The fourth annual report on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s activities was sent this week to Prime Minister Najib Miqati and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
“Our aim is to help the people of Lebanon restore in full the operation of the rule of law in Lebanon, so that they and their families may enjoy the peace and tranquility that is their birthright,” STL President Judge Sir David Baragwanath, noted in the report, which is available on the Tribunal's website.
The president thanked the Lebanese authorities for their cooperation, but noted that “the eight years which have elapsed since the attacks of which we are seized make more urgent the task of locating and detaining” the accused.
The release of the report marks the start of the second year of the Tribunal’s renewed mandate. It details the intensive preparations for trial, including Defense challenges to the Tribunal’s legality, the “massive task” of disclosure of evidence, and the postponement of the tentative date for trial.
Over the past year, the Tribunal’s judges heard and dismissed challenges to the STL’s legality, and upheld the decision to hold a trial in absentia for the February 14, 2005 attack – the first international criminal court to allow such proceedings since the Nuremberg trials.
In July 2012, Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen set March 25, 2013 as a tentative date for the start of trial.
In January 2013, the Defense teams requested that this date be vacated, for reasons including the alleged incomplete disclosure by the prosecutor, the size of the Prosecution’s case and technical and translation issues. These matters, which could not have been foreseen when the trial date was set, compelled the pre-trial judge to postpone the start date for hearing witnesses, given the “overarching requirement of fairness of trial.”
The Office of the Prosecutor said it was focused on preparing for trial as well as reviewing and investigating the three cases connected to the February 14, 2005 attack that are under the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.
The report notes that the Office of the Prosecutor will be ready for trial later in 2013. In addition, the Prosecution will create a new team dedicated to examining whether other assassinations can be connected to the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Supported by the Defense Office, lead and co-counsel for the four accused worked to understand the Prosecution’s case and to prepare their own. Defense lawyers launched preliminary motions that challenged the STL’s legality, the decision to try the accused in absentia, the decision defining terrorism and the form of the indictment.
The Tribunal is also close to completing the hand-over of documents to Jamil al-Sayyed, one of the four generals arrested in connection with the February 14, 2005 attack and released by the STL for lack of evidence.
“In carrying out its work… the Tribunal gives a voice to the victims of terrorist crimes and furthers the hopes of all Lebanese citizens who aspire to end the vicious circle of violence, crime and impunity that has plagued their beautiful country,” the report concluded. “We are determined to show that a fair trial in a complex terrorism case is possible.”
Four Hizbullah members, Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra are wanted for the February 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he doubted the four indictees will ever be found and has branded the tribunal a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy aimed at bringing down the party.
Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Oneissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.
