Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri will issue a statement before May 6 condemning Iran for “kidnapping” Lebanese Citizen and U.S. Legal Permanent Resident Nizar Zakka, Mr. Zakka’s brother, said in a statement Saturday. The announcement comes a few days after the U.S. Congress voted 410-2 to approve the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act that called for increased international cooperation in resolving several cases of unlawfully detained persons held in Iran, including Nizar Zakka.
In addition to the economic sanctions, one of the key components of the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act is that it urges the Trump administration to work with international partners to investigate human rights violations by senior Iranian government officials, regardless of where or when such violations took place.
“Mr. Zakka, his family, friends and supporters are deeeply grateful and thank the U.S. Congress for not forgetting him and other unlawfully detained persons in Iran,” said Jason I. Poblete, Mr. Zakka’s attorney in the United States.
A U.S. Legal Permanent Resident and Lebanese national, Zakka was kidnapped and unlawfully detained after traveling to Iran to attend a state-sponsored conference in Tehran in 2015. At the time of the unlawful detention, Zakka was the secretary-general of IJMA3, an Arab communications organization, and had received an official invitation to visit from an Iranian vice president.
In November 2016, without elaboration, the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told reporters in Lebanon that “what happened with Mr. Zakka is not a problem between Iran and Lebanon, seeing as the problem was the violation of the applicable laws in Iran by a foreigner, and the problem is actually between the United States and Iran.” In addition to ongoing efforts in the United States, the Daily Star of Lebanon reports that the Zakka family has been lobbying the Lebanese government to raise the subject with Iran and criticized ministers for not doing enough to secure Zakka’s release. You can read the entire Daily Star of Lebanon story by following this link. The Global Liberty Alliance has worked with Mr. Zakka’s counsel in the United States as well as Mr. Zakka’s lawyer in Lebanon. In the United States, Alliance efforts have included raising awareness of Mr. Zakka’s plight with U.S. policymakers such as then-Congressman, now Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (see video below).
For more information about Nizar Zakka’s case as well as other Global Liberty Alliance efforts in the United States and Europe, please visit this Global Liberty Alliance website.
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national currently detained in Iran, is in “very bad health,” members of his family said in a statement presented to Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday. The following article was published by The Daily Star on April 23, 2018. The original version can be read here. BEIRUT: Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national currently detained in Iran, is in “very bad health,” members of his family said in a statement presented to Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday. Hariri‘s meeting Monday with Maha Zaka and Talal Dunkir, mayor of Zakka‘s hometown Qalamoun, came a day after former Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited Qalamoun where he received a cool welcome Future Movement supporters.
In response to his hostile reception, Mikati told the crowd, “Let Saad Hariri release Nizar Zakka.” A statement read by Zakka‘s sister, Maha, to Hariri read: “Nizar is in a very bad health situation, and he has been thrown in Evin Prison without committing any offense.” “By not issuing a public condemnation for a Lebanese citizen official invited [to Iran] and taken hostage, it is as if Lebanon is a collaborator in the crime.” Evin is one of Iran’s most notorious prisons. The family called on Lebanese officials to release an official condemnation and to call for Zakka‘s release ahead of Lebanese parliamentary elections slated for May 6. “Elections should not happen while a Lebanese citizen is oppressed and the government is watching,” the family‘s statement read. “How can we trust a government that is acting as a facilitator for taking Lebanese hostages to oversee and manage a transparent election?” It was not immediately clear from the family‘s letter what health problems Zakka has been suffering from, although his attorney previously told the U.S.-based NGO Center for Human Rights in Iran that he may have colon cancer. Zakka was arrested after traveling to Iran to attend a state-sponsored conference in the capital, Tehran, in 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was the secretary-general of IJMA3, an Arab communications organization, and had received an official invitation to visit Iran. Dunkir, mayor of Qalamoun, reiterated the family‘s concerns during the meeting with Hariri. “We know that Nizar suffers from difficult health conditions, so we are afraid that his health will deteriorate and he will return to us dead,” Dunkir said after the meeting, according to an official statement released by Hariri‘s media office.
Zakka was arrested after traveling to Iran to attend a state-sponsored conference in Tehran in 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was the secretary-general of IJMA3, an Arab communications organization, and had received an official invitation to visit. His family has been lobbying the government to raise the subject with Iran and criticized ministers for not doing enough to secure Zakka’s release. On the sidelines of the second day of Brussels II, Hariri held a series of meetings with Arab and international officials. He met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at the EU headquarters where they discussed the bilateral ties between both countries, according to a statement from Hariri’s office. The premier also held talks with Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield in the presence of Nader Hariri, the prime minister’s chief of staff. “They discussed the developments in Lebanon and the region as well as the relations between both countries,” the statement said. Earlier in the day, Hariri held talks with Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Expansion Negotiations. This article has been adapted from its original source, published in The Daily Star on April 25, 2018.
The following article was published in Asharq Al Awsat on April 23, 2018. The original version can be read here.
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese detainee currently held in Iran, is in “very bad health,” his family members said in a statement presented to Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday. PM Hariri received a delegation from the town of Kalamoun, headed by the President of the Municipality Talal Dankar, in the presence of the sister of the Lebanese citizen detained in Iran Nizar Zakka, Maha Zakka. “We learned that Nizar suffers from difficult health conditions, so we are afraid that his health will deteriorate and that he will return to us dead,” read the statement, which Zakka’s sister, Maha, read to Hariri. “He has been thrown in Evin Prison without committing any offense.” Zakka recounted how her family lost contact with her brother who was kidnapped after went to Iran on an official invitation to participate in a conference. “Even the Lebanese ambassador to Iran is not in contact with him,” she complained, calling on President Aoun and Premier Hariri to do what they can to help bring back Nizar safely from Iran. After the meeting, Dankar said: “We discussed with Prime Minister Hariri the case of the son of Kalamoun Nizar Zakka, who has been detained for more than two and a half years and is suffering from a difficult and unclear health situation. What we heard from Premier Hariri assured us regarding his detailed follow up on this issue. He told us he will inform us soon about the latest developments in this case and we hoped that this file would end with his safe return.” Zakka was arrested after traveling to Iran to attend a state-sponsored conference in the capital, Tehran, in 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was the secretary-general of IJMA3, an Arab communications organization, and had received an official invitation to visit Iran. |
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