The Lost Truth

Suddenly the clock that counted the hours following the assassination of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri stopped ticking and vowing to unveil the truth. At the entrance of Hamra street, just facing the headquarters of BankMed, the Hariri-owned bank and just a couple hundred meters from the assassination site, stands a huge portrait of the late premier. Above it is the electronic clock that started counting the days on February 15, 2005, adorned by a blue sign reading “The Truth.” A few weeks ago, I noticed that the clock went black. No more days to count.

“The Truth”, a slogan chanted by all the Lebanese people after the assassination suddenly stopped having echoes, not only in Lebanon but also throughout the world. Although Hariri was not the only politician in the world to be so brutally assassinated- especially not in Lebanon where a president of the republic and a premier suffered the same fate during the war- he was the only one to have received international consensus on having an international tribunal investigate the case and bring the mastermind, the instigators, and the perpetrators to justice.

The form of the tribunal and its prerogatives nearly led the country into another civil war, until the tribunal was passed by the United Nations Security Council under Chapter 7 which deals with threats to international peace, allows for military enforcement and does not require the approval of the Lebanese parliament. As supporters of the slain premier danced and celebrated in the streets, Hariri’s son Saad called the event “a victory” the world has given to oppressed Lebanon.

Today is August 24, 2009, more than two years after the so-called “victory”. What happened to the tribunal? For two years following the assassination, the focal point of Lebanese politics was the tribunal. Two years later, the tribunal seems to be falling in the darkness of oblivion.

Under the Bush Administration, the media kept reporting that the investigation pointed the finger at Syria. Nothing wrong with this if this is the “truth”. Yet the investigation has so far failed to reach conclusive results; so we’re told. Parties that feared the investigation and the tribunal had become more political than judiciary were harshly criticized and even treated as murderers themselves. If the tribunal hasn’t become highly politicized, then why was the change of policy in the Middle East accompanied by a blackout on the tribunal?

On both accounts, the tribunal is highly politicized. If investigators did find conclusive results inculpating the Syrian regime, why haven’t they taken the necessary measures against it? And if they haven’t found reasons to inculpate the Syrian regime, why is this allegation brought up from time to time only to be used as a bargaining chip when needed?

Meanwhile in Lebanon, all the voices who, in the name of “the truth”, accused their political opponents of treachery and even murder have suddenly become astoundingly silent. Where is the “victory” Saad Hariri chanted? Where is “the truth for Lebanon”? Nobody seems to care to know, and nobody asks…

All one can think of is that somehow the truth got lost between politics and interests, so did its local and international advocates. But who knows, “the truth for Lebanon” controversy may appear when we least expect, to be used yet again for another regional deal... or war. Meanwhile, I guess we will still wonder who assassinated Rafik Hariri.