ICRC collects DNA to identify Lebanon’s civil war dead

BEIRUT — The International Committee of the Red Cross has started collecting (ICRC) DNA samples to help identify thousands of people who disappeared during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, the ICRC said on Friday.

The ICRC called on the Lebanese authorities to create a “national mechanism” to help match victims’ bodies with their families.

The war, which started on April 13, 1975 and lasted 15 years, officially left 150,000 dead and 17,000 missing, dozens of them allegedly still detained by the Syrian government, a key player in the conflict.

“It is more than 40 years since the events took place and we are still asking ourselves how we are going to give answers to the families,” said Fabrizzio Carboni, the ICRC’s chief in Lebanon.

“We know that there are graves all around the country, and that at one stage we will have to match the DNA of these mortal remains with ones of the families.” 

Carboni spoke at a press conference held to announce that the ICRC would start taking saliva samples from relatives of the missing. 

Several Lebanese with missing relatives attended the press conference and some were unable to hold back tears.

The Lebanese government in 2000 acknowledged the existence of mass graves in Beirut, but it has made no effort to identify the bodies.