Beirut, August 30 2004 - CDRL


The Center for Democracy and the Rule of Law (CDRL) of
Beirut, Lebanon, has today called on the international
community of nations for urgent action in response to
the rapidly unfolding events in Lebanon that provide
further irrefutable evidence of two facts threatening
World order:

A. The fact that Lebanon has no free government or
indeed any government in the true and modern sense of
the word. For the mere ability to exercise coercion,
in the total absence of the rule of law, liberty and
democracy, does not make a government.

B. The fact that Syrian domination, and military
occupation, of Lebanon continues unchecked,
appreciably compounding and worsening the national
ills from which the nation already suffer, such as the
aggression on Lebanon’s national constitutional
sovereignty by the competing sovereignties of
religious establishments, feudal lords who masquerade
as politicians, special interest groups, professional
associations, and armed militias, in an atmosphere of
undisguised and shameless corruption and climbing and
merciless poverty.

Here is a short summary of the events that unfolded so
far:

1. On Thursday, August 26, “Premier” Rafic Hariri and
Parliament “Speaker” Nabih Berri were reported to have
called on Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on
his invitation. It was also reported that they
received instructions as to a proposed amendment of
the Lebanese constitution to permit the extension of
Mr. Emile Lahoud’s term of “office” as “president” of
Lebanon.

2. On the way back from Damascus, each of Hariri and
Berri called on Syrian Brigadier Rustum Ghazaleh, head
of the Lebanon station of the Syrian Moukhabarat, the
equivalent of the Soviet KGB, at his official command
post in the Syrian army command compound at the
Lebanese town of Anjar, in the Bikaa, to receive more
detailed briefings.

3. On Friday, August 27, late in the evening, Hariri
was summoned to Anjar again where he received his
final briefing from Ghazaleh. This was officially on
the news the following morning.

4. On Saturday, August 28, the “Cabinet” was suddenly
convened at 10:AM. After a short session of ten
minutes duration, it approved a draft bill calling for
a constitutional amendment extending Lahoud’s “term”
by three years and effectively canceling the
“presidential” elections due to take place in October.
Simultaneously, Lahoud and Hariri jointly signed a
decree recalling parliament to a special session
starting Monday, August 30. No time was allowed for
the publication of the decree or the proposed
amendment in the Official Gazette as required by law.

CDRL believes that the threat to local, regional and
World order clearly evidenced by the current crisis
does not merely arise from the extension of Lahoud’s
term but, much more so, fundamentally and
structurally, from the absence of a free Lebanese
government in the full sense of the word and the
endless Syrian domination and military occupation of
Lebanon. These matters are not only up to the Lebanese
people to deal with on their own, but also fall within
the responsibility of the international community.
CDRL calls upon the international community to
demonstrate its firm support for a comprehensive and
sovereign Lebanese agenda to uphold the very basic
democratic and human rights obligations, values and
safeguards that, together, make the essential
precondition for the achievement of liberty, modernity
and prosperity in today’s World.

Each of the recipients and readers of this release is
kindly called upon to forward the same to the
legislators, members of the cabinet especially the
foreign minister, and the prime minister and/or the
president of his country. Forwarding, to the largest
number of people in politics, in the media and the
academia, for further publication or distribution,
will also be greatly appreciated.
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This is the third time the Syrian Baath regime breaks
the Lebanese constitution since Syria started
appointing the president of Lebanon after it fell to
its troops in 1990. Lebanon was one of the very few
democracies in the entire Middle East with a
constitution agreed upon in 1926. Today, being
occupied by the Syrian regime for the past 27 years,
Lebanon lost its major features of democracy and human
right

More About Syrian Baath:
http://www.2la.org/syria/

more about Lebanon:
http://www.lgic.org

Syrian Occupation of Lebanon:
http://www.lgic.org/en/help_syria.php