Decision to uncover mass graves taken at the top

Daily Star ^ | 12/6/05 | Jessy Chahine

[Valin]

Decision to uncover mass graves taken at the top 'Otherwise the lebanese army would not be part of the digging process'

BEIRUT: Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad stressed Monday that last weekend's discovery of mass graves in Anjar had taken place after a government decision to uncover the atrocities. "I want you to know that the discovery of those mass graves only came after a political decision," she said. "If such a decision had not been made the Lebanese Army would've never been sent to patrol and be part of the digging process."

Addressing former Lebanese detainees once held in Syrian prisons and the families of those still detained, Mouawad said the decision proved how "serious" the Lebanese government is about "unveiling the truth about such massacres." The families of detainees met with Mouawad to ask for her help in securing the release of their loved ones. However, Mouawad was disappointed by the "feeble number" of relatives who showed up for the meeting. "Their absence today prevents us from issuing an official number of the current missing and detainees," she said.

Commenting further on the excavation of at least five mass graves at the former Anjar headquarters of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, Beit Mery and Yarze, Mouawad said discovering who killed former Premier Rafik Hariri would "definitely solve the mystery surrounding those massacres, and all other atrocities conducted during the civil war, including the murder of my husband."

Mouawad said it was essential the Lebanese government know "how many detainees are still in those prisons and what exactly are they being punished for." "It has definitely ruined the hopes of so many families out there who now fear that their loved ones might as well be dead and not detained," she said, urging all those with information regarding Lebanese detainees in Syria to contact the Social Affairs Ministry.

The estimated 40 bodies uncovered at Anjar over the weekend have yet to be identified. Some security sources have suggested the remains of Lebanese fighters killed during the Civil War may be included in the bones found. Human rights groups and the families of the missing have said they have evidence of more than 643 Lebanese missing in Syria, many of whom have been there for more than a decade. Another 17,000 Lebanese remain unaccounted for since the 1975-90 war.

When asked whether she supported the call for an international investigation into the mass graves, Mouawad said "such crimes should definitely not remain unpunished, especially as they do not belong to the 'war crimes' category and have a penal procedure of their own." The minister said the government would take an official position on the matter "soon." "We're just waiting for all the excavations and DNA tests to be finalized," she explained. There has been no official statement from the Syrian government regarding the graves.