Lebanon: 1) Fighting between Christian and Muslim militias in the Bessaba region/village; 2) Background information on the Maronite Christians and conflict with Muslims; 3) Documentation on the application of a "well-founded fear of persecution"

1) A search for the village or region of Bessaba, Lebanon, revealed four locations for a place name "Bsaba". Two populated regions: one at 33 48" North by 35 33" East; one at 33 36" North by 35 33" East. A forest by the name of Bsaba is located at 33 36" North by 35 33" East, and a mountain at 33 37" North by 35 34" East. A copy of Bartholemew World Travel Map: Lebanon (Scale 1: 200,000) is attached. A map of the demarcations between the areas controlled by the militias is also attached. The village and region of Bsaba appears to lie almost directly on the line between the Druse Militia (Progressive Socialist Party, PSP) and the Shi'a militia, Amal. In addition, according to the maps, the predominantly christian force of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) is in control of the town of Jezzine, and has some influence slightly to the north. Thus, the Bsaba region appears to be near the meeting place of three large (and opposing) militias.

2)             The Phalangist Party - also known as Al-Kata'ib or the Lebanese Kata'ib Social Democratic Party - was established by Pierre Gemayel in 1936. Although it advocates a nationalist line, Al-Kata'ib failed to establish itself as a non-sectarian party, and remains a predominantly Maronite Christian party. [George Delury, World Encyclopedia of Political systems and Parties, Second Edition, (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987), p. 669.] It is described as a nationalist, reformist, democratic social party, which had about 100,000 members in 1986. [ Europa Year Book, 1988, (London: Europa Publications Ltd., 1988), p. 1680.]

The Lebanese Forces (LF) is the armed wing of the Phalangist Party (Maronite) in Lebanon. It was formed during the 1970s, and under the leadership of Bashir Gemayel, played a major part in the 1975-76 civil war. [ Henry Degenhardt, ed, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (Essex: Longman, 1988), p. 211.] Following the assassination of Bashir Gemayel in September 1982, three men competed for control of the Lebanese Forces : Fouad Abou Nader, Samir Geagea, and Elie Hobeika. Geagea and Hobeika have vied for control of the Lebanese Forces since March 1985, when Geagea (anti-Syrian) took control of the LF from Fouad Abou Nader, a pro-Syrian leader of the Phalangist militia. [ Henry Degenhardt, ed, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (Essex: Longman, 1988), p. 212.] In May 1985, Elie Hobeika was placed in charge of the unit. On 28 December 1985, Hobeika signed a peace accord with the Syrian government, the Druze militia (PSP), and Amal (pro-Syrian Shi'a militia). The agreement included provisions for the disbandment of Lebanese militia forces and for the initiation of political reforms which would end Christian domination of Lebanese institutions (parliament, army, etc.). [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXII, January 1986, p. 34132.]

Geagea reassumed command of the LF on 15 January 1986, after his anti-Syrian faction, which did not support the December accord, defeated the pro-Syrian faction of Hobeika. Conflict between the Hobeika and Geagea factions continued throughout 1987.

According to Amnesty International, the Lebanese Forces controlled East Beirut and the area north of Beirut in 1987. [Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988, p. 245.]

The South Lebanon Army, another predominantly Christian militia, is one of four militias with "effective" control of the southern region of Lebanon. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988, p. 245.] The SLA operates in the southern security corridor, an eighty by twenty kilometre strip of land along the Israeli border. Although it is a predominantly Christian militia supported by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), recruitment of Shi'a and Druze civilians found within the SLA territory has been reported, apparently in an effort to broaden the communal base of the militia. [ Henry Degenhardt, ed, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (Essex: Longman, 1988), p. 213.] The SLA is the most likely of the Christian militias to be in control of the area just north of Jezzine.

The militias in the region have frequently clashed during the 1980s. Beginning in mid-March 1989, Maj-General Aoun (leader of the predominantly Christian faction of the Lebanese Army) blockaded what he refers to as the "illegal" Muslim ports. Since that time, the Christians and Muslims have been engaged in some of the worst battles of the ten-year long civil war. Many of the Christian groups are in an uneasy alliance with the Lebanese Army. [ British Broadcast Corporation, 27 July 1989.] The two main Shi'a militias, Amal and Hezbollah, have also been fighting between themselves in the region south of Beirut, in addition to their intercommunal battles with the Christian militias. It should be noted that many of the militias (particularly the Christian militias) are not comprised purely of members of one faith, but have mixed membership.

Please see the following articles on the some of the militias, and the general state of internecine warfare throughout Lebanon:

- Henry Degenhardt, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988

- Ihsan Hijazi, "For Lebanese, New Chaos, Old Fears", The New York Times, 4 September 1988.

- ""Lebanon: Who'd get what", The Economist, 1 October 1988.

- Ihsan Hijazi, "New flare-up in war feared by Lebanese as militias get arms", The Globe and Mail, 5 September 1988.

- Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume XXXIII, August 1987, p. 35344.

3) For documentation on a "well-founded fear of persecution", please refer to the following attached documents:

- James Crawford and Patricia Hyndman, "Three Heresies in the Application of the Refugee Convention", in International Journal of Refugee Law, Volume 1, No. 2, April 1989.

- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. Geneva, January 1988.

- Guy Goodwin-Gill. The Refugee in International Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983.