Human Rights Watch declared Monday that the alleged
beheading of Lebanese Armed Forces Sergeant Ali al-Sayyed detained by the Islamic State is a war crime if confirmed.
“The alleged beheading of Sergeant Ali al-Sayed is a horrific act and if true, would amount to a war crime,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
"We remain concerned about the fate of the remaining captives.” Photos and a video were posted online on August 28 reportedly depicting an Islamic State militant beheading a blindfolded hostage who was identified as Sergeant al-Sayyed.
However, Lebanese authorities have not yet officially confirmed the beheading.
According to media reports, the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), and Jabhat al-Nusra seized at least 35 Lebanese soldiers and security personnel, including Sergeant al-Sayyed, during clashes that erupted on August 2 in Arsal, northeastern Lebanon.
So far, thirteen of the abducted men have been released.
The armed extremist groups have requested the release of Islamist detainees in Roumieh prison as a condition to release the remaining hostages.
In this regard, Human Rights Watch said that the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra should free all hostages immediately and ensure that all captured soldiers and security personnel are treated in accordance with the laws of war.
The Association of Muslim Scholars, a committee of Sunni religious scholars based in Lebanon, which had been conducting the negotiations with the kidnappers over the detained soldiers, said in a statement on August 29 that they can neither confirm nor deny that the soldier was killed.
In turn, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq told Lebanese news outlets on August 29 that the Lebanese army had formed a committee of experts to investigate the alleged beheading.
“The summary execution of anyone detained, including hostages such as al-Sayyed, is a war crime,” Human Rights Watch asserted.