292. During the period under review, the Working Group received information
from the Government of Lebanon, in which it stated inter alia, that
"... from 1975 to 1990, Lebanon’s situation was such that the State was not able to exercise full control over national territory. In these circumstances, numerous transgressions and breaches of human rights occurred, not least the disappearance of several persons on Lebanese territory. The successive investigations carried out by the competent authorities have, unfortunately, been fruitless.
"Thanks to the Taif Agreement of 1989 and to the ensuing national recovery, the State had regained legal and military jurisdiction over its territory, with the exception of the Israeli-occupied region of South Lebanon. The Israeli occupation of South Lebanon made it physically impossible for the Lebanese State to conduct investigations in this region, where there was a strong possibility that some of the persons in question might be found. Similarly, the liberation of Lebanese nationals abducted and detained in Israeli prisons and in the Israeli-controlled Khiam detention camp could shed light on the fate of numerous persons currently presumed missing.
"It followed that, for the above-mentioned reasons, the enforced or involuntary disappearance of a number of persons on Lebanese soil could not be ascribed to the Lebanese State."
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT: QUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES, E/CN.4/1996/38 (15 January 1996).