COMMUNIQUE NOUVELLE ARRESTATION DE HANNA CHALLITA
Le Mouvement SOLIDA (Soutien aux Libanais Détenus Arbitrairement)
est vivement préoccupé par l'arrestation de Hanna Youssef CHALLITA à la frontière syrienne le 11 mai 2003, et de son placement en détention à la Section d'interrogatoires dite " Section Palestine 235", à Damas. Hanna Challita, qui a la double nationalité libanaise et australienne, avait été détenu sans jugement et à l'isolement au sous-sol du Ministère de la Défense libanais (Yarzé), de 1994 à 2002, pour son implication présumée dans l'assassinat du député Tony Frangié en 1978. Sa détention a été déclarée arbitraire par le groupe de travail sur la détention arbitraire de l'ONU (Avis N°13/2002, Liban). Amnesty International avait également protesté contre ses conditions de détention inhumaines. Libéré sous caution le 30 août 2002 il avait légalement quitté le Liban pour l'Australie.
Début mai M. Challita est revenu au Liban, et après y avoir passé quelques jours, a décidé de rendre visite à des proches en Syrie. Pour des raisons que l'on ignore, les autorités syriennes l'ont interpellé à la frontière et placé en détention. Nous sommes très inquiets pour l'intégrité physique et psychologique de cette personne qui a déjà subi une détention arbitraire dans des conditions inhumaines pendant 8 ans. Nous demandons aux autorités syriennes de garantir à Hanna Challita l'ensemble de ses droits, tels que prévus par le Pacte International relatif aux Droits Civils et Politiques, auquel la Syrie est partie.
Paris, le 15 mai 2003

PRESS RELEASE HANNA CHALLITA RE-ARRESTED
SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) is greatly concerned by the May 11 arrest of Hanna Youssef CHALLITA at the Syrian border, and his incarceration at the "Palestine Section 235" Investigations Bureau in Damascus. Hanna Challita, who holds dual citizenships with Lebanon and Australia, had been detained in isolation without due process, charges, or a sentence in the basement of the Lebanese Defense Ministry (Yarze) from 1994 to 2002, presumably for his implication in the 1978 assassination of MP Tony Frangieh.
Mr. CHALLITA's detention has been declared arbitrary by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Notice No. 13/2002, Lebanon). Amnesty international had also issued a protest against the inhumane conditions of his detention. Upon his release under bail on August 30, 2002, he legally left Lebanon for Australia. In early May, Mr. CHALLITA returned to Lebanon, and after a few days there he decided to pay a visit to relatives in Syria. For unknown reasons, the Syrian authorities questioned and then detained him at the border.
SOLIDA remains gravely concerned for this individual's personal integrity, both physical and psychological, since he had already been subjected to an 8-year long illegal detention under inhumane conditions. We request the Syrian authorities to ensure Mr. CHALLITA's full exercise of his rights as required by the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, which Syria has endorsed.
Paris, May 15, 2003

SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) is greatly concerned by the May 11 arrest of Hanna Youssef CHALLITA at the Syrian border, and his incarceration at the "Palestine Section 235" Investigations Bureau in Damascus. Hanna Challita, who holds dual citizenships with Lebanon and Australia, had been detained in isolation without due process, charges, or a sentence in the basement of the Lebanese Defense Ministry (Yarze) from 1994 to 2002, presumably for his implication in the 1978 assassination of MP Tony Frangieh.
Mr. CHALLITA's detention has been declared arbitrary by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Notice No. 13/2002, Lebanon). Amnesty international had also issued a protest against the inhumane conditions of his detention. Upon his release under bail on August 30, 2002, he legally left Lebanon for Australia. In early May, Mr. CHALLITA returned to Lebanon, and after a few days there he decided to pay a visit to relatives in Syria. For unknown reasons, the Syrian authorities questioned and then detained him at the border.
SOLIDA remains gravely concerned for this individual's personal integrity, both physical and psychological, since he had already been subjected to an 8-year long illegal detention under inhumane conditions. We request the Syrian authorities to ensure Mr. CHALLITA's full exercise of his rights as required by the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, which Syria has endorsed.
Paris, May 15, 2003