Abuse, human trafficking: an association caring for children sealed in Mansouriyé
The children welcomed by “Village of Peace and Love” were transferred to other centers, a senior judicial source told L’Orient-Le Jour .
Human trafficking, sexual assault, initiation into drugs and alcohol: an association responsible for caring for children exposed to danger or abandoned by their parents, "Village of Peace and Love", located in Mansouriyé in the Metn, was closed and sealed by Joëlle Abou Haïdar, single criminal judge ruling on minors' cases in Mount Lebanon.
The magistrate's decision, published Friday and consulted by L'Orient-Le Jour , was taken after observing several "flagrant violations" allegedly committed by the NGO against the children it welcomes. According to the judge's decision, the director of the association is accused of "complicity and participation in a criminal act" for not having informed the court that a man, a member of the association, "sexually harassed two minors, forced them to have sex with him, take drugs and masturbate.” One of the girls even admitted in court that she wanted to die because she could not be in a relationship with the man since he is married.
Justice also accuses the director of the NGO of having taken minors to nightclubs and allowing them to consume alcohol. One of the teenagers, drunk, then attempted suicide. The director also allegedly threatened the children with prison if they informed the court of the practices carried out within the association, and would have verbally attacked them. Minors were also allegedly brought by the person in charge to her home and forced to do the cleaning. The text finally denounces the fact that the NGO does not take “physical, psychological and health security” measures.
Personal profits
In addition to these accusations, the association is also singled out for human trafficking, after having children adopted for financial remuneration. “We open this type of association under the guise of charity but in reality it is mainly to make personal profits,” criticizes a senior judicial source at L’Orient-Le Jour. "The leaders of these associations collect funds from NGOs, they barely spend for the good of the children and pocket the rest of the money", regrets this source, who accuses the association of having "monetized an adoption for several thousand dollars" and falsified papers (including a birth certificate) to make it appear that the child was the family's biological son, in order to facilitate the procedure. A second similar case was going to occur but was finally discovered in time, she continues.
She further explains that the association, which welcomes "children exposed to danger or whose mothers do not want to take care of", was only closed after the minors were transferred to other centers.
L'Orient-Le Jour tried to contact the association, without success.
Judge Abou Haïdar forwarded the file to the attorney general at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Samer Lichaa. "It is the children's judge who is competent to deal with everything linked to their protection. This is why Joëlle Abou Haïdar ordered the closure of the association, but she cannot make arrests. She therefore referred the case to the attorney general who is competent given that there was child trafficking", explains lawyer Diane Assaf. According to a highly placed judicial source, the case should be immediately transferred to the first investigating judge of Mount Lebanon, Nicolas Mansour. The latter will decide either to examine it or to refer it to another investigating judge in Mount Lebanon.
Contacted, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Affairs indicated that the association does not have a partnership with the ministry. “Social Affairs cannot therefore take measures against him. It is up to the judiciary to do so,” he adds.
Several episodes of child abuse have recently come to light in Lebanon. In mid-July, the investigating judge of Mount Lebanon, Rania Yahfoufi, issued an arrest warrant against the owner of the “Garderêve” daycare, located in Jdeidé in the Metn, and an employee of the establishment , accused of having assaulted children in the nursery. Several cases of child abandonment have also been reported in recent days.