Lebanon: 1) Information on the present status of Lebanese Forces under the leadership of Samir Geagea. 2) Do the Lebanese Forces currently (since the ousting of Aoun) engage in forced recruitment of Lebanese civilians. 3) Any recent information on Human Rights abuses or forced recruitment by the Lebanese Forces
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LBN8455 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: 1) Information on the present status of Lebanese Forces under the leadership of Samir Geagea. 2) Do the Lebanese Forces currently (since the ousting of Aoun) engage in forced recruitment of Lebanese civilians. 3) Any recent information on Human Rights abuses or forced recruitment by the Lebanese Forces, 1 May 1991, LBN8455, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaf697.html [accessed 31 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. |
1) Since the ousting of former Gen. Michel Aoun in October
1990, the Lebanese Forces (LF) chief' Samir Geagea has refused to participate in the government of Omar Karami (Reuters 4 Jan.
1991; Libération 26 Dec. 1990). His boycott has deprived the
cabinet, established on Christmas eve last year, of full legitimacy as a government of national reconciliation. The leader of the LF has complained that the cabinet was "unbalanced" because it had too many pro-Syrian leaders" (Reuters 4 Jan. 1991; Le Devoir 12 Jan. 1991). According to a publication entitled The Lebanon Report "...members of the LF, feel that if they joined the government they would have almost no say in decision-making but would only be providing their stamp of approval for whatever the dominant forces in the current government wanted to implement. They would rather be in opposition than an ineffectual part of the government itself" (March 1991, 4). This source outlines the conditions under which, as of March 1991, the LF of Samir Geagea will join the government:
a. a commitment that major policy decisions of the Council
of Ministers will be made by concensus, as negotiated in
the Taef Accord, and not by two-thirds majority (Arabies
Feb. 1991);
b. the formation of an informal "inner cabinet" including
Geagea, Sa'adeh (Kataeb), Walid Jumblatt (Druze), and Nabih
Berri (Shi'a) which would work out the broad outlines of
major policy issues before submitting them to the 30-member
cabinet for approval (The Lebanon Report March 1991);
c. the freezing of all major policy decisions until (a) and
(b) have been implemented (The Lebanon Report March 1991);
d. that any new MP's elections be only held in government
controlled areas in order to avoid the nomination of
deputies by the government (Arabies Feb. 1991);
2) and 3) Information on this specific topic is currently
unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.
Attachment:
"Lebanon's Militia Leader Proposes Parliamentary Elections", The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, 4 April 1991.
Bibliography
Sinno, Rashid, Lebanon's New Premier Says Freeing Western Hostages a Priority, Reuters, 4 January 1991.
"La mainmise de Damas sur l'"union nationale", Libération, 26 December 1991.
"Joumblatt démissionne du gouvernement libanais", Le Devoir, 12 January 1991.
"Un gouvernement aux ordres, une paix bancale", Arabies, February 1991.
The Lebanon Report, publish by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Beirut, March 1991.
