LCPS Study: Independence of the Missing Persons Commission and Protection of Families’ Data Are Essential to Clarifying the Fate of the Missing
A study published by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) finds that Lebanon’s National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared established institutional and legal foundations for addressing the issue during its first five years, despite limited resources and inadequate official support. It stresses that translating these steps into results that uphold families’ right to know requires safeguarding the Commission’s independence, strengthening its capacity, ensuring cooperation with it, and providing access to the information it needs.
Written by lawyer and public law scholar Ziad Achour, a member and Vice-President of the Commission, the study is titled “Establishing the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon.” Published in October 2026 as the eighth issue of LCPS’s “Dealing with the Past” series, it forms part of the Center’s efforts to inform policymakers, raise awareness, and propose practical solutions that support conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and social justice.
The paper reviews the Commission’s first mandate, from 2020 to 2025, describing its establishment under Law No. 105/2018 as a significant shift in the approach to a long-neglected issue. It highlights the role of sustained advocacy by families of the missing and civil society in securing the law’s adoption and establishing an independent national body tasked with clarifying the fate of the missing.
According to the study, the Commission began its work amid overlapping economic, political, and public health crises, alongside the Beirut port explosion. Some appointed members declined to serve, others resigned, and delays in appointing replacements left the Commission without a quorum for approximately ten months. These difficulties were compounded by the absence of official premises, a dedicated operating budget, and an executive administrative team, as well as limited awareness among public authorities of the law and the Commission’s powers. Achour argues that these circumstances exposed insufficient political commitment to supporting and empowering the Commission during its first mandate.
Nevertheless, the paper documents foundational achievements, including the adoption and publication of internal and financial regulations, a code of conduct, and rules governing central records, alongside the launch of efforts to build a database of missing and forcibly disappeared persons. The Commission also adopted its first strategic plan in October 2022, expanded partnerships with families, civil society, and international stakeholders, and established coordination arrangements with judicial authorities.
The study examines the cemetery investigation in Mdoukha, in the Bekaa, as an early field test of the Commission’s powers. The Commission established an exhumation committee and pursued the investigation, but the absence of a comprehensive national database prevented the identification of the remains. The process concluded with their reburial and the preservation of the case file. Further grave openings were deferred until appropriate scientific and operational conditions could be secured, while standard operating procedures were developed for future exhumations.
The paper also addresses the Commission’s response to cases of persons who went missing during Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2024, including efforts to coordinate reporting and searches and protect rubble that might contain human remains. It notes the difficulties the Commission encountered in obtaining the necessary data. It also reviews its response to developments in Syria in December 2024, including establishing a crisis team, receiving information, and interviewing released detainees, while seeking to respond responsibly to families’ renewed hopes.
The study stresses that protecting personal data is fundamental to trust between the Commission and families, and that information must be used exclusively to clarify the fate of the missing. It underlines the importance of preserving the Commission’s independent humanitarian mandate and shielding its work from political disputes and bargaining, enabling it to address all missing persons cases without discrimination.
The paper recommends protecting the Commission’s decisions from pressure, embedding a rigorous data protection policy, developing a strategic plan to locate and safeguard mass graves against interference, and enforcing the relevant legal provisions. It concludes that the achievements to date represent a foundational stage in a long journey towards truth and redress. Further progress depends on the Commission’s ability to fulfil its mandate independently and effectively, while recognising victims’ suffering and upholding the dignity of their families and their right to know.
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