By Patrick Galey
BEIRUT: The head of the U.N.-backed investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Thursday attempts by Lebanese authorities to arrest four Hezbollah members accused of the crime were “not sufficient.” Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Antonio Cassese urged Beirut to redouble efforts to arrest and extradite the four suspects, adding that its efforts to do so had been “thus far reasonable.”

“[Lebanon] is bound to continue cooperating with the tribunal for the search, arrest, detention and transfer of the four accused,” Cassese wrote in the order calling for a public advertisement of Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s indictment, the contents of which were released Wednesday.
“Considering that its past efforts have borne no fruit, it is indeed obliged to even intensify its efforts in this respect,” the Canadian judge added.

Earlier this month, Lebanon issued its report to the STL on how the search for the four accused was progressing. In it, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza said that authorities had “exerted its utmost efforts to execute [the] arrest warrants in the name of the four accused.”

The report concluded that authorities have been unable to apprehend the suspects, in spite of steps including “surveillance, interviewing alleged associates of the accused, visiting localities where the accused are believed to have connections, meeting with municipality officials and interviewing neighbors,” according to an STL statement.
Cassese disclosed several details from the report. For Salim Jamil Ayyash, accused by Bellemare of leading Hariri’s assassination hit squad, judicial police knocked on the doors of several known previous addresses, receiving no answer. They also received records of Ayyash’s movements in and out of Lebanon, “which included visits to other countries in the region between 1999 and 2005.”

One of the more eye-opening findings of the report was that investigators visited an office at which Ayyash had been employed since 2009. They found the suspect “had stopped coming to work after the arrest warrant was issued against him; as a result, his job had been terminated on Jul. 15, 2011” – two weeks after the first indictment arrived in Beirut.
The report concluded that Ayyash’s current whereabouts were unknown.

For Mustafa Amine Badreddine, alleged to have masterminded the conspiracy to kill Hariri, and Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra, who are accused of fabricating a video claiming false responsibility for the Feb. 14, 2005, bombing, a similar pattern emerged. Authorities monitored several addresses for each of the men, spoke with local officials and interviewed former associates.

Each time the same pattern emerged: The men had not been seen at listed addresses for several years; even family members living at those residences had not been seen for months.

Spurred by the fact that the accused’s whereabouts could not be pinpointed – it is not even clear whether they are still in Lebanon – Cassese requested that STL pre-trial judge explore the possibility of disseminating public advertisement documents in countries other than Lebanon.

In spite of Lebanon’s report and Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s insistence that authorities continue to pursue the suspects on a daily basis, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed the men would not be arrested “even in 300 years.”

Although the accused’s last known whereabouts are reported to be in Lebanon, there have been suggestions that some of the men may have left the country. Interpol “Red Notice” warrants have been issued against the four men, and could be delivered to states besides Lebanon if investigators have reason to believe that the accused individuals have fled.

When the public advertisement is issued, Lebanese authorities have an additional deadline of 30 days to bring the men in. After that deadline, it is up to the court to decide when to commence in absentia trials.

Cassese offered insight into his thinking in this regard: “Further delay is not warranted.” He called for Lebanon to redouble efforts to arrest the wanted four, and ruled that Mirza must report back to The Hague on capture efforts each month.

“It must be emphasized, however, that the report submitted by Lebanon on Aug. 9, 2011, does not end Lebanon’s continuing obligation to assist the tribunal in searching for, serving, arresting, detaining and transferring the accused,” Cassese said. “While the procedures followed Thursday are reasonable, at this point they are not sufficient.”

The president last week issued an open letter to the accused, urging them to hand themselves in to authorities and seek legal counsel. In Thursday’s court order, the Canadian judge went even further, saying that the men would remain wanted – and Lebanon still obligated to capture them – even after the conclusion of potential in absentia trials. “The obligation of states to cooperate with international criminal tribunals does not terminate with the winding down and the actual end of such tribunals,” Cassese said. He pointed out that under Lebanese law, in the event of wanted individuals being incommunicado the service of legal documents can be made through family members, domestic employees or any other adult living at the same address. They can even be posted to the accused’s last known place of residence or sent to the entrance of the judicial authority that ordered notification.
Cassese concluded that Lebanese authorities were compelled “under the laws of Lebanon” to continue their search for suspects, adding justice would prevail whether the men turned themselves in or not.