By Patrick Galey
Saturday, February 12, 2011

Interview

BEIRUT: The head of victim participation in the U.N.-backed probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Friday he will not encourage requests for confidentiality by those worried about testifying in front of the court.

Alain Grellet, the newly appointed chief of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Victim Participation Unit, said that victims wanting to remain anonymous would represent a failure by the investigation to offer adequate witness protection.

“There is a possibility for the victims to ask for some confidentiality,” he told The Daily Star. “I will not support this request, because it would be to say that we failed in making a secure trial and organize in a secure way the participation of victims.” Grellet added, however, that he would not reject victims’ requests for confidentiality.
The French judge is responsible for organizing legal representation for relatives of the victims of the bomb attack that killed Hariri and 22 others in downtown Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Victims will be given the option of testifying in court or participating in other ways in trials of those accused of the crime.

His unit was only formed in October last year, due to legal stipulations stating that a victim cannot technically exist until the court issued its indictment, which was handed by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen last month. Fransen is expected to confirm the indictment in the coming weeks.

“Once the indictment is confirmed we will call upon the victims to ask if they want to take part in the process,” Grellet said.
An application form will be made available on the tribunal’s website, copies of which are to be forwarded to the Beirut and Tripoli Bar associations.
“We would like the victims to know that there is a unit in the STL that is in charge of organizing and facilitating their representation in proceedings,” said Grellet, who was on his first trip to Lebanon.

The court is facing a possible withdrawal of Lebanese funding, following the nomination of Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati, Hezbollah’s choice for the role. The party is expected to be named as at least partly culpable for Hariri’s murder and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to “cut the hand” of anyone targeting the resistance. It is thought that a March-8 dominated cabinet could seek to end Beirut’s ties with to the tribunal, as well as the 49 percent funding it provides for the STL.

Grellet said that while the court would be affected by any halt in Lebanese assistance, it would not cease operations.

“The impact, if there is an impact [of funding cuts], will concern not only my unit, but all the tribunal,” he said. “That is why, from a very responsible point of view, in the agreement between Lebanon and the [U.N. Security] Council, it is foreseen that if there is a lack of finance the secretary general will seek alternative finance. It is not financial issues which will stop the tribunal. The STL will go on.”

He added that current debate swirling over Lebanese support for the tribunal risked sowing misinformation about its work.
“Speaking about victims means I have to speak about them in Lebanon. We are working far away from here and the victims probably misunderstand our work because we are too far away. They may misunderstand what we are doing because of the mess of the dispute relating to the existence of the tribunal,” Grellet said. “We have to be closer to them in order to be heard.”

Grellet said he expected victims to come forward soon after Fransen confirms Bellmare’s indictment.
“All the victims have an interest in justice. I don’t know if all victims will have an interest in participating with the court,” he said. “The silence and the lack of information, the permanent facing of pain and sadness are things the victims have had to meet every day since the attack. These are the worst things. We propose a new perspective in the hope of justice.”

Grellet refused to speculate over possible compensation for victims, but insisted participation in tribunal proceedings was the best way to ensure justice for lost loved ones.
“I am not here to say ‘You will get the truth, the sentence and you will know everything.’ But a time of justice is about to be opened,” he said.