The President of the National Human Rights Commission, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (NHRC-CPT), Dr. Fadi Gerges, and the Commission’s Commissioner for International Relations, Mr. Bassam Al Kantar, received a delegation at the Commission’s headquarters in Beirut comprising Mr. Mohammad Safa, President of the Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture; Dr. Mohammad Tay, Director of the Qana Human Rights Observatory; and human rights advocate Dr. Marwa Dib.
The meeting addressed ongoing national and international efforts to secure the adoption of a draft resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council concerning Lebanese citizens detained and forcibly disappeared in Israel. Participants also discussed the legal and diplomatic avenues required to determine their fate, safeguard their rights, and work toward their release.
Safa explained that the Khiam Center and the Qana Observatory are promoting the draft resolution at both the national and international levels, particularly through dialogue and consultations with the Directorate of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants and Lebanon’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. These efforts also include a series of diplomatic and political meetings and visits conducted by the delegation.
He noted that these initiatives aim to build a comprehensive advocacy campaign leading the Lebanese Government to endorse the draft resolution, mandate Lebanon’s Permanent Mission in Geneva to formally submit it to the Human Rights Council, mobilize international support, and request that it be put to a vote.
For his part, Dr. Gerges welcomed the delegation and affirmed that the Commission’s doors remain open to all human rights organizations and entities working to defend victims’ rights. He stressed that the Commission attaches the utmost importance to the cases of Lebanese citizens who are detained, missing, or subjected to enforced disappearance, commending the efforts to keep this issue on the national and international agendas.
Gerges emphasized that the final version of the draft resolution should build upon the original draft previously prepared by the National Human Rights Commission and submitted to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. This would ensure a robust legal characterization, align the demands with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and strengthen the prospects of establishing a unified official Lebanese position.
Al Kantar, for his part, stated:
“Diplomatic action within the United Nations forms part of a long-term, integrated process aimed at securing the release of Lebanese citizens detained by the Israeli authorities, determining the fate of those subjected to enforced disappearance, and ensuring accountability for the violations committed against them.”
He underscored the need for an accurate legal characterization of each case, based on the circumstances of the detention and the legal status of the individual concerned. He stressed the importance of distinguishing between civilians abducted by the occupying authorities—some of whom may subsequently be released as other citizens are detained—and combatants who were parties to the armed conflict and to whom, depending on the circumstances of each case, prisoner-of-war status and the safeguards established under the Geneva Conventions may apply.
Al Kantar warned against subjecting detainees entitled to prisoner-of-war status to criminal proceedings before Israeli courts, in violation of the protections afforded to them under international humanitarian law. He also warned that they could face unfair trials and harsh sentences, potentially including life imprisonment or the death penalty.
He emphasized that the differing legal status of detainees requires parallel and complementary courses of action tailored to the circumstances of each case, without diminishing any individual’s right to legal and humanitarian protection.
Al Kantar added that the Commission had been among the first to publicly state its position on the text of the “Trilateral Framework between the United States of America, the State of Israel, and the Lebanese Republic,” particularly the provisions concerning refraining from hostile or adversarial action in international political or legal forums, searching for and returning remains, and releasing detainees.
The Commission reiterated that, legally and humanely, the cases of living Lebanese citizens who were detained and transferred into Israel—some of whom remain in detention or whose fate is still unknown—must not be linked to the remains of Israeli soldiers who went missing decades ago during military operations conducted on Lebanese territory.
It stressed that searching for the remains of missing and deceased persons in armed conflicts, including missing Israeli soldiers, constitutes a separate humanitarian obligation imposed by international humanitarian law. This obligation must not be used to bargain over or made conditional upon the rights of living detainees and victims of enforced disappearance, nor may it serve as a precondition for their continued deprivation of liberty.
Press Conference to Launch the Draft Resolution
At the conclusion of the meeting, the participants agreed to hold a press conference to launch the Draft Resolution on Lebanese Detainees Subjected to Enforced Disappearance in Israel, in preparation for its submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The conference will be organized by the Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture and the Qana Human Rights Observatory, in the presence of the families of prisoners, detainees, and victims of enforced disappearance, with the participation of media outlets, human rights organizations, and other concerned stakeholders.
📅 Date: Tuesday, 15 September 2026
🕚 Time: 11:00 a.m.
📍 Venue: Headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Serhal Building, First Floor, Sami El Solh Boulevard, Beirut.
📝 Registration and participation:
https://nhrclb.org/event-registration
🗺️ Directions to the Commission’s headquarters via Google Maps:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/A48CY655WDynYKS37
The participants affirmed that broad attendance at the press conference would strengthen the national and international advocacy campaign seeking to determine the fate of detainees and victims of enforced disappearance, secure their release, and safeguard their rights and those of their families.
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