CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY IN LEBANON™

Rebuilding Trust in State Institutions

Declaration #4: June 22, 2005

[Declaration #4 in PDF]

The assassination of former Lebanese Communist Party leader Mr. Georges Hawi is a blatant act of terrorism in a series that began with the attempt on the life of Deputy Marwan Hamadé in September 2004, and rose to an act of war with the assassination of Mr. Rafic Hariri in February 2005. These acts continued in a number of explosions that terrorized and killed innocent civilians in the northeastern section of Beirut in March and April of 2005, to the assassination of Mr. Samir Kassir less than a month ago.

Whereas the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has already mandated a commission of inquiry headed by Mr. Detlev Mehlis to carry an international investigation into the killing of Mr. Hariri,

Whereas this commission has already begun its work in Beirut, and

Whereas the recent wave of assassinations may have targeted witnesses crucial to the UN investigation,

We call upon the UNSC to expand the mission of this commission to cover all other acts of terrorism committed in Lebanon since February 14, 2005, under resolutions 1373 and 1595.

Furthermore, we call upon any individual with evidence about these crimes to come forward and present it to the UN team. At the same time, we call upon Lebanese leaders and politicians to refrain from using these crimes for political gain by randomly throwing undocumented accusations against the President of the Republic of Lebanon or the government of Syria, as these may serve to weaken the trust of the people in their state institutions, interfere with the UN investigation and undermine mending the already strained Lebanese-Syrian relations.

Notwithstanding, we hold the current official Lebanese Security apparatus fully responsible for keeping the peace and fully accountable for any breach thereof. The interim cabinet of Mr. Mikati remains under constitutional obligation to safeguard all Lebanese citizens.

These recent acts of terrorism have crippled the nation and are already threatening social and economic order in Lebanon. The current government and newly elected parliament must restore the gravely weakened confidence in state institutions to prevent their collapse and a looming international supervision of Lebanon.