Lebanon, Syria

Recent Sanctions-related UN Resolutions

15 June 2006 – With resolution 1686 (2006) the Security Council decides to extend until 15 June 2007 the mandate of the International Independent Investigation Commission to continue investigating the terrorist attack in Beirut 2005 that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. It should be noted that although a previous resolution (1636, 2005) imposed individual measures no persons have actually been named by the Sanctions Committee.

15 December 2005 – Following the report by the International Independent Investigation Commission on the 1 October 2004 terrorist attack the Security Council in resolution 1644 (2005) decides to extend the mandate of the Commission to initially last until 15 June 2006. The Security Council further grants the Commission to increase its technical assistance to the Lebanese government to aid its investigation into the attack.

31 October 2005 - The Security Council decided, through resolution 1636 (2005), to impose sanctions on the individuals suspected of being responsible for the 14 February 2005 terrorist bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. The resolution followed the report of the international independent investigation Commission (S/2005/662) and noted that an assassination with such a characteristic would have been difficult to carry out without the knowledge of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.

Since it was clear from the report that the Syrian intelligence services have infiltrated Lebanese society and institutions, the Lebanese intelligence service being one of those, the conclusion was that top-ranked Syrian security officials approved of the killing. Although Syria has cooperated to some extent with the commission many Syrian officials have according to the report given false statements to the commission.

The individuals subject to the sanctions are all individuals designated by the investigation Commission or the Government of Lebanon as suspected of involvement in the planning, sponsoring, organizing or perpetrating of the terrorist act. It was decided that those individuals shall be prevented to entry or transit through the territory of all member states and that their, direct or indirect, funds, financial assets and economical resources shall be frozen by all states. It was also decided that Syria must detain and make available to the investigation Commission, any Syrian officials or individuals whom the investigation Commission suspect of involvement in the planning, sponsoring, organizing or perpetrating of the terrorist act.

The Security Council furthermore decided to, in accordance with rule 28 of its provisional rules of procedure, to establish a Committee of the Security Council consisting of all the members of the Council to register which individuals are to be subject of the above measures, from which individuals sanctions are later to be removed, and to determine if there are to be any exceptions to the sanctions.