The Press Conference about the detainees' exchange, the prisoners’ and the missing case, and the role of the committee in liberating Samir Al-Kantar and his friends

Presented by the
Secretary General
Mohammed Safa

The Follow-up Committee for the Support of the Lebanese Detainees in Israeli Psisons is today a mother that has waited too long for her son to come back, and here he comes back after 30 years of absence. He comes back a hero crowned with victory. This victory that unified the Lebanese people around him.
The exuberant joy spread in the country after announcing the detainees exchange agreement that included Samir al Kantar. The follow-up committee has shared in this agreement to a great extant. The adoption of this victory is not an outbidding, for there is no need to remind you that the committee has established the “Lebanese Prisoners Movement”, started the Lebanese and Arab solidarity campaign, and last but not least shared in the human rights movements in the United Nations. All these acts were a tribute for Samir Al Kantar’s heroism and self-sacrifice over more than thirty years in prison. The follow-up committee had negotiations with the whole world for the freedom of the detainees and the prisoners in “Ansar prison”, “Al Khiam prison”, and the prisons inside Palestine. One of the main issues was Samir Al Kantar, and the role of diplomatic resistance that we adopted during the last years complemented with the role of the “Resistance Forces”.

The follow-up committee is the mother that is happy for the liberation of Samir Al Kantar and his friends. It is a happiness that her eldest son is free after all what has been done for his sake as a national and humanistic duty. From 1982 till 1997, thousands of sit-ins, speeches, and meetings were held. In 1997, the 22 of April was consecrated for the memory of his detention, and was declared an Arab and a national day under the title “ The Arab Prisoner’s Day”. This day became a day of solidarity with all the Palestinians detainees in the world. The two freedom tents that were installed in the years 2002 and 2004, the prisoners’ open strike in the Israeli prisons, the frequent meetings with international persons in charge of the case who visited Lebanon like Botros Ghali and Koffi Anan, the sit- ins and the open letters for the Arab and international staves, and last but not least the constant attendance of the human rights’ committees in the United Nations and the International Red Cross in Geneva all made Samir Al Kantar’s case and the follow-up committee related to a great extant.
When Samir Al Kantar finished his thirtieth year in prison, and because the committee had confidence in the ability of “The Resistance Forces” in liberating the prisoners, it chose to celebrate the last April 22 at the same place that he chose to begin his military act in Naharia in Palestine. That place was the village of Mallia southern of Tyr. In that place, the follow-up committee reassured the acts of Samir in liberating the occupied villages, and his heroic acts that will free him even after all this time.
Today we congratulate “The Resistance Forces”, and its leader in liberating the detainees, and the corpses of the martyrs. The follow-up committee is a partner in this victory, and it is the unknown solider in liberating Samir Al Kantar and all the prisoners in all the previous exchange operations. The follow-up committee’s work and what it has achieved on the Lebanese and international level will not end in liberating all the Lebanese prisoners from the Israeli prisons, but it will go on to liberate all the Palestinian and Arab detainees.

Even in Lebanon, the case is not over yet. What can we tell the hundreds of parents who have lost their children in Israel and in Lebanon during the civil war and the Israeli invasions? As long as there is one prisoner or one missing person, then the file of the detainees will not be closed and we will continue our work. The struggle of the Ansar detainees’ band, the Follow-up Committee, and Khiam Rehabilitation Center for the Victims of Torture will take a new turn. This turn will be incriminating the country of Israel, and demanding apologies and compensations for ten thousand Lebanese people who were poisoned without being proved guilty.
The case of the detainees and missing will not be closed as long as the occupation leaders who are responsible for crimes against humanity are still free and have not been prosecuted.
Moreover, the Lebanese detainees in the Syrian prisons also deserve freedom as their friends who are going to be freed soon: Nassim Niser, Samir Al Kantar, Mouhamad Srour, Maher Kourani, Khodor Zaidan, and Houssien Suliman. And the mothers of these prisoners also deserve to be happy for justice is a right for all people. It is the duty of the country and the Lebanese society to work hard to uncover the truth about the missing people.
By liberating Samir Al Kantar, all the Lebanese become free. The follow-up committee is filled with joy after a struggle that continued for a long time. Samir Al Kantar was forgotten for a long time, and people got to know about him when he was excluded form the 2004 exchange. People knew that there is a human being who has been in the Israeli prison for 26 years.
We invite all the Lebanese to share in the liberation ceremonies of Samir Al Kantar and his friends, and the return of the bodies of the martyrs. We ask the Lebanese to take advantage of this victory to strengthen our civil peace, and the unity of the Lebanese, and to reject violence, war, and sectarianism.