Beirut, Lebanon. Forty-two years after
the civil war began in Lebanon, the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) calls on the Lebanese authorities to pass a law that will
help clarify the fate of those who have gone missing during armed
conflicts in the country since 1975. The ICRC also urges the authorities
to approve a project to collect biological reference samples from the
missing persons’ families. “The families of missing persons have been waiting for years, anxious
to receive news about their loved ones,” said Fabrizzio Carboni, head
of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon. “Unfortunately, we are running out of
time: mothers and fathers are dying heartbroken without knowing what
happened to their sons and daughters. They have a right to know, and it
is the responsibility of the Lebanese authorities to provide some
answers.”

Thousands of people from all sides and backgrounds went missing in
Lebanon during the civil war, and their fate remains unknown. Under
international humanitarian law, government authorities are required to
clarify the fate of persons who go missing in conflict situations.
However, Lebanon has yet to take the necessary steps. “Looking at the priorities of the Lebanese government, we feel that
the suffering of missing persons’ families is underappreciated,” said
Carboni. “This should change. A law on missing persons and a mechanism
to provide answers should be made a priority.” Since 2012, the ICRC has actively supported the Lebanese authorities
in fulfilling their responsibility to clarify the fate of missing
persons. The organization has been interviewing families to gather
crucial and detailed information about their missing loved ones and
collecting biological reference samples from their close relatives for
future DNA analysis and identification efforts. The ICRC is standing by the families and responding to their specific
needs. In 2015, it launched an accompaniment project in Aley, Baabda,
Chouf and Sidon to create a support network for them. Carboni said: “The
families have a pressing need to learn the fate of their missing loved
ones. Since the beginning of the civil war, we’ve been helping them.
Today, we need the Lebanese authorities to assume their
responsibilities.” The ICRC has been present in Lebanon since 1967 and has carried out
its humanitarian work through periods of conflict, including the
1975-1990 civil war. The organization is currently responding to the
rapidly growing needs of displaced people fleeing war and violence
across the region along with the communities hosting them.