Assassination of Rafic Hariri: why so many divisions on the Special Tribunal in Lebanon?

The judges of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the day of verdict in the case of the assassination of Rafic Hariri, in Leischendam, August 18, 2020. Piroschka VAN DE WOUW / ANP / AFP

Text by: Paul Khalifeh Follow

4 min

Fifteen years after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in February 2005, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) delivered its verdict on Tuesday, August 18: no “proof” of Hezbollah's responsibility, three of the four accused are acquitted, all suspected members of the pro-Iranian Shiite party. Rafik Hariri's supporters are disappointed and Shia party supporters are relieved. Lebanese political life has been punctuated for years by the STL, created by decision of the UN Security Council.

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from our correspondent in Beirut,

The creation of this Special Tribunal on Lebanon is not the result of a consensus between the different Lebanese political forces. On the contrary, it is the result of a standoff between the pro-Western camp and the allies of Iran and Syria. For the anti-Syrian coalition of March 14, which brought together the main Sunni and Druze formations and certain Christian parties, only an international investigation and then a trial under the aegis of the United Nations were likely to shed light on the assassination of the United Nations. ex-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. But also, and above all, to put an end to the wave of assassinations of political figures from its ranks in 2005.

The March 8 movement, close to Syria and Iran, made up mainly of Hezbollah and the Amal movement, both Shiites, was very suspicious. His fear: that the STL will be used to modify the balance of power in Lebanon and topple the country definitively into the Western camp. The two sides have clashed for years on this issue.

Political blockages

This confrontation sometimes led to political crises which paralyzed the country. The STL was created at the behest of the government chaired in 2005 by Fouad Siniora, an anti-Syrian Sunni figure, who overruled objections from Hezbollah and the Amal movement. The Shiite ministers of this government will eventually resign in November 2006.

For a year and a half, political blockages will prevent the ratification of an agreement between Lebanon and the UN for the creation of the Tribunal. Finally, the STL will see the light of day in 2007 at the initiative of France and the United States, through a binding resolution passed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. It will enter into service in 2009 and will become the first international criminal court to allow the organization of a trial in the absence of the accused, represented by lawyers.

Hezbollah's obstacles

However, Hezbollah and its allies will continue to put up obstacles in an attempt to torpedo the STL. They will try to prevent its functioning by refusing the payment by Lebanon of its financial contribution. This new crisis will cause the fall, in January 2011, of the government of Saad Hariri, after the resignation of the Shiite ministers and their Christian allies of the Free Patriotic Current of Michel Aoun.

Despite all the obstacles, the STL will constitute its structures and will succeed in starting its mission. At the same time, the international investigation, after changing bosses three times, takes a new turn: Syria is no longer accused of the assassination of Rafic Hariri. Suspicion now turns to Hezbollah. Resigned, the Shiite party changes its strategy: it decrees that the investigation is manipulated and affirms that it does not recognize the STL.

True to himself, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that he would not be concerned with the verdict, whatever it was.

To read also: Trial of the assassination of Rafic Hariri: a judgment that disappoints in Lebanon

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