Tribal justice

The chances of finding Ziad Qabalan (25) and Ziad Ghandour (12) alive seem to be slim. Rumours claim their bodies were already found, and that the authorities are delaying the announcement. Officials spent Wednesday denying rumours, condemning and calling for the immediate release of the two kidnapped young men. Jumblatt visited their families, and declared the Lebanese state as "our protector". Berri and Hizbullah also condemned, and warned against plots to create fitna. Many have started to point the finger at mysterious forces wearing the cloak of tribal revenge to trigger a civil war in the country. Some accused the Assad regime of conducting the kidnapping to derail the Hariri tribunal.

The media described the two Ziads as Sunni members of Jumblatt's Druze PSP party. They were both linked to the January 25th killing of Adnan Shamas --of the Bekaa's Shamas clan -- during the Hizbullah instigated riots. The 12-year-old boy, it is believed, is linked through his father. Their kidnapping reportedly took place in Ain El Rummaneh, when gunmen in two cars intercepted Qabalan's car in broad daylight and took the boys to an unknown location. An-Nahar quoted "informed sources" that one of the kidnappers was Adnan's brother.

On January 25th, Adnan was reportedly shot, stabbed, tortured and killed in the PSP and Amal dominated area of Wata al-Musseitbeh in Beirut. The story goes that after he was killed, the killers formed a circle around the body, performed some kind of dancing ritual, dragged the body around, tried to dismember it and then dumped it on a sidewalk.

Less than two days after the murder, Hizbullah's al-Manar announced that it had the names of those who killed Shamas, alleging they were members of Jumblatt's PSP and Hariri's Future Movement. At the victim's funeral in Ouzai, Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah accused the government of the killing. On February 11th, another Hizbullah MP, Hussein Hajj Hassan, accused the interior and justice ministers of "executing Adnan Shamas in cold blood".

On March 3rd, Adnan's brothers filed a lawsuit against 15 individuals they believed are connected with the crime.  The government's commissioner before the military court, Jean Fahd, referred the case to an investigative judge to "take the necessary judicial measures." Three days later, the same judges announced the arrest of Syrian national Ragheb Ibrahim who "confessed to his crime" and claimed that he had shot Shamas after the latter aimed his gun at him. Ibrahim even reenacted the murder before television cameras. The Shamas family wasn't convinced, and issued a statement accusing "some politicians" of interfering in the investigation by obfuscating facts and "justifying the murder of the martyr and exonerating the killers". 

On March 14th, we learned from the Lebanese media that Judge Fahd charged ten Lebanese in the same crime, and referred them to the investigative judge. Meanwhile, the Syrian national's lawyer, who was appointed by the Lawyers' syndicate, took himself off the case for unknown reasons.

I suppose one could assume that given the incitement, and the mysterious course this investigation took, members of the Shamas family decided to default to tribal law and take matters into its own hands. This is, after all, the land-of-do-as-you-please, including leveling irresponsible and politically-motivated accusations, and conducting stupid investigations.

(photo of Ghandour and Qabalan courtesy of Beirutspring.com)

Comments

[Zvi]

The "dancing ritual" claim sounds like some kind of blood libel. Would such behavior actually be common? Or, is it a common baseless stereotype used to incite hatred against particular religious minorities in Lebanon?

[Jay]

My guess is that the youths are dead, but officials are withholding information until they have a suspect in custody to avoid escalation. Shamas clan's ambiguous statement about them not being involved even if they are involved suggests that someone from that family is going to be arrested soon.

[R]

I have a feeling that Jay is right on the money...

[JoseyWales]

-The state is bankrupt and cannot defend anyone because it won't act against anyone: not the clans, not the armed Palestinians, not the local militias, not the armed thugs of MPs. You have to start somewhere and keep going. They never do.

-The state, its magistrates, and it investigations have, to be charitable, sub-zero credibility.

-When the average-joe killers/kidnappers of the previous war(s) get amnesty, I expect them to do more of the same at the drop of a hat.

[Jeha]

It is interesting Josey mentioned the Amnesty thing; in a way, we have graduates of civil war academies on the prowl. They were still amateurs in the previous one...

YadlaJoie!

[ghassan karam]

Josey, you know how critical I have always been and still am of the state as well as the opposition but the type of killings that we are talking about in this case is a reflection on us as a society. We have debased ourselves so much that we have lost the ability to become outraged at anything and we are capable of committing the most heinous of crimes without flinching. Sure the state has failed to offer protection but the state cannot force us to become civilised. What depths we have fallen to. We are willing to kidnap, torture and kill a 12 years old in order to send a political message or exact revenge. And yet there is no outrage.And so it goes ( with apologies to Kurt Vonnegut).

[BadVilbel]

So it goes indeed. There is no hope for Lebanon and its people. We don't deserve a state. Time to move on.

[JoseyWales]

Devastating news for the families and the country.

Yes Gus, and the gvmnt is of course a reflection of the people and the culture (though they could try to lead or influence the culture).

You ask what culture tolerates this.

It's the same culture that did not care when Selim el-Lozi got killed, or the LF forces guy was found dead in the trunk of his car, cuz they did not agree with them (at the time).

You know the story: They came for --- and I said nothing etc

BV is right time to give up on a worthless culture/people/nation (hard as I find it to do).

[BadVilbel]

Actually, Josey, cultures who have no business surviving have a way of going extinct all on their own. Call it Darwinism. We're watching (in very slow motion), the extinction of Lebanon the state, the nation, and the society.

Those of us who transcended this Darwinism are already abroad, going on with our lives. The rest, well, let's just say Lebanon as we know it is on the verge of extinction.