The former minister and head of the External Relations Department at the Lebanese Forces, Richard Qyoumjian, confirmed that 622 Lebanese political prisoners remain in Syrian prisons, pointing out that this number is documented by families who have visited their sons, by released detainees who spoke about other Lebanese inside Syrian prisons, and even by state agencies in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Hadath channel, he added: "There is no doubt about the existence of Lebanese political detainees in Syrian prisons, and there are compelling facts confirming this. The number may be larger, but other cases are not documented. Among this number, there are 175 Lebanese military personnel. A delegation of their mothers visited Syria in 2002, and President Bashar al-Assad referred them to Syrian Interior Minister Ali Hamoud, who promised to provide them with information within three months, but of course, there was no response. Moreover, the late President Elias Hraoui announced the existence of 210 Lebanese detainees in Syria. Thus, denial and evasion from this reality will not help."
Qyoumjian explained that what the petition demands is to include the file of Lebanese detainees in Syria within the jurisdiction of the independent public institution concerned with the affairs of the missing in Syria, which the United Nations has been urged to establish, thereby giving hope to families who have been protesting for more than 10 years. He also rejected linking the file to what the Assad regime talks about regarding more than 800 missing Syrians during the Lebanese war, asking: "Syria occupied Lebanon for 40 years; why didn't they find them?"
Qyoumjian concluded: "There is no trust in the Lebanese state, which refrained from voting for the establishment of the independent public institution concerned with the affairs of the missing in Syria, nor is there trust in the Syrian state, which denies the existence of Lebanese detainees within its territory. Of course, there are committees formed that unfortunately have not reached any results with the Syrian side, and the prosecutor Adnan Adhoum and what was known as the 'Adhoumi judiciary' was affiliated with the Syrian intelligence. Therefore, there is no way to pursue the case except by resorting to the United Nations, as long as Syria does not cooperate. Hopefully, we will reach happy endings and give hope to their families for their safe return or the retrieval of their remains."
