by foreignpolicy.com — David Enders — BEIRUT—The 12-year-old United Nations-backed international tribunal prosecuting the assassinations of Lebanese political figures will cease operations this month unless funds are secured, as Lebanon’s currency crisis continues to worsen. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, based near The Hague, was set to begin appellate hearings in July in the case of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A verdict was handed down in the case last year, finding one defendant guilty while acquitting three others. On June 16, the tribunal was also set to begin hearing arguments in a second trial related to the assassination of Lebanese politician George Hawi and the attempted assassinations of Marwan Hamade and Elias Murr, both former cabinet officials. Hamade and Murr were both injured and two others died in those attacks. “For now, the STL is threatened by imminent closure unless it receives contributions before the end of the month,” said Wajed Ramadan, the tribunal’s public affairs officer. “Without resources, the tribunal would be unable to continue beyond July.”

Lebanon pays 49 percent of the court’s expenses, and the U.N. pays the remaining fees for the court, which was established in 2007 by U.N. Resolution 1757. The tribunal’s budget last year was $67 million. The U.N. granted $15.5 million to help cover the Lebanese government’s share this year, which is 75 percent of the government’s projected responsibility. Essentially, Lebanon risks losing accountability for a string of political assassinations over a $5 million outstanding tab. “You are wasting the victims’ rights and denying them justice.” Hariri, who died along with 22 others, was killed by a massive car bomb on a seafront road in Beirut in 2005, one of a string of political assassinations of Lebanese politicians and media figures. Many Lebanese blame the Syrian government for ordering the attacks, while the court has convicted only one person, a Lebanese member of Hezbollah, the militant movement and political party that is Syria’s chief ally in Lebanon.

For families waiting for the start of next week’s trial, the announcement last week that the court was suspending operations left them wondering whether anyone would ever be held accountable for the murders. The court’s assumption of the case left them unable to attempt to use Lebanese courts to prosecute the crimes, and they have been waiting more than a decade for the special tribunal to hear the cases. “You are wasting the victims’ rights and denying them justice, at least start the trial to allow us to express our views and our concerns, we are victims, and we are not asking for more than moral reparation which is only justice,” a group representing the victims of the Hawi assassination and the two related attempts said in a prepared statement. The proceedings have in many ways failed to please anyone. All defendants are being tried in absentia, as Lebanese authorities have failed to apprehend any of them.