UN SG BAN Ki-Moon has begun taking steps to set up a Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose aim is to prosecute the murder by a car bombing on 14 February 2005 of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The UN Security Council authorized this action in resolution 1757 of 30 May — in which it decided that the SG should act if, by 10 June, the Lebanese Government had not notified the UN that it had taken the “legal” requirements to ensure the Special Tribunal’s entry into force.
The UN SC acted after Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora wrote to the UNSG asking the UN to act as a matter of urgency, because the political stand-off in Lebanon had meant that “all domestic options for ratification had been exhausted”
An Annex to this UN SC Resolution 1757 contains the statute of agreement for the Special Tribunal. It says that “This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of three years from the date of the commencement of the functioning of the Special Tribunal”.
It also says that “The Special Tribunal shall have its seat outside Lebanon. The location of the seat shall be determined having due regard to considerations of justice and fairness as well as security and administrative efficiency, including the rights of victims and access to witnesses”…
Once established, the tribunal has the power to determine whether other political killings in Lebanon since October 2004 were connected to Mr. Hariri’s assassination — and if so, these other killings will also be dealt with by the tribunal.
UN SG BAN issued a statement saying he believed the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will help end “impunity” for such crimes.
It is now expected to take at least a year for the Special Tribunal to actually start work. The UN says that “funds have to be generated, a seat for the court must be found, judges and other officials appointed and security arrangements for staff, victims and witnesses determined”.