باللغتين العربية والإنكليزية-نص وفيديو: كلمة السيّدة غيلا فاخوري، ابنة الرهينة الراحل عامر فاخوري، في مؤتمر “من أجل لبنان حرّ” الذي انعقد في مكتبة الكونغرس في واشنطن بتاريخ 26 نيسان 2022/Guila Fakhoury Presentation In The 26th of April 2022 Conference at Library of Congress “for a Free Lebanon

باللغتين العربية والإنكليزية، كلمة السيّدة غيلا فاخوري، ابنة الرهينة الراحل عامر فاخوري، في مؤتمر “من أجل لبنان حرّ” الذي انعقد في مكتبة الكونغرس في واشنطن بتاريخ 26 نيسان 2022.

من أبرز ما جاء في كلمة فاخوري أنّ والدها اختُطف وعُذّب في لبنان، وهو الأمر الذي أدّى لاحقًّا إلى وفاته، مشيرةً إلى أنّ المعاملة السيّئة التي لاقاها في الاعتقال بتأثير من حزب الله، وكيل إيران في لبنان، لَهِيَ مثال فاضح على فساد وأكاذيب النظام القضائي في لبنان.
وأوضحت فاخوري أنّ أسلوب التعامل مع والدها، سواء خلال اعتقاله من قبل جهاز الأمن العام اللبناني، أو أثناء محاكمته في المحكمة العسكرية، يُشبه إلى حدّ كبير أسلوب إيران في اعتقال الرهائن وتركيب الملفّات لهم. وأضافت أنّ حزب الله يسيطر بقوّة على المؤسسات الحكوميّة اللبنانيّة، كما على النظام القضائي في لبنان، معتبرة أنّ هذا الحزب لا هو مقاومة ولا هو من النسيج اللبناني، بل هو محتلّ يقود لبنان إلى ما يُشبه الديكتاتوريّة القائمة في لبنان.
وتناولت ببعض التفصيل ظروف اعتقال والدها، مؤكّدة أنّه استُدرج إلى لبنان حيث تمّ اعتقاله لابتزاز الحكومة الأميركيّة، إذ وبحسب وثائق رسميّة صادرة عن مراجع قضائيّة وأمنيّة لبنانيّة، فإنّ سجلّ والدها عامر فاخوري خالٍ من أيّة ملاحقات قانونيّة، وأنّ شخصيّات لبنانيّة رفيعة الشأن مثل الرئيس ميشال عون، ومفوّض الحكومة لدى المحكمة العسكريّة بيتر جرمانوس، كانت مُدركة أنّ والدها بريء، لكنّها عاجزة عن معارضة مشيئة رجل حزب الله وفيق صفا القاضية باعتقاله.
وختمت فاخوري قائلة: “بما أنّ حزب الله يسيطر على كافة قطاعات الحكومة اللبنانية، فإنّ أيّ أموال نَهِبُها للبنان، يذهب جزء منها إلى جيب حزب الله، وبالتالي تكون دولاراتنا الضريبية هي التي تموّل الاحتجاز غير القانوني للأمريكيين هناك”. وأضافت أنّه لهذا السبب وغيره يجب أن يستمر الكفاح من أجل إنهاء الاحتلال الإيراني في لبنان.

في أسفل النصّ الكامل بالإنكليزية لكلمة السيّدة غيلا فاخوري.

Guila Fakhoury Presentation In The 26th of April 2022 Conference at Library of Congress “for a Free Lebanon”.
Hello and thank you for inviting me to participate in this conference that aims to free Lebanon from Iranian occupation. I am the daughter of the late US hostage Amer Fakhoury who was kidnapped and tortured in Lebanon. Unfortunately, the maltreatment he faced in Lebanon, eventually led to his death. Today I will not talk about how my father was killed but I will focus more on how Amer Fakhoury was illegally detained and the impact Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, had on his illegal detention. This case is the perfect example of the corruption, and the lies that takes place in the judiciary system in Lebanon, specifically in the military tribunal.

Hezbollah’s influence runs very deep, it starts in the interrogation rooms in the Lebanese General security and all the way influencing public prosecutors and judges in the military court. The kidnapping, the accusations and the illegal detention used in my father’s case in Lebanon is very similar to hostage taking strategies used in Iran. Hezbollah heavily influences every sector of the Lebanese government especially the judicial system. we need to agree that Hezbollah is neither a Lebanese entity nor a Lebanese resistance but rather a Lebanese occupant that is leading Lebanon towards Iranian dictatorship.

Now let’s dive in to Amer Fakhoury’s case, a prime example of Hezbollah’s influence. A case that was so well rehearsed, a big play directed by Hezbollah and executed by members of the Lebanese government. Prior to his arrival in Lebanon in September, Amer Fakhoury did not have a single accusation against him, he participated in the 2016 Lebanese election just like any other Lebanese citizen, he also was able to freely enter and spend the first 10 days in Lebanon. In fact in August 2018 Amer received official acknowledgment in writing that there were no accusations against him in Lebanon from the military tribunal, the general directorate of general security, the ministry of justice, the internal security forces both in the form of attestation of no legal pursuits and in the form of standard record of no conviction. However, the minute Amer Fakhoury stepped foot in Lebanon, Hezbollah knew he was the perfect target, being Christian American and a member of the south Lebanese army, they knew they can use him as a political pawn against the US government. In the beginning His American passport was taken as what they claimed to be a routine background check, a week later an article in the “al-akhbar” newsletter a Hezbollah backed newspaper appeared with new accusations against Amer Fakhoury.

 When Amer went to retrieve his passport, He was taken and interrogated, even the US embassy was unable to locate him. Minutes after entering the LGS organized gathering was formed outside the Lebanese General security with professional posters with pictures from his facebook, this was not a spontaneous protest this was premeditated. If there was a valid and a true accusation against my father, then why was he forced to sign false documents under torture. The False Accusations that were used against my father included him having an Israeli citizenship, and other allegations that occurred during a period where he was not in the “khiam” prison. Not only was Amer Fakhoury illegally detained, he was held without bond presumably for accusations that even if it’s true cannot lead to charges under the Lebanon law because it is well outside the maximum non-tolling ten-year statute of limitations. Judges like Najat Abou chakra and other military judges were not able to take a decision based on evidence and facts alone. not only were accusations made more than two decades old, they were false and yet he remained uncharged and incarcerated without bond for 7 months.

He was not given appropriate due process before the military tribunal. Our lawyers spoke with Lebanese officials at the highest levels and they freely admitted that Amer’s files were empty, and there can be no legal charges against him, yet Amer remained in custody and was told that Wafiq Safa wants you in here we cannot do anything about it. The president Michel Aoun knew Amer was innocent, the prosecutor Peter Germanos at that time knew very well that Amer Fakhoury was innocent yet both along with judges on the case were unable to take a decision based on the facts they saw in front of them. In addition to this the release of our father happened because of negotiations between the US government and Hezbollah through their middle man General Abbas Ibrahim. Once negotiations were over, the judges were allowed to acquit Amer on all false charges however it was too late. It was very clear that if hezbollah did not approve the release it would not have happened.

We see similar hostage taking scenarios in Iran and in countries controlled by militias and terrorist organizations. The judiciary system does not have any say in the illegal detention because it is up to the militia to decide when they want to release their hostages. The judiciary system is simply for show. Unfortunately, Amer’s case is only one case amongst many similar cases, where innocent people are illegally detained in Lebanon. We are lucky we can use our voice here in the USA to shed light on the problem and openly speak about Hezbollah’s occupation in Lebanon. We need to continue to push the US administration to help Free Lebanon from Iranian control. Since Hezbollah does control every sector of the Lebanese govt, any money that does enter this country a portion of it will go into Hezbollah’s pocket. In a sense, our tax dollars are funding the illegal detention of Americans abroad. This is why conversations like these here in America are so crucial to our fight in ending Iranian occupation in Lebanon, so I want to thank you to blank for putting this conference together and thank you for having me today.