Politica

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الأربعاء 3 إبريل, 2019

In November 2018, more than 25 years after the "end of the war," the Lebanese parliament passed Law 105, the "Law on Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons." A few weeks later, the law was promulgated by the president of the republic and published in the Official Gazette, adding to Lebanon’s long list of laws present on paper but not in practice.

Regardless of the circumstances that tipped the balance in favor of the law despite some political actors’ opposition, the questionable nature of the text in several regards, and the equally questionable prospects for seeing it fully implemented, Law 105’s most significant and constructive feature is its overt recognition of the pressing need to deal with the neglected legacies of Lebanon’s “war.” As explained in its Rationales, the Lebanese authorities ignored the suffering of the thousands of families who still await the truth about the fate of their loved ones who went “missing” or were forcibly disappeared.

Law 105 must not be allowed to remain a dead letter, nor must the political will of those who opposed it be allowed to prevail. For all those who believe that addressing the issue of "missing and forcibly disappeared persons" is a national priority, advocacy to ensure its full implementation must be high on their agendas, and such advocacy must be underpinned by full knowledge of the law and its provisions. To contribute to this effort, UMAM D&R reproduced the text of Law 105 with the support of the Swiss embassy in Beirut, in the hope that disseminating the law and making it available to the wider public will help gather momentum to advocate its implementation.