(New York, November 10, 1999) -- Despite recent international
condemnation of the practice, summary expulsion of Lebanese men, women,
and children from their homes and villages in Israeli-occupied south
Lebanon continues. From October 25-26, Israel's auxiliary Lebanese
militia, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), forcibly removed six Lebanese
civilians, including an elderly man, and a woman and her two children,
from the occupied zone.
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"Since 1985, hundreds if not thousands of Lebanese civilians have been
ordered to leave their homes and villages without notice and with no
means of appeal. They have been summarily dumped in a no man's land
without any possessions save the clothes on their backs," said Hanny
Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division
of Human Rights Watch. "This cruel and illegal dispossession has
destroyed the lives of innocent Lebanese families, and it must stop."
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Israel arms and finances the SLA, and thus bears ultimate responsibility
under international humanitarian law for SLA actions in south Lebanon
that violate the rights of the civilian population. The expulsions are
grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and, as such, constitute war
crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Barak made
public today.
Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention describes unlawful
deportation or transfer of civilians as one of the acts that constitute
a grave breach of the convention.
"Since 1985, hundreds if not thousands of Lebanese civilians have been
ordered to leave their homes and villages without notice and with no
means of appeal. They have been summarily dumped in a no man's land
without any possessions save the clothes on their backs," said Hanny
Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division
of Human Rights Watch. "This cruel and illegal dispossession has
destroyed the lives of innocent Lebanese families, and it must stop."
The Lebanese are forced to walk from the last SLA checkpoint in occupied
Lebanon to the first
Lebanese army checkpoint. From there, they seek shelter with family or
friends in territory under the control of the Lebanese government, and
attempt to rebuild their lives. They are entitled to receive a minimal,
one-time financial assistance payment from the Lebanese government.
In a letter to Barak made public today, Human Rights Watch called on
Israel to permit the return of expelled families under safe conditions,
free of any form of coercion or intimidation by occupation security
authorities.
Human Rights Watch said that Lebanese were expelled from the occupied
zone because they refused to cooperate with occupation intelligence
forces, because male relatives deserted or refused to join the SLA, and
as collective punishment for known or suspected armed attacks by their
relatives against Israeli and SLA military forces.
In July 1999, Human Rights Watch published a report about the
expulsions, which have been carried out since 1985 with little publicity
in Israel and internationally.
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