Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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In the shadow of death

By Ranwa Yehia

Families of Lebanese civil war victims were shocked to learn that the government would now consider as dead those kidnapped or missing for over four years during the Lebanese civil war.

There has long been a demand for the government to take responsibility over this sensitive issue and investigate the different cases in order to come up with a viable solution. The recent announcement, however, was not easy to accept.

In a highly-emotional statement addressed to the families on 25 July, Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss announced his adoption of a recommendation issued by an investigative commission set up by the premier in January.

The report, which Al-Hoss received a day earlier, considered those kidnapped or missing for at least four years as dead. It recommended that families resort to the judiciary to legally confirm the deaths of their loved ones.

In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Hoss confirmed that in so doing, the government has finally come to grips with the matter.

"The families must now resort to the judiciary to obtain death

certificates," he said. The premier extended his deepest sympathies and support to the families "during this difficult time."

"I hope that we all accept the truth at which the commission has arrived and I hope that God blesses us all with patience," he said.

Al-Hoss said he understood perfectly the painful impact the report would have on the families. "Still, I find no way but to admit to the truth and accept it, no matter how difficult this may be," he said.

Immediately after Al-Hoss' statement, the Weekly contacted Wedad Halwani, the families' spokeswoman. "I just don't know what to say. We finally made it but I just don't know what to feel," said Halwani.

Halwani spent the evening of 25 July receiving frantic telephone calls from other families who had heard the news on television.

The families were all in denial. Between 25 and 28 July, most rejected the government's decision.

A visibly shaken Halwani, whose husband Adnan was kidnapped in 1982, said that although she expected such a reaction from the families, she found no justification for their continued suffering.

The families held a news conference on 28 July to express their position on the government's decision. The refusal of many mothers was painfully evident; mothers carrying enlarged pictures of their children wailed and screamed in frustration, refusing to accept the bitter reality.

Mothers of those missing and kidnapped during the war express their refusal to accept the government's decision during a news conference at the Press Federation late last month

Many recounted the incidents leading to their relatives' disappearance, the many leads collected or discovered throughout the years that indicated that their loved ones were still alive.

"They are all alive, they all exist," screamed Zeinab Barji, banging her fist repeatedly on the podium in the Press Federation hall in Beirut where the families had gathered.

"No, this is not the end. I will continue to stand in front of government departments carrying my son's picture and demanding his return," shouted another woman.

Relatives, friends and sympathisers stood silently watching. Nothing could be done except allow the families to vent their anguish -- a culmination of years of suffering.

Those who took the difficult but realistic option to accept the

government's decision stood out. Dressed in black in recognition that their loved ones have been declared dead, these few mothers comforted those who, over the years, have become their partners in struggle.

Among them was Halwani, who had led a campaign since the late 1980s to discover the fate of the thousands missing and kidnapped during the war.

In an emotional speech that reduced the audience of 100 to tears, Halwani announced that she had finally allowed herself to become a widow, 18 years after her husband's disappearance.

"Today, I wear black in mourning. It has been 18 years since Adnan, my husband and father of my two sons, disappeared. He is not alive and there is no grave we can visit," she said.

Halwani said that although she felt deep sorrow, "I have to admit that, today, I'm much more comforted than during the thousands of days of waiting, struggling and uncertainty."

"I hope you understand my feelings and I hope that you feel the same way now, because I want you, too, to let go and be at ease," said Halwani.

Remembering the years she and other families struggled to exert pressure on the different governments to determine the fate of the missing, Halwani described how they were continuously faced with silence and broken promises.

Halwani described the efforts made for over a year by the Committee of the Families of those Missing and Kidnapped during the War, including weekly sit-ins in front of Cabinet headquarters.

"We stood united, supporting each other, wiping each other's tears and vowing to continue to struggle whatever the price, until we finally succeeded in our demand that the government announce the report produced by the commission," she said.

On 31 July, a delegation from the families, including Halwani, met Lebanese President Emile Lahoud for the first time. In recognition of the government's decision, Lahoud agreed to hold an official mass funeral for those missing and kidnapped during the war. It remains to be seen when it will be held.

"We should know soon. It doesn't really matter if it's next week or next month so long as the president adopts it. The important thing for us is that the funeral be conducted on the official level. The families need this," she said.

According to Halwani, Lahoud agreed to the families' demand to be able to review the information collected by the investigative commission about the missing and the kidnapped.

Lahoud also agreed that 25 July, the date on which the official announcement was made, would be the time of death of the missing and kidnapped.

Halwani said she and other members of the delegation felt the meeting with Lahoud was "positive" because the president was aware of their case and demands. However, this is not enough for the families. Halwani intends to follow up the issue until all promises are fulfilled. The families are demanding a social rehabilitation project. They are also requesting that 13 April -- the anniversary of the civil war that began in 1975 -- be declared a national day for remembrance and that a memorial for the victims of war be set up. Meanwhile, Halwani said most of the families are slowly learning to accept the new reality.

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