About

Fushat ‘Amal, a Space for Hope, is an interactive digital space designed to bring to the public some of the individual stories of the thousands of persons who went missing in Lebanon over the past four decades, and whose families continue to struggle to learn their fate.

Behind the number 17,000 and the framed photographs that have become the hallmark of the families’ public gatherings, there are personal stories to be told and shared. Fushat ‘Amal is one space in which their parents, children, and siblings can share with us these stories; a space where younger generations and those who did not suffer the same fate can learn about who these people are, reflect on the consequences of their disappearance and the day they left their homes never to return or be heard of again.

Context & Objectives 

Thousands of lives reduced to number estimations

Since the end of the war in 1990, the number “17,000” became conventionally accepted  and used across the board, even though the Lebanese authorities never conducted any investigation allowing to establish a credible list of missing persons. Over time, the names of victims became mere numbers. Fushat ‘Amal seeks to reclaim their identity and restore their rightful place as members of our society.

=> Collectively recognize and honor the lives of the missing

Families silenced and deprived of their Right to Know the Truth

The post-war national amnesia came as an added layer of pain and suffering to the thousands of families of missing persons, who found themselves deprived of any  means of sharing their cause with the wider community.

Fushat ‘Amal seeks to reverse this by providing a bridge that seeks to connect families who can share their personal experiences with citizens, and also learn and honor the missing persons through the voices of their family members.

=> Building bridges between the families and society

Authorities either reject or delay concrete and meaningful steps that fulfill the families’ given right to know

Fushat ‘Amal aims to buttress the efforts of civil society in demanding meaningful solutions, including the creation of a public database for the disappeared and missing. It further seeks to support ongoing efforts to pressure the authorities into adopting a law that  meets international standards and best practices allowing for the establishment of an independent body in charge of investigating and clarifying the fate of the missing.

=> Demand the creation of a public database of the missing and the establishment of an independent body mandated to investigate and clarify their fate.

A post-war generation unaware of this ongoing tragedy

Fushat ‘Amal aims to engage the young generation by enabling their active participation in developing the database.

=> Encourage youth’s engagement on this issue, by demanding the right to know the truth and ensuring guarantees of non-recurrence of politically-motivated violence.

Principles & Methodology 

Fundamental principles

  • Fushat ‘Amal is dedicated to all the people who went missing in Lebanon during the armed conflicts, regardless of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender or geographical affiliation.
  • Relatives of the missing and forcibly disappeared have the fundamental right to know the fate of their loved ones; and Lebanese authorities have the obligation, under international law, to investigate and clarify their fate.
  • This is first and foremost a humane, humanitarian and a human rights issue that must not be used to serve any political or other agenda.

 

Methodology

Who can contribute?

Fushat ‘Amal is designed as a public platform: this means that any person who abides by the fundamental principles can contribute by sharing the story of a missing person

How?

Relatives (family members or friends) can create a page/space online for their missing person, with information they chose to share and their testimony.

Persons who do not personally know a missing person can participate by collecting information from a relative after making sure that the family is duly informed about Fushat ‘Amal and how the information will be used.

Engaging the youth

In order to assist older generations who are not familiar with online platforms, young volunteers are trained to conduct interviews with relatives of missing people, which helps not only in collecting information for Fushat ‘Amal but also in creating a space of exchange between the families and the younger generation.

Consent of the relatives of the missing

  • No page can be created without the prior consent of the relatives of the missing person (consent form).
  • If the person filling the online form is not a relative, he/she has to certify that the relative is aware of the information enclosed in the consent form.
  • ACT considers “a relative of a missing person” as the nuclear and extended family and friend of the missing.
  • If, after verification, it appears that ACT for the Disappeared is unable to communicate with the relatives of a missing person (for example, in the case of the disappearance of all the relatives), ACT may decide to publish open-source information about the person without prior consent.

Multiple contributions about one missing person

  • Any relative of missing person can update or add information, photos, videos and testimonies to an existing profile page of a missing person, by clicking "update" on the page or by contacting ACT for the Disappeared.
  • Contributors receive a notification every time the page of their missing relative is updated.

Fact-checking

ACT for the Disappeared is in charge of checking the information submitted, before it goes online. With this in mind, ACT contacts the family of the missing person to complete any missing information or to cross-check information received by third-party contributors. This is why, relatives creating a page are requested to provide Act with their contact information.

Confidentiality and sensitivity of information

  • Upon the consent of the relatives, ACT publishes the information online. However, it must be noted that ACT does not publish any sensitive information such as the name of potential perpetrators or witnesses. Any form of hate speech will also be rejected.
  • The contact details of the relatives sharing the information about their loved ones remain confidential and used solely for follow-up purposes.

Mobilization of the families 

The struggle of the families of the missing and disappeared started in 1982, after they put up with their pain. The families then persevered and united under  the framework of “Committee of the families of the kidnapped and disappeared in Lebanon”. The families have formed a unique body that does not resemble any other Lebanese bodies and sects, where it contains members of all different denominations, religious sects, professions, beliefs, regions, and some nationalities. The committee of the families has regarded itself responsible for demanding and pursuing the liberation and discloser of the fate of all persons that have been kidnapped, missing, or forcefully disappeared since the beginning of the war in April 1975 until the date it was declared over.

In the year 1990, Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE) was formed, and it embraced the Committee of the families of detainees in Syrian prisons.

In the year 2000, coordination between the committee of the families and SOLIDE was initiated. Subsequently, the actions of the families became almost unified upon establishing the protest tent in Gibran Khalil Gibran garden since April, 2000.

The struggle of the families did not cease during or after the days of the war. Their perseverance and upholding of the rights to know the fates of their loved ones have made the civil society regard them as persons made of steel. How would it not? After passing through the years of the war without ever getting tainted or infected, as if they were made from a different clay; built with a different, firmer nature.

Despite all difficulties and obstacles that the families faced, many accomplishments have been made on their part, especially when it comes to disclosing the fate of their loved ones. The last and most important achievement was the judicial resolution that was issued in 2014 by the Council of State, highest administrative judicial authority, consolidating the families’ right to know the fates of their loved ones, and requiring the Lebanese government to give these families a copy of the report made by the official committee investigating their missing, without any restrictions, derogations, or exclusions. After having received the copy of the report from the Lebanese government, in order to preserve it , the committee of the families sent it outside of Lebanon, and entrusted it in the custody of the international delegation of the Red Cross in Geneva.

Today, the struggle of the families is focalized around translating the judicial resolution into action, and finding an acceptable scientific solution for the issue. This is done through:

  1. Executive procedures: The immediate commencement of collecting and preserving all biological samples (DNA) from the families of the missing and forcefully disappeared; a necessity to identifying the remains found, and facilitating the distinction between human bones and animal ones.
  2. Legislative procedures: Accelerating the adoption of the proposed law on missing and forcefully disappeared which is available with the parliamentary committee for human rights.

Most countries in the world which have undergone wars have been able to find a just and honorable solution to the case of their missing.

Is it illogical for the case of the missing in Lebanon to remain without a solution even though the war has completed its fortieth year?!

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