LIBANO HA RIPRESO ESECUZIONI DOPO MORATORIA/ANSA GIUSTIZIATI ALL'ALBA TRE UOMINI CONDANNATI PER OMICIDIO

(di Furio Morroni)

BEIRUT, 17 GEN - Con la messa a morte stamani di tre libanesi condannati per omicidio premeditato il Libano ha ripreso l'applicazione della pena capitale che aveva sospeso cinque anni fa.

A niente sono quindi valsi tutti gli appelli rivolti al presidente libanese Emile Lahoud, che mercoledi' aveva controfirmato i decreti di morte, dall'Unione Europea, dal governo italiano e da numerose organizzazioni umanitarie internazionali come Amnesty International.

Le esecuzioni di Ahmed Mansour, Badi Hamadeh e Remy Antoine Zouaiter - giudicati colpevoli di aver ucciso, in tre diversi episodi, ben 14 persone - sono avvenute alle 05:00 di stamani (le 04:00 in Italia), come da programma, nel cortile del carcere di Roumieh, a Nord di Beirut: Mansour e' stato impiccato mentre gli altri due sono stati fucilati dal plotone d'esecuzione.

All'esterno del carcere, sin dalla sera prima, sotto l'occhio vigile di numerosi agenti di polizia circa 200 appartenenti a gruppi umanitari locali, di Amnesty International e di Greenpace avevano inscenato un sit-it di protesta sventolando bandiere nere e striscioni con scritte come ''Non fate il loro stesso errore'', ''Occhio per occhio e dente per dente lasciano tutti ciechi e sdentati'', ''Due crimini non fanno giustizia''.

Le esecuzioni odierne - le prime messe in atto durante il mandato di Lahoud (eletto nel 1998) - sono state criticate dal quotidiano As Safir che ha biasimato le autorita' di Beirut ''per aver ignorato le condanne'' delle esecuzioni stesse e ''di aver mancato di spiegare la decisione'' di procedere comunque con la messa a morte dei tre uomini.

Da parte sua, il diffuso quotidiano An Nahar ha riferito le dichiarazioni con cui Lahoud ha inteso difendere la decisione di applicare le sentenze capitali affermando che ''esse sono state emanate in nome del popolo allo scopo di salvaguardarne l'unita', la sicurezza e la stabilita' ''.

Fonti governative, da parte loro, hanno reso noto che sei delle altre 24 condanne alla pena capitale emesse e che restano ancora da applicare nel Paese sono state ieri commutate con altrettanti decreti in ergastoli con lavori forzati. Esse riguardano quattro detenuti libanesi, un egiziano e un siriano accusati di omicidio volontario.

Ma per la stampa libanese, l'iniziativa e' stata presa soltanto per cercare di ''attutire'' il contraccolpo che il Libano subira' in seguito alle attese, negative reazioni della comunita' internazionale e soprattutto dell'Unione Europea che sino all'ultimo minuto ha fatto pressioni su Lahoud per cancellare le condanne a morte e da tempo chiede al Libano di abolire la pena capitale per adeguarsi ai requisiti fissati negli accordi euro-mediterranei firmati dal governo di Beirut.

A 48 ore dalla messa in atto delle odierne sentenze capitali, la Commissione europea - in un comunicato diffuso a Beirut - aveva espresso il proprio ''stupore e smarrimento'' per la decisione di eseguire le tre condanne, sottolineando la propria completa opposizione alla pena capitale ed invitando Lahoud ad usare i suoi poteri per cancellare i decreti di condanna.

L'Unione Europea, come hanno riferito fonti diplomatiche occidentali nella capitale libanese, aveva vivamente protestato presso le autorita' di Beirut per esprimere ''rincrescimento sulle scelte del governo, considerate come un passo indietro rispetto all'orientamento giudiziario mondiale''.

La pena capitale e' in vigore in Libano dal 1947 e da allora sono state eseguite 43 condanne a morte. Le ultime risalgono al maggio 1997 quando Wissam Nayef e Hassan Nada Abu Jabal furono impiccati in pubblico a Tabarja, a Nord di Beirut.

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LIBANO, UE CONDANNA ESECUZIONI CAPITALI

BRUXELLES, 17 GEN - La Commissione europea ha oggi condannato l'esecuzione di tre libanesi annunciate dal governo di Beirut.

L'esecutivo europeo valutera' ''le implicazioni'' sull'accordo di associazione che il paese ha firmato con l'Ue nel giugno del 2002, ''in considerazione - ha precisato un portavoce della Commissione Ue - dell'importanza che l'Unione assegna ai temi vincolati con la pena di morte''.

In un comunicato reso noto ieri - prima della conferma delle esecuzioni da parte di Beirut - la presidenza irlandese di turno dell'Ue aveva manifestato la propria ''seria preoccupazione'' per la possibile ripresa della pena capitale in Libano, ''fatto che avrebbe segnato - ha ricordato la nota - la fine della moratoria rispettata dal paese negli ultimi cinque anni''.

In una lettera scritta al presidente libanese, Emile Lahoud, il premier irlandese, Bertie Ahern, aveva ricordato che ''per gli stati membri dell'Ue, il ricorso alla pena di morte rappresenta un attentato alla dignita' umana''. 

Lebanon Executes Three Convicted Killers

 By ZEINA KARAM, 

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon executed three convicted murderers Saturday, ending a five-year hiatus on imposing the death penalty.

All three men were put to death in the courtyard of the Roumieh prison, the country's main penitentiary in a northern Beirut suburb, after President Emile Lahoud rejected appeals for clemency.

Ahmed Mansour was hanged for the July 2002 killing of eight of his colleagues in a shooting spree at a government building. Badieh Hamadeh, who killed three army intelligence personnel in July 2002, and Remy Zaatar, who killed two civil defense colleagues in June 2002, were shot by firing squad.

In Lebanon, convicts condemned to death by military court are executed by firing squad while those sentenced by a civilian judge are hanged.

While capital punishment is common in the Middle East, Lebanon had a five-year moratorium because former Prime Minister Salim Hoss was opposed to the death penalty. Executions must be approved by the president, prime minister and justice minister.

The European Union and human rights groups had called for clemency and local human rights groups held an all-night vigil near the prison.

Fourteen people were executed between 1994 and 1998. Officials said then a deterrent was needed to control rising crime after the 1975-90 civil war.

Three executed at dawn in Lebanon, first in six years

BEIRUT (AFP) - Three Lebanese men sentenced to death for murder were executed at dawn in the first use of the death penalty here for nearly six years, an official source said.

The executions, which were carried out despite pleas for clemency from human rights movements, the European Union (news - web sites) and Lebanese politicians, took place at 5:00 am (0300 GMT) in Rumieh prison northeast of Beirut.

An AFP photographer said police and troops manned barricades to keep some 70 journalists as well as around 30 protestors who had staged an all-night vigil, from approaching the jail.

Protestors bore placards bearing the words, "Do not kill" and "No to capital punishment."

The photographer said that around 5:20 a.m. three ambulances came out of the prison, presumably carrying the bodies of the executed men.

They were followed by cars containing Christian and Muslim clerics who had assisted at the executions, one by hanging and the other two by firing squad.

Ahmad Mansur, who killed eight co-workers in a spectacular shooting spree on July 2002, was to be hanged.

Remy Antoine Zaatar, convicted of killing two members of the civil defense and a Syrian army officer in June 2002, and Badih Hamadeh, a Sunni militant who killed three Lebanese soldiers the same summer, were to be shot.

Dozens of intellectuals and human rights activists held a sit-in at the Lebanese parliament Friday to protest against the executions.

The demonstration forced Lebanese soldiers, backed by trucks and jeeps, to block access to the pedestrian square near parliament called Place de L'Etoile.

The protestors, many wearing black, then marched to a nearby public area where they lay down for several minutes to simulate death.

The executions, the first in Lebanon since public hangings in 1998, sparked protests from the European Union, France, and human rights groups.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, called on Lebanese President Emil Lahoud to halt the executions, which France said would be "contrary to the spirit of the association accord signed between the European Union and Lebanon in June 2002."

The London-based rights group Amnesty International called on Lahoud to immediately halt the executions and save 24 others who have been sentenced to death.

A government statement announced later Friday night that six other prisoners on death row have had their sentences reduced to life in prison with hard labor, but that the trio would still be executed.

The newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, belonging to Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, said the six concerned were four Lebanese, a Syrian and an Egyptian, adding that in view of the protests Saturday's executions were expected to be the last in Lebanon.

Capital punishment was rare in Lebanon until a 1994 law effectively renewed the practice. Whereas only three convicts had been hanged in the past 35 years, the law cleared the way for 14 fresh executions.

Execution orders were then stopped when Lahoud first took office in 1998 because then prime minister Salim Hoss was an opponent of the death penalty and refused to sign any such orders.

The French-language daily L'Orient-Le Jour commented Saturday that Lahoud had been inflexible, adding that "deaf to European protests, Beirut maintained that they were particularly odious crimes affecting state security, and that in any case the country is not yet ready for the abolition of the death penalty."

17/01/04

Death penalty resumes in Lebanon

Lebanon has resumed capital punishment by executing three convicted murderers despite international protests.

The three were executed in Beirut's Roumieh prison early on Saturday - two by firing squad and one by hanging.

They were the first prisoners to face the death penalty in Lebanon since President Emile Lahoud came to power in late 1998.

The EU and human rights groups had urged the Beirut government not to carry out the sentences.

Under Lebanese law, a death sentence has to be approved by the president, prime minister and justice minister.

The men's families were permitted to spend half-an-hour with them on Friday night, but they were not allowed to be present at the executions.

'Hope dimmed'

The London-based human rights group, Amnesty International, had said Lebanon should build on the moratorium and move towards abolition of the death penalty.

"Beams of hope lit by a de facto five-year moratorium on the death penalty have been dimmed by Lebanon's decision to kill these men," a statement by the group said.

On Friday dozens of activists with black flags marched to the parliament building in Beirut to stage a lie-in.

Capital punishment was rare in Lebanon until 1994, when the law was tightened in an attempt to deter criminals in the aftermath of the 1975-90 civil war.

Fourteen people were executed in the following four years.

Soon after Mr Lahoud took power, Salim Hoss, an opponent of the death penalty, became prime minister and refused to sign any orders for execution.

samedi 17 janvier 2004, 13h47

Execution au Liban de trois condamn�s � mort apr�s cinq ans de moratoire

BEYROUTH - Malgr� les protestations et d�nonciations de la communaut� internationale, trois condamn�s � mort ont �t� ex�cut�s samedi � l'aube au Liban, mettant ainsi un terme � cinq ann�es de moratoire sur la peine capitale au pays du C�dre.

L'Union europ�enne et nombre d'organisations de d�fense des droits de l'homme, dont Amnesty International et la FIDH (F�d�ration internationale des droits de l'homme) avaient lanc� des appels � la cl�mence. Des manifestations de protestation avaient �t� organis�es au Liban, devant la prison et au Parlement.

Les trois hommes, un chr�tien, un musulman chiite et un sunnite, ont �t� ex�cut�s dans la cour de la prison de Roumieh, principal �tablissement p�nitentiaire du pays, dans la banlieue de Beyrouth.

Ahmed Mansour a �t� pendu pour avoir abattu huit de ses coll�gues d'un service gouvernemental dans une fusillade en juillet 2002.

Badieh Hamadeh, qui avait tu� trois soldats le m�me mois, et Remy Zaatar, condamn� par un tribunal militaire pour le meurtre de deux coll�gues de la d�fense civile en juin 2002, ont �t� fusill�s par un peloton d'ex�cution. Selon les responsables de la s�curit�, ils ont refus� d'avoir les yeux band�s.

Les familles ont pu passer une demi-heure avec les condamn�s vendredi soir, mais les l'ex�cutions se sont d�roul�es sans t�moins, ni proches ni journalistes. Les condamn�s ont �galement pu voir imams et pr�tres avant leur ex�cution.

Le pr�sident Emile Lahoud, qui avait refus� de les gr�cier, a en revanche commun� vendredi six autres condamnations � mort en prison � des peines allant de 20 ans de travaux forc�s � la r�clusion � perp�tuit�.

La peine capitale est appliqu�e dans nombre de pays au Proche-Orient, mais le Liban faisait exception depuis cinq ans, l'ancien Premier ministre Salim Hoss ayant refus� de signer tous les ordres d'ex�cution, la peine de mort �tant contraire � ses convictions. Au Liban, toute condamnation � mort doit �tre approuv�e � la fois par le pr�sident, le Premier ministre et celui de la Justice.

Vendredi, l'UE avait fait part de sa "consternation" et exhort� le pr�sident Lahoud � modifier sa d�cision. Samedi, le porte-parole de la diplomatie fran�aise Herv� Ladsous a condamn� ces ex�cutions, la peine capitale constituant "une atteinte � la dignit� de l'�tre humain". "Ce ch�timent est contraire � l'esprit de l'accord d'association sign� entre l'Union europ�enne et le Liban en juin 2002, ajoute-t-il. Paris appelle Beyrouth � "ne pas proc�der � d'autres ex�cutions et � reprendre le moratoire". 

Le Liban ex�cute trois condamn�s � mort

BEYROUTH - Pour la premi�re fois depuis 1998, le Liban a ex�cut� samedi trois condamn�s � mort pour meurtre, mais face aux protestations europ�ennes, les autorit�s libanaises ont commu� la veille la peine de six autres condamn�s � mort en une peine de prison � perp�tuit�.

A l'aube, dans la prison centrale de Roumi�, au nord-est de Beyrouth, trois Libanais ont �t� ex�cut�s loin de la presse. L'un a �t� pendu, et les deux autres ont �t� pass�s par les armes, a-t-on appris de source officielle.

Des policiers et des soldats ont tenu � distance des contestataires qui avaient organis� un sit-in toute la nuit.

Les trois personnes ex�cut�es sont R�my Antoine Zaatar, qui avait tu� en juin 2000 deux membres de la d�fense civile et bless� un officier syrien qui serait mort ensuite de ses blessure, Ahmad Mansour, qui avait tu� en juillet 2002 � Beyrouth huit de ses coll�gues employ�s de la Mutuelle des enseignants, et Badih Hamad�, membre d'un groupuscule fondamentaliste sunnite qui avait tu� � la m�me �poque trois militaires libanais � Sa�da (sud) avant de se retrancher dans le camp palestinien voisin d'A�n H�lou�.

Badih Hamad� et Ahmad Mansour ont eu droit aux derni�res visites de leurs parents vendredi, R�my Zaatar avait fait ses adieux � sa m�re jeudi.

Vingt minutes apr�s les ex�cutions qui ont eu lieu � 05h00 (O3h00 GMT), trois ambulances sont sorties de la prison, transportant les corps des supplici�s.

Les d�crets d'ex�cution avaient �t� sign�s mercredi par le pr�sident Emile Lahoud, apr�s que le Premier ministre Rafic Hariri et le ministre de la Justice Bahige Tabbara y eurent appos� leur signature.

Au d�but du mandat du pr�sident Lahoud, le Premier ministre Salim Hoss, oppos� � la peine capitale, avait refus� de signer des d�crets d'ex�cution.

La derni�re ex�cution, par pendaison, remontait � mai 1998, peu avant la fin du mandat du pr�sident Elias Hraoui: deux meurtriers, �g�s de 24 et 25 ans, avaient �t� pendus, sous les acclamations du public venu assister � cette ex�cution publique, la premi�re depuis 15 ans.

"Les d�fenseurs des droits de l'homme ont esp�r� jusqu'� la derni�re minute (..), le chef de l'Etat est demeur� jusqu'au bout inflexible", �crit samedi le journal francophone, L'Orient - Le Jour.

Selon ce quotidien, "sourd aux protestations europ�ennes, Beyrouth soutient que l'on avait affaire � trois crimes particuli�rement odieux portant atteinte � la s�curit� de l'Etat, et qu'en tout �tat de cause, le pays n'est pas encore m�r pour l'abolition de la peine de mort".

Le Premier ministre irlandais Bertie Ahern, dont le pays assume actuellement la pr�sidence de l'Union europ�enne, avait �crit � M. Lahoud pour le prier d'emp�cher la triple ex�cution, selon communiqu� publi� vendredi soir.

Le Liban a sign� en juin 2002 un accord d'association avec l'Union europ�enne, qui est hostile � la peine capitale.

Le porte-parole du minist�re des Affaires �trang�res fran�ais Herv� Ladsous avait �galement mis en garde le liban vendredi, en indiquant qu'une reprise des ex�cutions capitales �tait "contraire" � l'esprit de cet accord.

Amnesty International avait appel� d�s jeudi M. Lahoud � "commuer les peines de mort prononc�es contre ces trois hommes et contre 24 autres", et la F�d�ration internationale des ligues des droits de l'Homme (FIDH) avait lanc� un appel similaire.

Semblant tenir compte des appels internationaux et des protestations locales, les autorit�s libanaises ont annonc� officiellement vendredi soir la commutation de six condamnations � mort en peine de prison � perp�tuit�.

Selon le journal al-Mustaqbal, appartenant � M. Hariri, les six b�n�ficiaires seraient quatre Libanais, un Syrien et un Egyptien.

"Les ex�cutions de samedi devraient �tre les derni�res par souci de r�sorber les protestations", ajoute ce quotidien.