Beirut, Lebanon – The Lebanese and Syrian governments have reached a deal to repatriate about 300 Syrian inmates in Lebanese prisons again to their residence nation in a transfer that might pave the way in which for higher relations between the 2 neighbours.
The difficulty of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon has been a precedence for Damascus for the reason that fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Relations between the 2 nations have lengthy been marked by what many Lebanese describe as practically 30 years of occupation and a tutelage rule by Syria over Lebanon, which ended when Syria withdrew its troops in 2005.
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About 2,400 Syrian prisoners are at present in Lebanese prisons. Some are held on “terrorism” expenses whereas others are held for hyperlinks to assaults in opposition to the Lebanese military. However most have by no means been tried regardless of having spent years in jail, largely because of a myriad of points, together with political gridlock, judicial strikes and common political indifference.
And whereas the deal reached on Friday could sign the start of a brand new relationship between Syria and Lebanon – one constructed on mutual respect somewhat than Syria’s direct or oblique management of the smaller state on its western border – it didn’t come about with none public controversy.
In Syrian eyes, most of the prisoners are being held for political somewhat than judicial causes. The federal government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa believes they’re in jail principally as a result of affect of the previous al-Assad regime and its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
However for a lot of Lebanese, anybody accused of assaults in opposition to the Lebanese armed forces shouldn’t be launched.
“Lebanon has lengthy insisted that anybody Syrian or in any other case accused of committing critical crimes in opposition to the Lebanese military shouldn’t be extradited,” David Wooden, the senior Lebanon analyst on the Worldwide Disaster Group, advised Al Jazeera. “That has been one key impediment to resolving this prisoner settlement up till now.”
Political prisoners?
Lebanese-Syrian relations have lengthy been complicated. Below Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar, Syrian forces managed Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.
Even after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon, Syria maintained affect over Lebanon through its allies there, together with the political and army group Hezbollah.
When the 2011 Syrian rebellion started and was subsequently repressed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s border with Lebanon quickly grew to become a hotspot for the transportation of individuals – each fighters and refugees – weapons and drugs.
In Lebanon, the Syrian warfare had a powerful impression. It spilled over into clashes in the northern city of Tripoli; the Battle of Abra, which concerned firebrand anti-Assad sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and Lebanese-Palestinian pop star Fadel Shaker; battles with Hezbollah and the Lebanese military on one facet and ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-aligned teams on the opposite; and attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Within the intervening years, a whole lot of Syrians had been arrested by Lebanese authorities and held in Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons.
When the al-Assad regime fell, the brand new Syrian authorities shortly appeared to reframe the connection with Lebanon, expressing an curiosity in constructing ties based mostly on mutual respect and pursuits.
Amongst Damascus’s priorities had been delineating their shared border and financial and safety cooperation. Nevertheless it additionally prioritised the repatriation of Syrians in Lebanese prisons.
“The allegation from Damascus is that in lots of instances the rationale for [imprisonment] is political and particularly because of perceived ties between the inmates and teams that had been against the previous regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Wooden mentioned. In its view, “it was really Assad’s Lebanese allies who conspired to make it possible for these folks had been imprisoned in Lebanon.”
By that logic, the autumn of al-Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah after Israel’s 2024 war on Lebanon meant that these prisoners must be launched.
Some Lebanese disagree and see the problem as extra of a gray space. Even when the Syrian prisoners in query had fought Hezbollah, it had been at a time when the Shia group had been coordinating with the Lebanese military – and, for a lot of Lebanese, combating the military is a crimson line.
An necessary step
On Friday, the settlement was signed with plenty of Lebanese ministers current, together with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and the 2 nations’ justice ministers.
“It is a essential first step on the street of a complete remedy concerning Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons,” Mitri mentioned to reporters on Friday.
Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais mentioned: “This step will increase present confidence, and we hope that relations will progress extra.”
The settlement reportedly stipulates that over the subsequent three months, about 300 prisoners can be repatriated to Syria and people serving time for critical crimes, akin to rape or homicide for instance, will need to have served 10 or extra years of their sentences in Lebanese prisons to be eligible for repatriation.
Lebanese prisoners, akin to al-Assir, should not included within the deal.
However different points stay. Amongst them are Lebanon’s backlogged judicial system and points associated to Lebanese inmates in Syrian prisons.
Solely about 750 Syrian prisoners out of the two,400 have been convicted. Which means roughly 65 p.c of prisoners should not eligible for repatriation but.
Fadel Abdulghany of the Syrian Community for Human Rights described this as a “two-track” downside. On his private web site, Abdulghany famous that the switch of prisoners convicted with ultimate sentences will be carried out with a “swift step”.
Nevertheless, for many who have but to be convicted, the problem will not be as simple. A mechanism for pretrial detention has not but been agreed by the respective authorities.
“This isn’t merely a Syrian situation however one which touches the very construction of the Lebanese legal justice system,” Abdulghany wrote. “Due to this fact, transferring convicts is not going to resolve the issue, as a result of the basis trigger is the gradual tempo of procedures in Lebanon and the buildup of detainees held with out trial, together with the following points regarding the legality and continuation of their detention.”
He warned that such detainees could possibly be used as political bargaining chips by Hezbollah. Some members or supporters of the group blame these prisoners for car bombings or different such attacks on their villages. Whereas a lot of these assaults had been on Shia Muslim areas the place Hezbollah assist is predominant, Christian villages, akin to al-Qaa and Ras Baalbeck within the Bekaa Valley, had been additionally topic to assaults.
‘There are not any names’
Marcel Baloukji, a former brigadier common who oversaw the Lebanese military’s border committee with Syria, advised Al Jazeera that the 300 or so prisoners who’re to be transferred don’t embody most of the extra hardened prisoners related to ISIL or al-Qaeda whom Lebanese authorities have apprehended through the years.
However Baloukji additionally identified that the problem of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails continues to be necessary for the Lebanese facet. Below the al-Assad regime, greater than 100,000 folks had been forcibly disappeared, together with a whole lot or probably hundreds of Lebanese, going way back to the Lebanese Civil Conflict.
Mass graves have been discovered round Syria for the reason that fall of the regime. Nevertheless, a lot work must be finished to determine all of the our bodies. Till now, the overwhelming majority have nonetheless not been recognized – neither Syrian nor Lebanese.
“There’s nonetheless an issue as a result of there needs to be an alternate between Lebanon and Syria,” Baloukji mentioned. “There’s nobody there. Most of them should not recognized. There are not any names.”
