BEIRUT: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has closed an international tribunal that was created to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the UN chief’s spokesperson said Sunday.
Over the years, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon held in absentia proceedings and found three members of the militant Hezbollah group guilty in connection with Hariri’s death in a massive Feb. 14, 2005 truck bombing.
The tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands, sentenced the three — Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi — to five concurrent sentences of life imprisonment.
Hezbollah officials have repeatedly denied that members of the group were involved in the suicide attack and refused to deal with the tribunal. The bombing killed Hariri and 21 others, and wounded 226.
The trial judges had said there was no evidence Hezbollah’s leadership or Syria were involved in the attack but noted the assassination happened as Hariri and his political allies were discussing whether to call for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Sunday that the Special Tribunal was established to try those responsible for the attack following the adoption of a 2007 Security Council resolution. The tribunal’s jurisdiction also extended to other attacks that were judicially determined to be “connected” to Hariri’s assassination.
At the beginning of 2023, Guterres extended the panel’s mandate until Dec. 31 “for the limited purpose of completion of the non-judicial residual functions” and “for the orderly closure of the Special Tribunal.” The secretary-general noted Sunday that those tasks had been accomplished and the tribunal shut down, Guterres said.
“The secretary-general expresses his deep appreciation for the dedication and hard work of the judges and staff at the Special Tribunal throughout the years,” Dujarric said. He added that Guterres also appreciated the support provided by the Lebanese government, the government of the Netherlands as the host state, and member states that participated in the tribunal’s management committee.
UN chief closes tribunal founded to investigate 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
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UN chief closes tribunal founded to investigate 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
- Over the years, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon held in absentia proceedings and found three members of the militant Hezbollah group guilty in connection with Hariri’s death
38 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centers, medics say
KHAN YOUNIS: Gaza’s Health Ministry says 38 Palestinians have been killed in new shootings in areas of food distribution centers in the south of the territory.
The toll Monday was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centers. Witnesses say Israeli troops open fire in an attempt to control the crowds.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on Monday’s deaths. It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positions.
Erdogan tells Putin that Israel threatens regional security
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East, which he said cannot tolerate another war, in a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, his office said.
Erdogan was quoted saying: “The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk, (and) that the lawless attitude of the (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu government poses a clear threat to the international system, and that the region cannot tolerate a new war.”
UN rights chief decries ‘horrifying’ suffering in Gaza and urges leaders to pressure Israel, Hamas
- The UN human rights chief says Israel’s warfare in Gaza is inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on Palestinians
- olker Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session on Monday
GENEVA: The UN human rights chief said Israel’s warfare in Gaza is inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on Palestinians and urged government leaders on Monday to exert pressure on Israel’s government and the militant group Hamas to end it.
Volker Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session on Monday, in a broad address that also raised concerns about escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the fallout from US tariffs, and China’s human rights record — alongside wars and conflict in places like Sudan and Ukraine.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has regularly spoken out about bloodshed in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli hostages held by armed Palestinian militants, used some of his most forceful words yet to highlight the Mideast violence.
“Israel’s means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,” Türk told the 47-member-country body, which Israeli authorities have regularly accused of anti-Israel bias. The Trump administration has kept the United States, Israel’s top ally, out of the council proceedings.
Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says that women and children make up most of the dead but it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
“The facts speak for themselves. Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza,” Türk said. “All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering.”
The rights chief noted an increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine, nearly 3 1/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. He also denounced executions without a fair trial and “wide-scale sexual violence, including against children” in Sudan.
Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Türk likened the US tariffs he imposed in April to “a high-stakes poker game, with the global economy as the bank.”
“But the shockwaves of a trade war will hit Least Developed Countries with the force of a tsunami,” he said, warning of a potentially “devastating” impact on exporters in Asia, and the prospect of higher costs for food, health care and education in places.
Türk expressed concerns about US deportations of non-nationals, including to third countries, and called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.
The council session, which has been shortened by 2 1/2 days because of funding issues at the UN, is set to run through July 9. The Geneva-based council is the UN’s top human rights body.
Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty
DUBAI: Iranian parliamentarians are preparing a bill that could push Tehran toward exiting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty the foreign ministry said on Monday, while reiterating Tehran’s official stance against developing nuclear weapons.
“In light of recent developments, we will take an appropriate decision. Government has to enforce parliament bills but such a proposal is just being prepared and we will coordinate in the later stages with parliament,” the ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT.
The NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forego atomic weapons and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
Israel began bombing Iran last week, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Iran has always said its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA declared last week that Tehran was in violation of its NPT obligations.
President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Monday that nuclear weapons were against a religious edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s state media said that no decision on quitting the NPT had yet been made by parliament, while a parliamentarian said that the proposal was at the initial stages of the legal process.
Baghaei said that developments such as Israel’s attack “naturally affect the strategic decisions of the state,” noting that Israel’s attack had followed the IAEA resolution, which he suggested was to blame.
“Those voting for the resolution prepared the ground for the attack,” Baghaei said.
Israel, which never joined the NPT, is widely assumed by regional governments to possess nuclear weapons, although it does not confirm or deny this.
“The Zionist regime is the only possessor of weapons of mass destruction in the region,” Baghaei said.
Israel says deports last three Gaza flotilla activists to Jordan
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it deported the last three remaining activists from an aid flotilla that attempted to reach the war-torn Gaza Strip last week.
“The last three participants remaining from the “Selfie Yacht” (flotilla) were transferred this morning to Jordan via the Allenby Crossing,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding they included one Dutch and two French nationals.
