Lebanon: Information on the treatment of Muslims who join the South Lebanese Army (SLA), the treatment afforded deserters, whether Muslim deserters are treated differently than other deserters, and the treatment afforded deserters who have returned to Lebanon

Publisher	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Author	Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada
Publication Date	1 June 1994
Citation / Document Symbol	LBN17673.E
Cite as	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Information on the treatment of Muslims who join the South Lebanese Army (SLA), the treatment afforded deserters, whether Muslim deserters are treated differently than other deserters, and the treatment afforded deserters who have returned to Lebanon, 1 June 1994, LBN17673.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab3450.html [accessed 20 May 2023]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

According to a representative of the Refugee Studies Program at Oxford University and to various media reports, Muslims are forcibly recruited into the South Lebanese Army (28 June 1994; Voice of the Mountain 29 Jan. 1992; Radio Lebanon 2 Feb. 1992; ibid. 20 June 1993; Voice of the Oppressed 4 Feb. 1992; Reuters 27 Mar. 1993). Forced recruitment has occurred as recently as January 1994 (Reuters 12 Jan. 1994; Xinhua 13 Jan. 1994).

Muslims have also been induced to join the SLA for "financial reasons" (Middle East Times 28 Nov. 1993). The SLA reportedly pays recruits nearly twice the average annual wage in south Lebanon (The Toronto Star 20 Feb. 1994). Over half of the SLA's 2,500 soldiers are Shia Muslims (Middle East Times 28 Nov. 1993; AFP 6 June 1993).

Information on the actual treatment of Muslims serving in the SLA is currently unavailable to the DIRB. However, the representative of the Refugee Studies Program stated that there is no formalized system of military justice within the SLA, and that punishments for disciplinary infractions are meted out by the SLA's non-Muslim unit commanders (28 June 1994). Deserters captured by the Hizbullah have referred to "sufferings" and "pressures" (Voice of the Oppressed 31 Jan. 1992).

According to a representative of the Middle East bureau of Human Rights Watch in New York, both Muslims and Christian deserters arrested by SLA officials are subject to imprisonment for an unspecified period of time (28 June 1994). He stated that captured deserters are held incommunicado and that family members have allegedly been forced to pay up to US$5,000 to secure their release (ibid.). He stated that family members of deserters have been imprisoned as proxies, and that deserters imprisoned by the SLA have been beaten and tortured (ibid.). He added that Human Rights Watch is not aware of the SLA actually having executed deserters (ibid.).

The representative at Human Rights Watch also stated that the Lebanese government considers voluntary membership in the SLA to be an act of high treason, and deserters who flee the SLA to areas under the control of the Lebanese government must be able to prove that they did not join the organization willingly (ibid.). He said that an inability to do so could result in a prison term or possible death sentence (ibid.). He added that the Lebanese government is not known to have executed former SLA members for treason. Reports state that the Hizbullah's treatment of captured SLA deserters ranges from using them for propaganda purposes and apparently leaving them unharmed (Voice of the Oppressed 31 Jan. 1992), to ordering their execution (Qol Yisra'el 12 May 1992).

According to the representative of the Refugee Studies Program, both young Muslim and Christian males have traditionally sought to flee the southern Lebanon security zone in order to escape SLA military service and the possibility of subsequently being branded an Israeli collaborator (28 June 1994). However, in August 1993 the incentive to desert increased when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced a possible Israeli withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone (The Lebanon Report Sept. 1993, 5). The announcement raised the question of continued Israeli support for the SLA (Hadashot 22 Nov. 1993) and increased fears among the SLA's leadership of widespread desertions (Yedi'ot Aharonot 22 Nov. 1993).

Revenge killings of SLA members by the Hizbullah and reprisals by Syrian and Lebanese elements are expected if Israel withdraws (Middle East Times 28 Nov. 1993; Yedi'ot Aharonot 30 Jan. 1994), and in November 1993 at least 17 SLA members surrendered to Hizbullah units in order to "guarantee their future status" and "avoid being accused of treason" (AFP 29 Nov. 1993).

For additional information on deserters from the SLA, please refer to the attached documents.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Press (AFP) [Paris, in English]. 29 November 1993. "SLA Leader Comments on Defections, Peace Process." (FBIS-NES-93-227 29 Nov. 1993, p. 49)

. 6 June 1993. "SLA Commander Supports Return of Displaced." (FBIS-NES-93-107 7 June 1993, p. 52)

Hadashot [Tel Aviv, in Hebrew]. 22 November 1993. "Deputy Minister Planning for Lebanon Withdrawal." (FBIS-NES-93-224 23 Nov. 1993, pp. 35-36)

Middle East Bureau, Human Rights Watch, New York. 28 June 1994. Telephone interview with representative.

The Lebanon Report [Beirut]. September 1993. Vol. 4, No. 9. "What Security for the South?"

Middle East Times [Athens]. 28 November 1993. Giles Trendle. "Lebanon's 'Twilight Zone'."

Qol Yisra'el [Jerusalem, in English]. 12 May 1992. "Hizballah 'Responsible' for SLA Defector's Death." (FBIS-NES-92-093 13 May 1992, p. 32)

Radio Lebanon [Beirut, in Arabic]. 20 June 1993. "Israelis Recruiting Youths 'by Force'." (FBIS-NES-93-117 21 June 1993, p. 56)

. 2 February 1992. "Israeli Forces Storm, Besiege Towns." (FBIS-NES-92-023 4 Feb. 1992, p. 35)

Refugee Studies Program, Oxford University. 28 June 1994. Telephone interview with representative.

Reuters. 12 January 1994. BC Cycle. "Israel's Militia in Lebanon Imposes Conscription." (NEXIS)

. 27 March 1993. BC Cycle. Karamallah Daher. "Israel's 'Security Zone' is a World of its Own." (NEXIS)

The Toronto Star. 20 February 1994. Final Edition. Bob Hepburn. "South Lebanon: The Last Front in the Arab-Israeli War Zone." (NEXIS)

Voice of the Mountain [Clandestine, in Arabic]. 29 January 1992. "Lahd Forces Detaining Youths in Security Strip." (FBIS-NES-92-021 31 Jan. 1992, p. 60)

Voice of the Oppressed [Ba'labakk, in Arabic]. 4 February 1992. "Village Details Hardships of 'Zionist Siege'." (FBIS-NES-92-023 4 Feb. 1992, p. 35)

. 31 January 1992. "Hizballah Presents Lahd Deserters at News Briefing." (FBIS-NES-92-021 31 Jan. 1992, p. 60)

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 13 January 1994. "SLA Recruits Compulsorily in South Lebanon." (NEXIS)

Yedi'ot Aharonot [Tel Aviv, in Hebrew]. 30 January 1994. "SLA Concerned Over Possible Israeli Withdrawal." (FBIS-NES-94-024 4 Feb. 1994, p. 29)

. 22 November 1993. "Desertion Feared in SLA After Rabin's Statements." (FBIS-NES-93-224 23 Nov. 1993, p. 36)

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