Commenting on remarks voiced by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah only minutes before the news conference, Gemayel said: “The 622 names who are in Syria are not -- in any way whatsoever -- missing persons, but rather detainees, such as our comrade Butros Khawand, who was kidnapped from outside his home and was spotted in Syrian jails.”
Earlier on Monday, Nasrallah congratulated the nine Lebanese pilgrims on their safe return to Lebanon after a 17-month kidnap ordeal in Syria's Aazaz, hoping this development would pave the way for resolving the case of Lebanese held in Israel and Syria.
He suggested that mechanisms be set in place to tackle these issues.
He revealed: “I have received word from Syria that it is willing to help resolve the cases of missing persons and we hope these efforts will yield happy endings.”
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