ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report was reseached and written by Virginia N. Sherry, associate
director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. It
is based primarily on her field research in Lebanon during a mission
in March and
April 1999. The report was edited by Hanny Megally, executive director of the
Middle East and North Africa division of Human
Rights Watch, and Michael
McClintock, deputy program director of Human Rights Watch. Wilder Tayler,
general counsel of Human Rights Watch, also reviewed the report. Isis Nusair,
researcher on the Middle East and North Africa with the Women’s
Rights
Division of Human Rights Watch, provided insightful comments and assistance.
Noga Kadman, fieldwork and data coordinator at B’Tselem, the Israeli
information center for human rights in the occupied territories, also read and
provided helpful comments and research assistance on sections of the report.
Elizabeth Mirarchi of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights
Watch skillfully prepared the manuscript for publication.
Several dedicated and talented volunteers working with Human Rights
Watch in New York and Beirut helped with the preparation of this report.
Dania Dandashly, an intern in New York, provided invaluable research and
logistical assistance prior to the mission. Erin Sawaya, another intern in New
York, offered skillful research assistance throughout
the post-mission period as
this report was being prepared. Cilina Nasser in Beirut was responsible for
follow-up interviews in Lebanon in May and June 1999, which are cited in this
report. During the mission, she also served as an interpreter with skill, patience,
generosity, and good humor.
Rita Ayoub, Marwan Slim, Mahmoud Dandashly, and Nadine Hallal in
Beirut graciously volunteered time during the mission to assist Human Rights
Watch. Jamal Shahrour and Hussam al-Khalid of the Committee for the Deported
Families from the Occupied Zone; staff with the Beirut-based social
work unit of
Hizballah; and Ibrahim Qalash and Jamal Mahroum of the National Association
for Lebanese Detainees in Israeli Prisons also provided generously of their time to
arrange meetings with expelled families and individuals in Beirut and other cities.
Yehia Ali of the nongovernmental Arqoub Citizens Committee,
and Muhamed
Safa’ of the nongovernmental Follow-up Committee in Support of Lebanese
Detainees in Israeli Prisons, also met with and assisted Human Rights Watch.
Last, the author wishes to acknowledge and thank the courageous
Lebanese women,
children, and men who shared their stories and whose
testimony made this report possible. We hope that the publication of this report
will help speed their return to the homes and land they were forced to leave.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 1
Testimony from Expelled Lebanese Families .............................................. 2
Life for Residents of the Occupied Zone ..................................................... 7
The Israeli Role in the Occupied Zone ........................................................ 8
II. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................... 10
To the Government of Israel ...................................................................... 10
To the States that comprise the five-nation Israel Lebanon
Monitoring
Group ................................................................................................... 12
To the U.N. Secretary-General .................................................................. 12
To the United States and Member States of the European Union .............. 12
To the High Contracting Parties of the Geneva Convention ...................... 13
To the Government of Lebanon ................................................................. 13
III. THE OCCUPIED ZONE: AN OVERVIEW .............................................. 14
The Israeli Role in the Zone ....................................................................... 18
Actions of Israeli Intelligence Officers ...................................................... 21
Restrictions on Freedom of Movement ...................................................... 27
Opaque Aspects of Israeli Control ............................................................. 29
Who Orders the Expulsions?...................................................................... 32
IV. COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT ................................................................ 35
January 1999: Sheba’ ................................................................................. 36
December 1998: Sheba’ ............................................................................. 38
October 1998: Hasbaiya and Ibl al-Saqi .................................................... 40
May 1998: Sheba’ ...................................................................................... 41
April 1998: Ramieh ................................................................................... 44
December 1996: Markaba .......................................................................... 45
December 1988 - January 1989: Kfar Hamam .......................................... 45
October 1988: Markaba ............................................................................. 47
V. PUNISHING FLIGHT FROM THE MILITIA .......................................... 51
1996: Houla ............................................................................................... 54
1997: Markaba ........................................................................................... 56
1999: A New Pattern of SLA Defections and Expulsions ......................... 57
VI. PUNISHING REFUSAL TO SERVE THE OCCUPATION SECURITY
APPARATUS ............................................................................................ 60
1985-1992: Kfar Kila ................................................................................. 60
1989: Markaba ........................................................................................... 62
1998: Khiam .............................................................................................. 63