| Abstract: | 1After a 15-year conflict characterized by mass violations ofhuman rights, the Lebanese state and society have favored amnesiaover truth seeking. This has marginalized the victims, in particularthe relatives of thousands of missing or forcibly disappearedpersons. The 2007 decision by the UN Security Council to createa Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), tasked exclusively withtrying suspects in the assassination of former Prime MinisterRafik Hariri and other politically motivated assassinations,has fuelled perceptions of selective justice. This article outlinespossible strategies for taking advantage of changed circumstancesin Lebanon, including the future STL, in order to implementthe internationally guaranteed right to truth for families ofthe missing. The author examines recent regional practices and,drawing from the experiences of Morocco and Cyprus, argues thatgiven the strong constraints in Lebanon, the priority, at leastinitially, should be to establish the truth of what happenedand not the prosecution or even naming of culprits. |
