Our Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib was bragging earlier today that he will abstain from voting in favor of establishing a UN commission to reveal the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared in Syria by all parties to the conflict that committed violations and crimes against civilians.

The resolution was adopted today by a vote of 83 in favour to 11 against, with 62 abstentions, and aims at helping many of the families of the missing to find out what happened to their loved ones.

An estimated 17,000 Lebanese were kidnapped or “disappeared” during the civil war of 1975-90, with hundreds if not thousands ending up in Syrian prisons. The Syrian regime committed unspeakable atrocities against our people both in Lebanon and in Syria, yet our government stands against a UN commission to reveal the fate of Lebanese still missing.