Cedarwatch
Human Rights for Lebanon
www.cedar-watch.com
DR SAMIR
GEAGEA
- A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE WAITING TO BE FREED
Introductory
The
Becharrie Association of New South Wales had kindly hosted this
evening's discussion panel under the banner "Free Dr Samir Geagea to
free Lebanon". I am feted and feel extremely privileged to speak to
you tonight concerning the call for the immediate and overdue release
of Becharrie's beloved son.
It has
been my singular honour and a most humbling experience to have
undertaken the task as part of a team of human rights observers and
lawyers who have voiced the concern with respect to Dr Samir Geagea
and his co-accused who were tried and falsely convicted. Their trials
and their sentences of imprisonment are indeed a blot on the judicial
administration of the Lebanese Republic and a damning indictment of
all judges and prosecutors who assisted in this gross miscarriage of
justice that has perpetrated the imprisonment of innocent men for
crimes that they surely have been shown to have been unable to have
committed yet were still convicted in the face of objective evidence
to the contrary.
The
theme of what I would like to talk to you about tonight is to
highlight what is and has been well known for many years, namely the
monstrous misfeasance undertaken by people who have persistently
perverted the course of justice in Lebanon and the need for all those
who are concerned with Lebanon's future to understand that until the
wrongs are righted and the miscarriages of justice are overturned,
then there will be no justice and no salvation for the Lebanese
people.
Dr
Samir Geagea - Leader
Much
has been said of Dr Samir Geagea in the past and whilst I do not claim
to be the author, there is certainly vivid in my memory that in June
1995 I proclaimed Geagea to be the Mandela of the Middle East and in
particular Lebanon when Cedarwatch was formed in Montreal. I recall
vividly that it was the day after Geagea had been convicted of the
bombing of the church of Our Lady of Salvation and, along with his
co-accused, had been sentenced to death, commuted to life imprisonment
and in addition fined and imprisoned on the subsidiary charges that
were also brought within the same indictment.
Geagea's position at that time was one of determined defiance in the
face of inevitable incarceration and it has remained so as he is
determined to maintain his stand by not co-operating with the
collaborators and the conspirators who had effectively delivered
Lebanon into the hands of the Syrian invaders.
Year
after year, Geagea has sat in solitary confinement in the Yarize
prison and until recently was, as I have remarked and noted with
litanic consistency, three floors below ground level in what could
only be described as stark and dank conditions of the most
sophisticated brutality, in terms of mental and physical deprivation
known to man. It is a testament to Syrian genius and their propensity
for cruelty that the imprisonment imposed upon Geagea was done with a
penchant for ensuring that the was subjected to a most cruel and
unusual punishment.
It was
an imprisonment that he literally subjected himself to and inevitably
invited when he refused to take part in the government, given the
option that he could either have self-imposed exile, a position in the
regime or face the consequences.
That
he embraced his fate so willingly and so determinedly is a remarkable
testament and one might say less than a responsible reflex of a person
who was with full faculty. That he left his wife, the comfort of his
home and the companionship of his colleagues and most importantly that
he willingly subjugated himself to a series of trials that have become
milestones in the jurisprudence of the Lebanese criminal law, whereby
his fate has been sealed subject to a Presidential pardon or
international intervention is indeed a sobering statement of the man's
courage. In fact, some might say he was foolhardy, if not utterly mad
to have sacrificed the prime years of his life, both his married life
and his professional life, to sit in solitary confinement in his
squalid cell.
The
parallels with Mandela are not far-fetched. Geagea's struggle and his
commitment to the struggle for a free and open Lebanon is regrettably
something that is not publicised or made aware to many of the foreign
press commentators and the politicians. There is no doubt that the
committed few, and many of you are here gathered tonight, have been
steadfast in the dissemination of what Geagea and the Lebanese Forces
stand for.
What
we tonight must realise and seek to put forward is a concerted
campaign that will enable the proliferation of what Geagea stands for
and why his incarceration must be brought to a halt and more
importantly why it is that the freedom to be accorded to leaders like
Geagea in Lebanon, currently labouring under a constitutional crisis
and riddled with a constitutional cancer require his release. The
recent amendments to Article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution
effectively entrenching the continued tenure of Emile Lahoud in office
require this intervention post-haste.
Demonstrations of Popular Support
Why is
it that recently, with the celebration of the Mass at Harissa in
September, that 32,000 people were minded to march and pray? Why is
it so remarkable that at that Mass, His Beatitude Patriarch Sfeir
spoke to the assembled masses and urged the government to release
Geagea? How is that that Satrida Geagea was able to muster and
effectively exhort the masses thus assembled to pray for and to
petition them for the release of her husband and why is it that she
has constantly and courageously maintained the rage against the system
that has so steadfastly imprisoned her husband? Quite simply, the
answer is that when one looks for leadership in Lebanon one does not
go to the Presidential palace. There, all you will find is a lackey
with a team of brigands who are nothing more than constitutional
criminals assembled under the banner of democracy. In truth and in
substance, they have for some time brokered the Syrian hegemony,
ensuring its continuation and have actively, as accessories before and
after the fact, continued the constitutional crimes against humanity
and more importantly the populace of Lebanon - its people.
It is
not common for church leaders to speak out against what has been a
usurpation of democracy. Such a consistent and at times unrestrained
stream of criticism from church leaders, in particular the Maronite
Patriarch, must surely stir the hearts of all concerned Lebanese and
more importantly citizens who embrace democracy and the fundamental
freedoms that are part and parcel of such a system of government.
In the
forefront, Geagea stands as the symbolic citadel who has stood defiant
and will stand defiant as the past ten years have ably shown.
Miscarriages of Justice
It is
not the time, nor is it the place tonight to recite each and every
miscarriage of justice in the trials of Samir Geagea. In all six
trials that he has endured, there have been constant abuses of the
judicial system which can be summarised as follows:
(a) Fabricated evidence.
(b) Pressure brought upon people to turn informer as a result
of which perjured evidence has been obtained from them and produced
and relied upon in ensuring the guilt of Geagea and his co-accused.
(c) A failure to undertake proper forensic examination, thereby
removing the need to present evidence which is both soundly based and
the subject of investigation which has the hallmark of integrity.
(d) Corrupt, inept prosecutors who are not performing the
function of a prosecutor, which is to present the case objectively and
fairly.
(e) Tragically, but nevertheless ultimately, the principal
reason why Geagea is in prison is the corrupt judiciary that has sat
on each end every trial and has failed miserably in the undertaking of
their judicial oath to try him impartially and fairly. For this, each
and every judge who has participated in Geagea's convictions stands
damned and as a lawyer I am thoroughly disgusted with their
performance, that they could participate in the imprisonment of
innocent civilians.
There
are no Neuremburg parallels here. Even if a Neuremberg defence was
available to those members of the legal profession and the police
force, as well as the judiciary. Their singular lack of courage, in
fact their cowardly commitment to carrying out the aims of the regime,
and in this regard it is Syria at the forefront, is both implausible
and utterly bereft of logic. In short, they have become conspirators
and are criminals in the system that has imprisoned Geagea.
Lebanon, as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, has effectively breached that Covenant in the trial
of Geagea in the following areas:
(a) Articles 7 and 10 - freedom for torture and a right to
humane treatment.
(b) Article 9 - freedom from arbitrary detention.
(c) Article 14 - right to a fair trial.
(d) Article 15 - prohibition of retroactive criminal laws.
Ultimately, when one stands back to test the fairness of Geagea's
trials, it can be seen that apart from trying him in what is known as
the Judicial Council, which is at the apex of the Lebanese judicial
system and from which there is no appeal, this in itself shows how
hell bent the Lebanese administration was determined to carry out
Syria's wishes to ensure that Geagea was made a political scapegoat.
As I
have said, it is not the purpose of tonight to lament what is
notoriously well known. Rather, we are here tonight to consider what
is to be proactively put forward to ensure that Geagea's release is
not a faint hope but a soon to be realised reality.
Many
of you will ask "But what can we do?". Inevitably, I will respond, as
I have in the past, "How many of you have bothered to urge our
political leaders and our local parliamentarians at State and Federal
levels to do what they can to raise these matters with the appropriate
ministerial departments?"
I am
not seeking to belabour any of you but rather what I am seeking to do
is to beseech you that if you are serious, then the time to act is
now, as it always has been. The might of the pen, the power of the
tongue and the hope that comes from every heartbeat which is pursued
in the determined realisation that Geagea and his release will be
achieved, is the very least I ask of you.
A
petition is available for your signature here tonight, to be addressed
to the Foreign Affairs Minister, calling on the Lebanese Government to
free Geagea and all political prisoners. I am reminded, as I speak
tonight, of the young man whom I met when I visited Lebanon with Dr
Geagea. His forlorn face will always stay with me as I saw him in the
dock alongside Dr Geagea. His name is Georges El Khoury. His family
reside in Australia and I do not want to name any of his siblings
deliberately, but nevertheless I refer to him as one of many
co-accused with Dr Geagea, both within and outside of Lebanon, who
were tried and convicted. It has always been in my memory, indelibly
implanted, that the tragedy of seeing these men in the dock in Lebanon
has made me determined and heightened my vigilance to ensure that
whatever I could do to procure their release would be done.
Politicians are parasites and pariahs in the main. Their lack of
fidelity and their expedient enthusiasm is regrettably a hallmark of
their hubris. Nevertheless, they perform a function and in that
regard must be utilised to whatever end is available for them to bring
to bear upon the tasks at hand.
For my
part, I have found that many politicians are sincere, but nevertheless
there is, within our ranks an element that will inevitably seek to
play both sides off against each other. We must be wary at all times
that such political power play will only inevitably result in the
continued failure to achieve Dr Geagea's release.
I am
not asking you, nor would it be an honest request on my part, to
support one political entity against another but nevertheless one must
be judicious and careful in the choice of who is approached in this
regard.
I
would recommend not only the signatures to this petition but also that
each and every one of you write to your local Members. I am sure that
there are many Labor and Liberal members of parliament who would
become increasingly sick and tired of receiving letters concerning Dr
Samir Geagea to be concerned enough to ask "Just who is Dr Samir
Geagea?" Once that has occurred and they have been informed, then
there is the need to persist in proliferating the publicity
concerning his incarceration and seeking his release.
Our
young people are becoming increasingly disillusioned of the old guard
who are responsible for the political strategising and publicity of
Lebanon's demise.
I say
to all young people, do not give up hope and do not become
disillusioned in the dinosaurs. There is life after death. Evolution
didn't stop with the age of the dinosaur. It continued and so it is
that the Lebanese Government will eventually come to a grinding halt
and their demise is assured.
The
United Nations and other human rights organisation are also available
but nevertheless their availability without the need or without the
resort to communicate with them is of little, if any, utility to the
achievement of Dr Geagea's freedom.
It can
even be a daunting task for the Secretary-General of the United
Nations to correct the wrongs that are represented in human rights
violations within the State. I remember fondly reading what U Thant
wrote in his introduction to his 1971 report on the work of the United
Nations, as Secretary-General, he said:
"I feel more strongly
than ever that the work of the individual human being is the most
unique and precious of all our assets. It must be the beginning and
the end of all our efforts ...
In this connection I feel
obliged to mention a problem which has been almost daily in my mind
during my time as Secretary-General. I refer to the violation of
human rights within the frontiers of a State. Theoretically, the
United Nations has little standing in such situations - and they are
all too common. Legally, the membership of the United Nations has
done an admirable job on human rights. The necessary texts exist.
But practically where does an individual or a group of individuals
find recourse against oppression within his own country? World public
opinion has become an increasingly important factor in such problems.
I myself have privately done the best I could in many such situations,
knowing full well the weakness of my own position, and I know that
many national leaders have done the same. But this can never be
enough, and the time has surely come when governments in the United
Nations must make a determined effort to give justice a world-wide
dimension."
The
former Secretary-General was writing as long ago as 1971, but how
relevant are his comments in the current contemporary climate and in
particular Lebanon's malaise.
If I
could conclude I would do so by citing what I think is an apt
reflection of how I see Dr Geagea's stand and why I urge you, if not
beseech you, and even more so am impulsively irate enough to implore
you that in the words of de Tocqueville, who so long ago wrote the
following, which I ask you to apply to your conscience and to Geagea's
imprisonment when he said as follows:
"If each citizen did not
learn, in proportion as he individually becomes more feeble and
consequently more incapable of preserving his freedom single-handed,
to combine with his fellow citizens for the purpose of defending it,
it is clear that tyranny would unavoidably increase together with
equality."
I
commend the words of the great libertarian and the renowned
revolutionary that he was.
Let us
now make a stand, from this day forward, to be steadfastly determined
and to be courageously vocal in the denunciation of the Lebanese
regime and to call for the freeing of Dr Geagea, which in turn will
ensure that not only in his freedom but the freedom of all Lebanese in
our beloved homeland, the realisation of the aspirations of our
forefathers will be renewed and restored.
STEPHEN J. STANTON
5
November 2004
|
