No current information on which Lebanese militia is in control of Jebjaneen in the Beqaa valley is available to the IRBDC. A map published in 1985 by the Minority Rights Group (attached) shows that the Beqaa valley was controlled by Muslim groups at that time, [David McDowall, Lebanon: A conflict of minorities, (London: Minority Rights Group, Report no. 61, 1986), p. 6.] and maps in the press during the last week of battles still show the Muslim militias and the Syrian army in control of the region. [ "Butchery and the general's crusade", The Economist, 19 August 1989, p. 28; Thomas L. Friedman, "Going for Broke in Lebanon's Proxy War", The New York Times, 20 August 1989 (E3).] In May 1988, there were an estimated 16,000 Syrian troops in the Beqaa valley. [ "Israeli tanks, troops push toward Syrians in Lebanese incursion", The Globe and Mail, 4 May 1989.]

The present battle for Beirut, and General Michel Aoun's "war of liberation" against the Syrian Army (estimated strength from 30,000 - 40,000 troops) has created an even greater divide between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon. The Syrians have forged a loose alliance with most of the important Muslim militias, including the (Shi'a) Amal, many of the (Shi'a) Hezbollah, pro-Syrian Palestinians (Palestinians are approximately 90 percent Sunni Muslim), and the Druze militia of the Progressive Socialist Party. [ "Butchery and the general's crusade", p. 27.] Which militia is operating in Jebjaneen is not mentioned in articles presently available to the IRBDC, but the main Druze stronghold is in the Chouf mountains to the west of Jebjaneen; the Hezbollah have been active in the northeastern part of the Beqaa, and Amal has also had a presence in the Beqaa.

No recent information on which groups have suffered human rights abuses in the area is available to the IRBDC. Amnesty International annual reports are attached; references to the Syrian detention centre in "Anjar in the Beqaa", refer to a town just a few miles to the northeast of Jebjaneen (Joub Jannine on Bartholomew's Map of Lebanon).
Please see the attached articles:
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"Butchery and the general's crusade", The Economist, 19 August 1989.
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Thomas Friedman, "Going for Broke in Lebanon's Proxy War", The New York Times, 20 August 1989.
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Amnesty International, Report 1988, London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988.
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Amnesty International, Report 1987, Report 1986.
In addition, part of an old response regarding activities of the Syrian army in the Beqaa is appended here.

Excerpt from Response # LBN1154

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Syrian Army had approximately 30,000 troops stationed in Lebanon as of 1 June 1988. [ International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance, 1988-89, (London: IISS, 1988), p. 116.] They controlled about 65 percent of Lebanese territory in the north and east of the country in September 1988. [ "Main fighting groups and their numbers", New York Times, 5 September 1988.]

Amnesty International reports that the Syrian army has detained hundreds of Lebanese citizens and Palestinians in detention centres in Lebanon, or transported them to Syria for imprisonment. [ Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by the Security Forces, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), attached.] Some of the people arrested were from the north (e.g. Tripoli), but were transferred to "Anjar in the Bekaa" valley before being sent to Damascus for detention. [Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988, p.253.] Amnesty International is also concerned about the "widespread arbitrary arrests, disappearances, ...torture and deliberate killings of civilians by Syrian forces in (Syria and) Lebanon." [ Report 1988, p. 254.] The Shi'ite militia, Amal, reportedly hands its prisoners over to the Syrian forces for detention in Syria. [Report 1988, p. 245.] As Syria (or the militias (e.g. Amal) that it supports) controls 65-70 percent of the country - including West Beirut - property damage has inevitably occurred in Syrian-held territories.

According to an article in the New York Times "Main fighting groups and their numbers" (5 September 1988), the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia was in effective control of the Baalbek valley in September 1988. [ "Main fighting groups and their numbers" New York Times (5 September 1988), (attached).]