December
7/1999
To: The Honorable Mr. LIoyd Axworthy
Foreign Minister
Dear Mr. Axworthy
On behalf of 12 major Lebanese Canadian organizations whose members are very proud to be
Canadians of Lebanese descent, I would like to share with you our serious concerns in
regards to the latest infringements and atrocities committed by the Lebanese Security
Forces against the Human Rights of Youth and University students in occupied Lebanon.
Mr. Axworthy: Our appeal to you today is not only because you are Canada’s Foreign Minister, but because we know that you are a courageous advocate for Human Rights all over the world, and a strong believer in the right of people to live in peace, dignity and freedom.
Dear Mr. Axworthy:
On December 2/1999, Lebanese Security Forces arrested arbitrarily, inside the Balamand
University (South Lebanon), in a very humiliating manner, and without any legal reasons,
Mr. Walid Achkar, a student at the University, an opposition activist and a prominent
member in the Free Patriotic Movement, Youth & Students’ Committee Affairs. He
was dragged harshly from the university premises, detained arbitrarily and denied from all
his basic rights. He was denied access to a lawyer as well visitation privileges. After
three days in detention, and after he proved to be innocent, the Security Forces
fabricated and forged false charges against him, alleging he counterfeits US dollars, a
charge that has no foundations at all. Mr. Achkar is an "A" student, and a role
model in decency and integrity. He believes in Human Rights and advocates openly for their
respect in Lebanon. Mr. Achkar is still detained and deprived of all his rights.
In the same context, on December 5/12999, Sixty University students carried candles and gathered in the vicinity of the Security headquarters in Beirut where Mr. Achkar is believed to be detained. They were protesting peacefully and a very civilized manner Mr. Achkar’s arbitrary arrest, praying loudly and chanting national songs. The students were attacked viciously and brutally by an Army Police squad with batons and machine guns butts, for no reason at all. Thirty students were badly hurt while the injuries of a female student were serious. Assaulted students were transferred by the Red Cross to two near by hospitals for treatment. The security Forces also arrested a number of the students and exposed them to a very humiliating detention and inhumane interrogation.
It is worth mentioning that 250 Lebanese University students suffered arbitrary arrests during the last 11 months in occupied Lebanon, all of them patriots calling for Lebanon’s independence, withdrawal of foreign troops and respect of human rights. They broke no rules and used peaceful ways to express their opinions and aspirations.
Mr. Axworthy, we call on
you, as an advocate for human rights, and on our democratic Canadian government to
intervene through the UN and other diplomatic direct and indirect venues in a bid to
secure the safe release of Mr. Walid Achkar. At the same time we remind you of the
hundreds of arbitrarily detained Lebanese in the Syrian jails without charges, trials or
even recognition of their whereabouts.
Yours Truly
Media Chairman
Elias Bejjani
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