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Lebanon: UN Calls for the Immediate Release of Two Lebanese Citizens Arbitrarily Detained for over 6 Years

During its 71st session held in Geneva on 28 August 2014, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted an opinion on the case of Tariq Mostafa Marei and Abdel Karim Al Mustafa, two Lebanese citizens sentenced on 6 August 2013 to 15 years in prison, following a flawed trial. In this opinion, the WGAD considers their detention "arbitrary" and calls for their immediate release.

The Working Group noted the absence of cooperation by the Lebanese government in the issue, and hence considered that it was in a position to render an opinion (Opinion No. 48/2014) on the cases submitted by Alkarama, which it estimated "arbitrary", since the deprivation of liberty of the two victims was in violation of the international standards set by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Lebanon acceded in 1972.

As a reminder, Marei and Al Mustafa were arrested in October 2008 by the military intelligence services - without any warrant or being informed of the reasons for their arrest - and were put in pre-trial detention for over four years. They were eventually tried in the Lebanese Council of Justice.

After the first two months of incommunicado detention, the two victims were brutally tortured in order to make them confess an alleged "involvement in terrorist acts". During their detention, they were beaten and, suspended over the floor with their hands and feet tied, they successively suffered electric shocks and beatings with sticks on their whole bodies.

On 6 August 2013, over four years after their arrest, they appeared before the Council of Justice, a special court competent to deal with country security matters. This high court - whose decisions are not subject to appeal - is particularly criticised by local NGOs and human rights defenders for its lack of independence with regards to the executive branch. Following a particularly speedy trial, the two men were convicted on the sole basis of their confessions extracted under torture during their incommunicado detention, despite the lack any physical evidence to support the charges against them, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The UN experts therefore concluded that, firstly and in accordance with Articles 9 UDHR and 9 of ICCPR, the detention of Mustafa and Al Marei was "arbitrary in the sense that it has no legal basis and the confessions were extracted under torture, in violation of peremptory norms of international law."

Secondly, that the conviction and detention of the victims were contrary to the principles set out in Articles 10 and 11 UDHR and 9 and 14 ICCPR because based solely on confessions extracted under torture, without any investigation launched to ascertain their veracity.

And last but not least, the Working Group noted that the absence of an impartial investigation when there are reasonable grounds to believe that acts of torture have been committed to subtract a confession, is a violation of Articles 12 and 15 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which Lebanon is a State party since 1996.

Consequently, the WGAD experts called on the Lebanese government to immediately release Marei and Al Mustafa, whilst emphasising Lebanon's obligation to prosecute, try and punish those responsible for acts of secret detention and torture, as well as to guarantee them an adequate compensation.

Alkarama welcomes this new UN decision and called on the Lebanese authorities to implement it as soon as possible and to end the practice of incommunicado detention and torture, so that all guarantees of fair trial be respected at all times.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)