STL Reality in The Hague Contradicts Beirut Wishes to Eliminate Tribunal

Naharnet Special Report - The Hague

The International Media Forum agenda, organized by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague, reflects a completely different view on the Court from what is going on in Beirut.

Those in charge of the STL in The Hague simply refuse to discuss the majority March 14 coalition's or March 8's approaches to the Tribunal.

While March 14 is committed to the STL as part of its political strategy adopted five years ago without having sufficient means to provide local protection for the Court, the Opposition March 8 alliance has launched a relentless campaign against the Tribunal, accusing it of politicization.

On this basis, it seems that the International Media Forum -- which includes visits to three headquarters: Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court – is a message in itself to the Lebanese who are divided in their outlook on the SLT, set to try killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The March 14 coalition which appears to be making reactions on the dynamism of Hizbullah and its allies who reject the Court and demand that the Tribunal be shut down "should be more confident in the future of the Tribunal and its work and stop doubting themselves and the Court and its the ability to reach results.

March 8 forces, which seek to bypass the Court, also "should be less ambitious and more modest in their quest to topple the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, at least from the standpoint of the International Media Forum, is part of the international justice system alongside the Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.

It seemed that those in charge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon wanted through the first episode of the first day under the title: "The evolution of International Justice," to send a message to the Lebanese via the vice president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia that there has been no precedents in international justice where a court has been stopped or suspended.