Judiciary says Amnesty accusations "not true"

Lebanese judicial authorities on Wednesday responded to a month-old Amnesty International report accusing the government of human rights violations, saying the accusations were "not true."

"We have reason to believe that the information the report is based on is inaccurate," a report issued by the authorities said.

Amnesty International had, on October 9, released a report accusing Lebanese security forces of flagrant human rights abuses in post-war Lebanon under the pretext of restoring security to the country.

The London-based organization accused the Lebanese government of carrying out arbitrary political arrests, torture and abuse of suspects in Lebanon and said several people had died while in police custody.

In the detailed response issued Wednesday, Lebanon said that the accusations made against the judicial authorities were "based on inaccurate information." The report, prepared by Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum, explained court proceedings in Lebanon and carried a reconstruction of how arrests and investigations leading up to a trial are carried out.

The report said the only human rights abuses on Lebanese territory were being made by Israeli troops against Lebanese detainees in an Israeli-occupied border zone in the south of the country.

It also defended Syria's role in Lebanon, saying "many incidents have been avoided thanks to the... cooperation of the Syrian forces in Lebanon."

Amnesty International also had criticized the government's silence towards detainees taken across the border to jails in neighboring Syria. It said the organization was aware of at least 200 Lebanese nationals detained in Syria, some without charge or trial.