Lebanon resumes investigating the fate of the missing in Syrian prisons.

A Lebanese judicial source revealed that the Security Judicial Committee has resumed its work weeks ago to follow up on the case of missing Lebanese individuals in the prisons of the former Syrian regime, following new information obtained after the release of a number of Lebanese detainees from Saydnaya prison.

According to "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" newspaper, the source stated that the committee heard testimonies from eight former detainees out of 23 Lebanese individuals who were held in Syrian prisons. Investigations revealed the presence of dozens of other Lebanese individuals in Mazza, Palestine Branch, Saydnaya in Damascus, and Tadmor prisons.

The source confirmed that the release of some detainees refuted previous claims by Bashar al-Assad's regime, which categorically denied the existence of Lebanese detainees. Some of the released individuals provided information about other Lebanese detainees whose true identities remain unknown due to the prisons' administration replacing their names with numbers.

It was added that some prisoners suffer from physical and mental disabilities due to torture, while others were executed without a fair trial, classified as political detainees.

It is worth mentioning that the former Syrian regime released 54 Lebanese detainees in 2000, claiming at the time that they had no other Lebanese political detainees. However, the Lebanese Follow-Up Committee handed Damascus lists containing 622 missing Lebanese individuals, some of whom were visited by their families, a claim denied by the Syrian authorities back then.

Joint efforts between the two countries ceased in 2011 with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, before the Lebanese committee recently resumed communication channels with the current Syrian administration to search for the missing individuals.

The source explained that former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed the issue during his recent visit to Damascus with President Bashar al-Assad, who expressed readiness to cooperate in revealing the fate of the missing individuals.

The committee is expected to submit a final report to President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and relevant ministries, including all available information about the detainees and the prisons they were held in. The issue will also be discussed during Mikati's upcoming visit to Damascus next week.

The source emphasized that the Syrian side is required to provide any useful information, especially since Lebanon previously cooperated on the file of Syrian prisoners on its territory. The Lebanese judiciary completed the study of files of over 700 Syrian prisoners and is ready to hand them over once a joint coordination committee is formed.