Five international human rights organizations sent a letter to the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, who serves as Chairman of the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law, urging the Lebanese government to take serious steps to achieve justice for the victims of “crimes of Israeli aggression.”
The organizations stressed the importance of the Lebanese government embarking on immediate and concrete measures to ensure that justice is achieved, the truth is revealed, and compensation is made for thousands of civilians who were affected by the violations resulting from the “recent Israeli aggression.”
The organizations, namely: “Amnesty International”, “Human Rights Watch”, “The Legal Agenda”, “Union of Journalists in Lebanon”, and “Reporters Without Borders”, explained that one year after the supposed deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the ongoing Israeli attacks and the widespread destruction of infrastructure are still preventing tens of thousands of residents from returning to their homes or rebuilding their lives.
It also indicated that Israeli forces continued to launch almost daily attacks on Lebanese territory, resulting in more than 380 casualties, including more than 127 civilians, since the ceasefire agreement entered into force. She added that the Israeli army is still stationed in parts of Lebanese territory and continues to destroy civilian facilities along the border, leaving entire communities facing destruction and loss.
The organizations believed that the Lebanese government had ignored during the past year a series of legal measures that it could have taken, starting from opening internal investigations to accepting the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to look into “international crimes committed on Lebanese territory,” calling for urgent action in this direction.
The organizations urged the government to explore all available legal means, both domestically and internationally, to ensure that crimes under international law are investigated and their perpetrators prosecuted. She indicated that one of the most prominent possible steps is submitting an official declaration to the International Criminal Court to accept its jurisdiction in accordance with “Article 12 (3) of the Rome Statute,” which would allow investigations into crimes committed in Lebanon since “October 7, 2023,” in addition to considering ratifying the Rome Statute.
The organizations stressed the need to support the launch of urgent, comprehensive, independent and impartial local judicial investigations into war crimes committed on Lebanese territory, and to provide the necessary powers, protection and resources for judicial investigators, in addition to issuing a law criminalizing war crimes and other crimes covered by international law and referring it to Parliament.
It also called for the establishment of a national registry to document killings, injuries and damage to civilians, and the invitation of the “United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice and reparation.”
The organizations believe that the Lebanese government has a historic opportunity to break the cycle of impunity rooted in previous conflicts, which strengthens the right of victims and affected communities to justice, truth and reparation, and enables them to rebuild their lives.
At the conclusion of the letter, the human rights organizations called on other countries, in particular the United States, to suspend all arms transfers and forms of military support to Israel, given the serious risks that these weapons will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.
