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Israel-Lebanon framework agreement “threatens to hand over victims of war crimes” in Lebanon, according to six prominent human rights and media freedom organizations.
In a shared knowledge released on Friday by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), Legal Agenda, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Union of Journalists in Lebanon, they warned that some aspects of the agreement “seem to be aimed at preventing the victims of serious international crimes from seeking justice before the international community”.
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The organizations stated that articles 3 and 13 of the agreement, which was amended and signed in the United States on June 26, were mainly concerned with “preventing Lebanon and Israel from using international courts, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice”.
The six organizations warned that “Section 3 it also violates international law and prohibits forced displacement, allowing people to return to the border areas, currently occupied by Israel, to ‘effectively disarm non-governmental organizations and disarm them.
“Under international humanitarian law, people must be allowed to return after the war ends or the reasons for their displacement no longer exist,” he said.
Organizations said that Section 13 it was particularly concerning because it prevented ordinary people from “participating in international political or legal (fora)”. This comes after “months of hostilities that have resulted in massive casualties, including war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law, and human rights abuses”.
Many in Lebanon do he criticized and criticized government by signing an agreement with Israel.
Most of them opponents of the framework agreementwhich does not force Israeli soldiers to leave the areas they live in, are the people most affected by the war, which has killed at least 4,300 people, injured more than 12,000 and forced hundreds of thousands to leave their homes since the beginning of March.
The six organizations said that the agreement made by the US seems to “contradict the obligations of the countries to be held accountable for the serious international crimes committed in their territories,” although “it does not seem to make Israel stop anything in the international meetings against Hezbollah”.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, said: “Any agreement that fails to protect its rights to justice, accountability and reparation will be impunity in its own right.”
Ghida Frangieh, head of litigation at Legal Agenda, added: “Accountability and respect for international law is not a matter of negotiation. It is a legal obligation. International law is clear: States cannot waive or negotiate their responsibility to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes of global concern.
But the Lebanese president said on Friday that the agreement with Israel “does not allow Israel to continue occupying Lebanon”, but instead empowers the Lebanese army to expand its forces throughout the country.
Joseph Aoun said this in a meeting with representatives from the Association of Lebanese Universities, the Lebanese Order of Physicians and the Lebanese Maronite Order, according to a statement from the president.
“Our isolationist decision to separate our path from Iran and the US is a problem for others who are used to being under the watch that governs us, chooses us and negotiates on our behalf,” said Aoun, adding that the Lebanese army “will do all its work in achieving security and stability in the south after the withdrawal of the Israeli army”.
Meanwhile, with the “ceasefire” in Lebanon agreed on June 21 as part of the agreement between Iran and the US, and the Israeli-Lebanon agreement that was signed five days later, many Lebanese who fled their homes are returning to their homes in southern Lebanon.
In a report on Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 646,107 IDPs (displaced persons) have started to return to their communities, while about 500,000 others have been displaced, based on data collected by government officials since June 22.
Lebanese authorities say they are working to clear camps in and around the capital Beirut and reduce the number of settlements.
However, many people in southern Lebanon said they would there is no turning backsince many towns and villages near the border have been destroyed by the Israeli army.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army “will not leave” southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a “threat”. Hezbollah has rejected the agreement with Israel as “absurd”, saying that any attempt to coordinate the withdrawal of Israel and placing their weapons across “red lines”.
