New Ethics: Refusal to Violate Privacies… Pure Intimidation!

Hussein Assi

The era of ethics and values seems to have ended…

29/10/2010

Of course, it’s not a harsh conclusion. It’s even more logical than anything else when some politicians, including those who claim to protect the human being in the world, simply don’t hesitate to “justify” and “defend” the violations of all privacies…

They want the Truth??

International investigators are free to do whatever they want in Lebanon. They can enter a gynecology clinic in the southern suburb of Beirut and demand the archives of a number of patients. They can ask for the files of all students in Lebanese private and official universities. They can demand the archives of Telecoms data. They can collect data that go beyond an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

That’s it. International investigators are free to do whatever they want under the slogan of searching for truth. Lebanese should simply surrender to such status-quo and refrain from saying anything. Otherwise, they would be accused of committing intimidation and terrorization.

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On Thursday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah was clear against the flagrant violations made by the international investigators. “We have reached a sensitive and very dangerous point, which is related to our honor and dignity, the thing that requires us to have a different stance,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. His eminence acknowledged that the Resistance party has been aware that the international tribunal was violating everything in Lebanon, and that they have been collecting information about Hezbollah that go beyond the goal of serving the investigation.

“What does the probe need our women's medical files for?” Sayyed Nasrallah wondered. Sayyed Nasrallah then addressed all Lebanese officials, ministers, lawmakers, judges and citizens. “Who among you accepts the idea of someone taking a look at the gynecology files of a mother, a sister or a daughter?” his eminence asked them. “Let the noble one who accepts such a thing tell us,” his eminence said, adding that this is unethical. “We have religious and moral values, not to mention that we've been told by more than one side that this thing is illegal.”

Yet, some politicians didn’t hesitate to respond…

For instance, the Future movement’s parliamentary bloc didn’t understand the relation between ethics and the visit by international investigators to a female clinic. In a statement it released after a meeting it held under Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the bloc innocently claimed that the international investigators headed to the medical clinic in order to acquire information on telephone numbers, and not medical records, which was stipulated in a statement by Dr. Iman Sharara herself.

That’s it. The investigators only wanted phone numbers. So, there’s no need to panic and raise issues of ethics and norms. It seems to be convincing.

What’s more convincing is the statement made by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, the head of an organization “believed” to be the defender of all human beings in the world.

"The secretary general is deeply concerned by recent statements and events related to the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)," said a spokesman for the UN leader in a statement released late Thursday.

"Acts of interference and intimidation are unacceptable," Ban, who simply ignored all aggressions of simple human rights, said of events such as an “attack” on two tribunal investigators in Beirut on Wednesday and Hezbollah's call for a boycott.

The spokesman highlighted that the tribunal was set up at the request of the Lebanese government and has a UN Security Council mandate. Ban called it "an important tool to uncover the truth and end impunity."

"The secretary general calls on all parties to refrain from interfering in its work, which proceeds in accordance with the legal principles and standards applied by all international tribunals, and from prejudging its outcome," said the spokesman.

Ban also stressed that "it is imperative that the Special Tribunal carry out its work safely and securely."

Nothing is alarming. In Lebanon, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea wasn’t embarrassed by the visit of the investigators to a female clinic. Instead of asking the sensitive question whether the truth was hidden in the file of some patient, Geagea was satisfied: this means the investigation committee is assuming its duties, he proudly claimed.

It became more than evident that talking about values and ethics in such an environment is just a big lie…
BELLEMARE’S OFFICE: INVESTIGATORS DID NOT BREACH ETHICAL NORMS
The Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Friday stressed that the UN investigators did not breach "ethical, religious and humanitarian norms" during their recent visit to a gynecology clinic in Beirut Southern Suburbs.

"Statements in relation to the recent attack against staff of the STL alleging that the investigators examined gynecologist's patient records in breach of ethical, religious and humanitarian norms are false," STL Prosecutor Danielle Bellemare's office said in a press release.

"As the medical doctor interviewed by representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor confirmed in her media interviews, the investigators were not seeking any medical information from her," the OTP went on to say. "Moreover, she had canceled all her appointments for that morning, so that no women would be inconvenienced by the investigators' visit," the OTP noted.

It claimed that the process leading to the visit was handled professionally and in accordance with legal safeguards. "The visit had been approved by the Lebanese authorities. The investigators were accompanied by members of the judicial police and the army. The doctor had received approval from the Beirut Order of Physicians to meet with the OTP investigators, and had agreed to the meeting," Bellemare's office clarified.

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