July 22, 2024
Dr. Badr Jamous, President of the Syrian Negotiation Commission, stated that Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons have paid a high price since the beginning of the Syrian revolution. He affirmed that the Negotiation Commission carries this issue to all its international meetings and communicates on an international level to find fundamental solutions to this intractable and inhumane issue.
This statement was made during the participation of the Commission’s president and several of its members in a virtual conference on Syrian political detainees in Lebanese prisons held on July 20. The conference saw the participation of numerous Syrian politicians, legal experts, opposition figures, activists, writers, artists, Lebanese lawyers, and many specialists and those interested in the issues of Syrian detainees in general, and detainees in Lebanese prisons in particular.
Dr. Jamous emphasized that the Negotiation Commission fully understands the magnitude of this issue, which reaches the level of a tragedy. The Commission is working on all media, political, and legal fronts to find a solution or to mitigate its risks and alleviate the suffering of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons. The Commission spares no effort on the international level, although it sometimes faces disappointment due to changing stances of some countries regarding the Syrian issue.
The president of the Commission pointed out that the issue of detainees was discussed in all their international visits, most recently in New York. It was discussed with ambassadors and representatives of various countries such as Qatar, France, Switzerland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, and others, as well as with members of the UN Security Council and the United Nations itself. It was also recently discussed with the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He acknowledged the challenges but stressed that they will not give up and will continue to raise their voices until a solution is found with all Syrians for this humanitarian issue.
Dr. Jamous also highlighted that the Commission is intensifying its international correspondence on this matter, having sent a special message to the UN Secretary-General, the UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United States, among others. The Commission is also in contact with Lebanese entities that support Syrian detainees, all in the hope of reaching satisfactory solutions for these detainees and their families.
The president of the Commission explained that the legal office in the Commission and the Committee for Detainees and Disappeared Persons are continuously following up on these cases. There is ongoing communication with the Red Cross and international human rights organizations to ensure the safety of Syrian political prisoners in Lebanon, secure treatment for them, and guarantee fair trials leading to their release.
He also called for continuous media coverage of this issue by all Syrian media outlets to keep it alive and active. He praised the role of Syrian legal organizations and stressed the importance of increasing their focus on this issue, affirming the Commission’s readiness to coordinate and collaborate by all means to follow up on detainees’ cases, hinder deportation, provide healthcare needs, and document violations against Syrian detainees in Lebanon.
During the conference, several members of the Negotiation Commission, many politicians, legal experts, and representatives of political and opinion detainees in Lebanon also spoke.
The conference called for the formation of an urgent and exceptional task force to achieve justice, address medical cases, improve the health and nutritional conditions of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons, find an urgent solution to the issue of financial guarantees, appoint lawyers for them, retry them, support survivors and their families, transfer detainees to northern Syria, communicate with legal and international bodies, document violations, and raise this issue in all international forums.
