Beirut, Lebanon – The Lebanese and Syrian governments have reached an agreement to repatriate around 300 Syrian prisoners from Lebanese prisons in a move that could lead to better relations between the two neighboring countries.
The issue of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon has been a priority for Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Relations between the two countries have long been marked by what many Lebanese describe as almost 30 years of occupation and security rule by Syria over Lebanon, which Syria ended in 502.
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About 2,400 Syrian prisoners are currently held in Lebanese prisons. Some have been arrested on charges of “terrorism” and others for alleged links to attacks against the Lebanese army. But most were never prosecuted after spending years in prison, largely due to a myriad of problems, including political obstruction, court strikes and general political apathy.
And while Friday’s deal may signal the beginning of a new relationship between Syria and Lebanon — one based on mutual respect rather than direct or indirect control over Syria’s tiny kingdom on its western border — it did not come without public controversy.
In Syria’s view, many prisoners are being held for political rather than judicial reasons. President Ahmed al-Shar’a’s government believes he is in prison mainly because of the influence of the former al-Assad regime and its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
But for many Lebanese, anyone accused of attacking the Lebanese Armed Forces should not be released.
“Lebanon has long insisted that no one accused of serious crimes against the Syrian or otherwise Lebanese forces be extradited,” David Wood, senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. “This has been a significant obstacle to resolving this prisoner contract thus far.”
Political prisoners?
Lebanese-Syrian relations have long been complicated. Led by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar, the Syrian Army controlled Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.
Despite the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, Syria maintained influence over Lebanon through its allies, including the political and military group Hezbollah.
When the 2011 Syrian uprising began and was subsequently suppressed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s border with Lebanon soon became a hotspot for the movement of people – fighters and refugees – weapons and Medicines.
The Syrian war had a strong impact in Lebanon. spilled into Clashes in the northern city of Tripoli; The Battle of Abraincluding anti-Assad Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and Lebanese-Palestinian pop star Fadel Shaker; the battles Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army on one side and ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups on the other; And attacks On the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In the intervening years, hundreds of Syrians were arrested by Lebanese authorities and held in Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons.
When the al-Assad regime fell, the new Syrian government quickly looked to improve relations with Lebanon, expressing an interest in building a relationship based on mutual respect and interests.
Among Damascus’ priorities were a description of their shared border and economic and security cooperation. But it also prioritized the return of Syrians held in Lebanese prisons.
“Damascus alleges that in many cases (the imprisonment) the reason is political, and particularly because of alleged links between the prisoners and groups opposed to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Wood said. According to him, “it was actually Assad’s Lebanese friends who conspired to make sure these people were imprisoned in Lebanon.”
According to that logic, the fall of al-Assad and subsequent weakening of Hezbollah 2024 Israel’s War on Lebanon That means these prisoners should be released.
Some Lebanese disagree and see the issue as more of a gray area. Even if the Syrian prisoners in question fought with Hezbollah, the Shiite group was coordinating with the Lebanese army — and for many Lebanese, fighting the army is a red line.
An important step
On Friday, the agreement was signed with several Lebanese ministers in attendance, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and the justice ministers of both countries.
“This is a very important first step on the way to comprehensive treatment of Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons,” Mitri told reporters on Friday.
Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais said: “This step will increase the existing confidence and we hope that relations will progress further.”
The agreement stipulates that over the next three months, around 300 prisoners will be sent back to Syria, and those serving time for serious crimes such as rape or murder, for example, who may have served 10 years or more in Lebanese prisons.
Lebanese prisoners like al-Assir are not included in the deal.
But other issues remain. Among them are Lebanon’s backward judicial system and problems related to Lebanese prisoners in Syrian prisons.
Only 750 of the 2,400 Syrian prisoners have been convicted. This means approximately 65 percent of inmates are still ineligible to return.
Fadel Abdulghani of the Syrian Network for Human Rights described this as a “two-track” problem. On his personal website, Abdulghani noted that the transfer of convicted prisoners with final sentences could be carried out at a “swift step”.
However, for those who have not yet been convicted, the issue is not as straightforward. The mechanism of pre-trial detention is yet to be approved by the relevant authorities.
“This is not just a Syrian problem, but a problem that touches the structure of the Lebanese criminal justice system,” Abdulghani wrote. “Therefore, the transfer of convicts will not solve the problem, as the slow pace of the process in Lebanon and the problems related to the legality and continuation of their detention are the root cause of the accumulation of detainees without trial.”
He warned that such arrests could be used as political bargaining chips by Hezbollah. Some group members or supporters blame these prisoners Car bombing or other such Attacks on their villages. While many of these attacks targeted Shia Muslim areas where Hezbollah’s support is predominant, Christian villages such as Al-Ka’a and Ras Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley were also subject to attacks.
‘no names’
Former Brigadier General Marcel Baloukji, who oversees the Lebanese army’s border committee with Syria, told Al Jazeera that the 300 or so prisoners to be transferred do not include many hard-line prisoners linked to ISIL or al-Qaeda that Lebanese authorities have captured over the years.
But Balukji also pointed out that the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails is still important to the Lebanese side. During the Al-Assad regime, more than 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared, including hundreds or possibly thousands of Lebanese, following the Lebanese Civil War.
Mass graves They have been found around Syria since the fall of the regime. However, a lot of work has to be done to identify all the dead bodies. As of now, the majority remain unrecognized – neither Syrian nor Lebanese.
“There is still a problem because there should be an exchange between Lebanon and Syria,” Balukji said. “There’s nobody there. Most of them are unidentified. No names.”