Human Rights in Lebanon refers to the state of human rights in Lebanon, which were considered to be on par with global standards in 2004.[1] Some believed to be criminals and terrorists are said to be detained without charge for both short and long periods of time. Freedom of speech and of the press are ensured to the citizens by the Lebanese laws which protect the freedom of each citizen. Palestinians living in Lebanon are heavily deprived of basic civil rights. They cannot own homes or land, and are barred from becoming lawyers, engineers and doctors. However, the Lebanese government has reduced the number of restricted jobs and created a national dialogue committee for the issue.[2] During the Arab Spring, Lebanon experienced major protests and sectarian violence, but avoided the large-scale political upheaval seen in many parts of the Arab world.[3][4]
In January 2015, the Economist Intelligence Unit released a report stating that Lebanon ranked second in the Middle East and 98th out of 167 countries worldwide for Democracy Index 2014. The report ranks countries according to election processes, pluralism, government functions, political participation, political cultures, and fundamental freedoms.
There are reports that security forces may abuse detainees and, in some instances, use torture. The government acknowledged that violent abuse usually occurred during preliminary investigations conducted at police stations or military installations, in which suspects were interrogated without an attorney. Such abuse occurred despite laws that prevented judges from accepting any confession extracted under duress. Methods of torture reportedly included beatings and suspension by arms tied behind the back. Some detainees were beaten, handcuffed, blindfolded, and forced to lie face down on the ground. One person died in custody. Local journalists and human rights organizations were not given access to the Yarze prison, which is controlled by the Ministry of Defense.[5] A French report describes the methods of torture used in this prison.[6]
According to Amnesty International annual report 2015-2016, many Lebanese were subjected to torture during their detention. In June, five officers were charged with using violence against prisoners at Roumieh Prison after two videos were posted on social media showing Internal Security forces officers beating detainees. Amnesty International claimed that Lebanon failed in establishing a national monitoring body on torture despite the ratification on the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture in 2000.[7]
On 8 December 2021, the Human Rights Watch reported that Lebanon's General Security arbitrarily detained Nada Homsi. She is a US freelance journalist who has worked with several Arab and international outlets, including National Public Radio. Homsi was arrested on 16 November 2021 without a judicial order and confiscated her electronics and other documents. They also violated her rights in detention by denying her access to a lawyer.[8]
Political Detention
The Syrian forces in Lebanon detained political opponents without charge for both short and long periods of time until 2005. After Syrian forces pulled back from Lebanon during 2005, no opposer to the Syrian Government was reported detained. However, pro-Syrian security generals were detained. For example, former Major General Jamil al Sayyed, Brigadier General Mustapha Hamdan, Major General Ali Hajj, and Brigadier General Raymond Azar were arrested in August 2005 at the request of German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who headed the early stages of a U.N. investigation into the killing and implicated prominent Syrian and Lebanese figures in the assassination of Rafik Hariri. No charges were ever pressed against the four generals, later progress reports have not repeated the allegations, and the four generals were never brought to trial. Yet, they remained detained for almost four years. Some international human rights organizations had described their detention as arbitrary.[9] On 29 April 2009, following a request of prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, the tribunal ordered the immediate and unconditional release of the only four suspects arrested during the investigation, for absence of reliable proof against them.[10]
Limitations on Freedom of Speech
There were big improvements since the withdrawal of 25,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 in what was dubbed the Cedar Revolution by the West. "The centrality of mass protest to the post–civil war politics of the country arguably began in 2005 after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri."[11] This tragic event galvanized the Lebanese people, sparking a series of mass protests that would become a defining feature of the country's politics in the years to follow.
However, journalists and politicians known to be critical of Syria were targets through car-bomb assassinations prepared by terrorists. Waltz With Bashir, an Israeli film that criticizes aspects of the way the Israeli army handled the 1982 Lebanon War has been banned, although the film is popular among Palestinians living in Lebanon who purchased bootleg copies.[12] Other movies are banned as well, for example "Schindler's List" is banned for promoting Zionist sympathy, a position justified by the fact that Lebanon remains officially at war with Israel. Other books and movies were banned for supposedly insulting religion, as the laws strictly prohibit religious insults, and protects each person from such insults, for example "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Satanic Verses" but can now be found in major bookstores.
On the morning of 16 September 2015, Lebanese security forces allegedly used excessive force in a crackdown on demonstrators protesting rampant corruption and poor public services. The protests took place near the Beirut headquarters of the Lebanese parliament. The Lebanese anti-riot police fired gas tears canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters, and arrested more than 30 activist, who were all freed in the following days. During two days, more than 175 protesters were wounded, and several journalists and photographers were assaulted, according to a report of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.[13]
On 11 August 2020 reports documented that the Lebanese security forces, as well as several unidentified men in civilian clothes, attacked unarmed protesters following the Beirut explosion on 4 August. Tear gas, rubber bullets and pump action pellets were fired recklessly towards the crowds, injuring more than 230 people during the protests of 8 August.[14]
The abuse of domestic workers in Lebanon, mainly women in their 20-30s from Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines has brought international attention to the rights of the workers, who are often made to work long hours, abused and not paid their wages. A spate of suicides by maids over a few weeks before December 2009 by hanging themselves or falling from balconies brought international attention from CNN,[15] LA Times and even resulted in the creation of a blog by a blogger simply identified as "Wissam" to the flagrant abuse in Lebanon.[15]
Migrant workers are widely discriminated against in commercial facilities such as beach resorts, where domestic workers would be denied access to the facilities.[16] This discrimination is rooted in prejudice, and usually carried out based on racial appearance, therefore it has strong racist undertones.
Following the influx of Syrian refugees, many municipalities have declared "curfews" targeting Syrian nationals.[17] Huge banners are prominently hung in public places, declaring a curfew for "Syrian workers".
Child Labor
Child labor is a problem. The minimum age for child employment is 13 years. However, 1.8 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were working children, according to a report on the "State of the Children in Lebanon 2000" released by the Central Statistics Administration in 2002 in collaboration with UNICEF. Also, 90 percent of child laborers were not covered by any health insurance.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's report on the worst forms of child labor in Lebanon in 2013, children "engage in child labor in agriculture and in the worst forms of child labor in commercial sexual exploitation."[18] Lebanese children worked in a variety of sectors and the categorical worst forms of labor included activities such as drug trafficking, armed guarding and forced begging, all of which were determined by national law as hazardous activities. Domestic service and sexual exploitation occurred sometimes as a result of human trafficking.
The minimum marriage age varies by sect,[19] but virtually both Muslim and Christian personal status laws allow child marriage.
In 2021 the Supreme Islamic Sharia Council raised the minimum marriage age to 18 years. This only concerns Muslim Lebanese.[20]
Discrimination against Palestinians
Over 400,000 Palestinian refugees and descendants live in Lebanon. They are not allowed to own property, and even need a special permit to leave their refugee camps. Unlike other foreigners in Lebanon, they are denied access to the Lebanese healthcare system. The Lebanese government refused to grant them permission to own land. The number of restrictions has been mounting since 1990.[21] However, in 2010 the government of Lebanon removed work restrictions from Palestinians, enabling them to apply for work permits and work in the private sector.[22] In a 2007 study, Amnesty International denounced the "appalling social and economic condition" of Palestinians in Lebanon.[23]
Lebanon gave citizenship to about 50,000 Christian Palestinian refugees during the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1990s, about 60,000 refugees who were Sunni Muslim majority were granted citizenship. This caused a protest from Maronite authorities, leading to citizenship being given to all the Palestinian Christian refugees who were not already citizens.[24] There are about 350,000 non-citizen Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Parliament is divided on granting Palestinian rights. While many Lebanese parties call for improving the civil rights of Palestinian refugees, others raise concerns of naturalizing the mainly Muslim population and the disruption this might cause to Lebanon's sectarian balance.[25]
According to Mudar Zahran, a Jordanian scholar of Palestinian heritage, the media chose to deliberately ignore the conditions of the Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon. He writes that the "tendency to blame Israel for everything" has provided Arab leaders an excuse to deliberately ignore the human rights of the Palestinian in their countries.[26]
August 2016, Human Rights Watch issued a report regarding the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. As the report suggested, 1.1million Syrian refugees - the largest number of refugees per capita in the world - have lived in Lebanon; and around half of these refugees are school-age. Although Lebanon and the international community attempted to help them to enroll in Lebanese public school without paying school fees, only 158,000 non Lebanese students are enrolled in the schools opened for Syrian refugees; and less than 3% of those who are aged 15–18 are enrolled in public secondary schools. Due to the arbitrary enrollment requirement, the harsh residency policy that makes it difficult for refugees to maintain legal status, the transportation costs that the Syrian families cannot afford and the need for additional income that encourages prioritizing child labor over receiving education, a quarter million of the Syrian children are out of school, according to the previous report published in July 2017.[27]
The Lebanese Constitution provides for freedom of religion and the freedom to practice all religious rites provided that the public order is not disturbed. The Constitution declares equality of rights and duties for all citizens without discrimination or preference but establishes a balance of power among the major religious groups. The Government generally respected these rights; however, the constitutional provision for apportioning political offices according to religious affiliation may be viewed as inherently discriminatory. There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or religious practice. There were, however, periodic reports of tension between religious groups, attributable to competition for political power, and citizens continued to struggle with the legacy of a 15-year civil war that was fought largely along sectarian lines. Despite sectarian tensions caused by the competition for political power, churches, mosques, and other places of worship continued to exist side-by-side, extending a centuries-long national heritage as a place of refuge for those fleeing religious intolerance. Non-religious Lebanese were subjected to abuse, which is not the case anymore, as their rights are equal to the rights of any other citizen of Lebanon, and that's granted by the country's laws.
A few courts have ruled that Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code should no longer be used to arrest LGBT people, however members of the LGBT community are still being arrested, harassed and prosecuted by the same law. Today, there are several Lebanese organizations and movements that aim to improve the living conditions for the LGBT community,[29] none of which are governmental.
In 2002, a gay rights organization was started in Lebanon. The group, known as Hurriyyat Khassa or Private Liberties sought to reform the Article 534 of the criminal code so that sexual relations between consenting adults in private were no longer a crime. Another gay rights organization in Lebanon is called Helem (Arabic: حلم), meaning "Dream" in Arabic and an acronym for the Lebanese Protection of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender community.[clarification needed] These organizations have staged a few public demonstrations, lectures, fundraisers for AIDS education, charitable events and exhibitions of films and have been interviewed by the Lebanese media.
"Anal examinations" were used in Lebanon on men suspected of homosexuality. On 28 July 2012, a gay venue in Beirut was raided by police and 36 men were taken into custody, where they were forced to undergo these examinations. These exams contribute to the assertion of state sovereignty and control by allowing the state to regulate and surveil individuals' sexuality and gender expression, thereby reinforcing its power over marginalized groups.[30] In response, dozens demonstrated in Beirut against these "examinations," calling them the "tests of shame."[31][32] This practice was however outlawed by the Ministry of Justice as well as for the Lebanese Doctors' association banning its members from practising it.
In 2009, the inception of Laique Pride on Facebook marked a pivotal moment for Lebanon's secular and LGBTQ+ communities.[33] Unlike traditional pride events focusing solely on LGBTQ visibility, this march ambitiously called for civil marriage laws, challenging Lebanon's sectarian divisions and advocating for liberal values despite that the majority of its organizers were queer evangelical secularists.[34] "A politics of queer visibility informed Laique Pride and was deployed for political and social demands that were explicitly heterosexual— a civil marriage law. The Laique Pride march was, in effect, a public and mass coming out party— not of the initiative’s LGBTQ members but for a community of people who identify as members of a secular counter-public."[35] This innovative approach questioned societal norms around marriage and leadership positions and cleverly critiqued religious conversion practices. "During the Laique Pride march, organizers cynically highlighted practices of religious conversion that they believed were 'strategic' rather than faith-based. They printed signs for the march that read, 'I want to be President of the Republic. Should I convert to Christianity?' and 'I want to marry you, shall I become Muslim?'"[36] The event's strategic navigation of public opinion and homophobia emphasized secularism over explicit LGBTQ rights advocacy to foster a broader base of support. "The activist explained that a public association between the first secular march and queer rights would be a disservice to the larger cause and discredit it in the minds of the public."[37] This careful approach underscored the nuanced battle for tolerance and inclusivity in a society grappling with deep-seated sectarianism and evolving towards a more secular, inclusive future.
On 24 June 2022, Lebanese authorities banned peaceful gatherings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. A wave of anti-LGBTI hate speech on social media by individuals and some religious groups, followed the ministry's letter, including incitement to violence, death threats, and calls to ban the scheduled events by force.[38]
Women earned the right to vote in 1952, five years later than men, who earned it in 1947 shortly after independence from the French mandate.[39] In 1957 the requirement for women to have elementary education before voting was dropped.[40]
Internet Restrictions
Multiple websites have been reported to be blocked, somewhat inconsistently.[41] The Ministry of Telecommunication is known to have ordered gambling sites and a few pornographic sites to be blocked, based on judiciary decisions.[42]
Lebanese law permits the censoring of pornographic and religious materials only when considered a threat to national security.[43]As of 2014[update] the law doesn't prohibit individuals from accessing pornographical content (same for child porn, considered a criminal act), or any other type of content on the Internet.
This is a demography of the population of Lebanon including population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The situation for human rights in Syria is considered one of the worst in the world and has been globally condemned by international organizations like the United Nations, Human rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the European Union. Civil liberties, political rights, freedom of speech and assembly are virtually non-existent under the Ba'athist government of Bashar al-Assad; which is regarded as "one of the world's most repressive regimes". The 50th edition of Freedom in the World, the annual report published by Freedom House since 1973, designates Syria as "Worst of the Worst" among the "Not Free" countries. The report lists Syria as one of the two countries to get the lowest possible score (1/100).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in Lebanon may face discrimination and legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents and are heavily looked down upon by society. Various courts have ruled that Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature", should not be used to arrest LGBT people. Nonetheless, the law is still being used to harass and persecute LGBT people through occasional police arrests, in which detainees are sometimes subject to intrusive physical examinations.
International human rights organizations, along with the United Nations, and the United States Department of State, have reported human rights violations committed by the State of Israel, particularly against minority groups. These reports include violations of the rights of Palestinians, both inside and outside Israel as well as other groups in Israel.
Human rights in the Middle East have been shaped by the legal and political development of international human rights law after the Second World War, and their application to the Middle East. The 2004 United Nations Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) claimed that although Arab-Islamic tradition does hold unique importance for ideas of human welfare, History has proven that "they were not sufficiently prevalent in society to foster a culture based on a political contract, and allow for the legitimacy of differences of opinion, dialogue and transfer of power." Issues of the validity of democracy in the region and human rights are at the very centre of the challenges facing Middle Eastern society today.
Human rights in Egypt are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt under the various articles of Chapter 3. The country is also a party to numerous international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, the state of human rights in the country has been criticized both in the past and the present, especially by foreign human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 2022, Human Rights Watch has declared that Egypt's human rights crises under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is "one of its worst ... in many decades", and that "tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists, peaceful activists, and human rights defenders, remain imprisoned on abusive 'terrorism' charges, many in lengthy pretrial detention." International human rights organizations, such as the aforementioned HRW and Amnesty International, have alleged that as of January 2020, there are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Other complaints made are of authorities harassing and detaining "relatives of dissidents abroad" and use of "vague 'morality' charges to prosecute LGBT people, female social media influencers, and survivors of sexual violence". The Egyptian government has frequently rejected such criticism, denying that any of the prisoners it holds are political prisoners.
Lebanon is an eastern Mediterranean country that has the most religiously diverse society within the Middle East, comprising 18 recognized religious sects. The religions are Islam and Christianity. The Druze comprise around 5% of Lebanon's population.
The roles of women in Lebanon have evolved throughout history. The legal status of women transformed over the 20th century, but traditional patriarchal norms and conservative versions of Islamic law continue to influence women's rights in Lebanon.
According to Article 9 of the Lebanese Constitution, all religions and creeds are to be protected and the exercise of freedom of religion is to be guaranteed providing that the public order is not disturbed. The Constitution declares equality of rights and duties for all citizens without discrimination or preference. Nevertheless, power is distributed among different religious and sectarian groups. The position of president is reserved for a Maronite Christian; the role of Presidency of Parliament for a Shiite Muslim; and the role of Prime Minister for a Sunni Muslim. The government has generally respected these rights; however, the National Pact agreement in 1943 restricted the constitutional provision for apportioning political offices according to religious affiliation. There have been periodic reports of tension between religious groups, attributable to competition for political power, and citizens continue to struggle with the legacy of the civil war that was fought along sectarian lines. Despite sectarian tensions caused by the competition for political power, the Lebanese continue to coexist.
Sarah Leah Whitson is an American lawyer and the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). She previously served as director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
Lebanese nationality law governs the acquisition, transmission and loss of Lebanese citizenship. Lebanese citizenship is the status of being a citizen of Lebanon and it can be obtained by birth or naturalization. Lebanese nationality is transmitted paternally. Therefore, a Lebanese man who holds Lebanese citizenship can automatically confer citizenship to his children and foreign wife. Under the current law, descendants of Lebanese emigrants can only receive citizenship from their father and women cannot pass on citizenship to their children or foreign spouses.
The Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS) is an independent Palestinian non-profit and non-governmental organization that advocates human rights, democracy and tolerance from a secular perspective. It conducts theoretical and applied research, publishes studies and journals, operates educational programs and workshops and undertakes advocacy work. Its headquarters are in Ramallah and it has an office in Gaza.
Palestinians in Lebanon include the Palestinian refugees who fled to Lebanon during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, their descendants, the Palestinian militias which resided in Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s, and Palestinian nationals who moved to Lebanon from countries experiencing conflict, such as Syria. There are roughly 3,000 registered Palestinians and their descendants who hold no identification cards, including refugees of the 1967 Naksa. Many Palestinians in Lebanon are refugees and their descendants, who have been barred from naturalisation, retaining stateless refugee status. However, some Palestinians, mostly Christian women, have received Lebanese citizenship, in some cases through marriage with Lebanese nationals.
The Secularist Movement in Lebanon has emerged as a response to the country's confessionalist system, deeply rooted in a consociationalism framework where top offices are allocated based on religious affiliations. This movement, driven by a growing number of Lebanese citizens, advocates for a shift towards secularism within the national government.
Syrians in Lebanon refers to the Syrian migrant workers and, more recently, to the Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon during the Syrian Civil War. The relationship between Lebanon and Syria includes Maronite-requested aid during Lebanon's Civil War which led to a 29-year occupation of Lebanon by Syria ending in 2005. Following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, refugees began entering Lebanon in 2011. Lebanon's response towards the influx of refugees has been criticized as negative, with the Lebanese government leaving them undocumented and limited and attacks on Syrian refugees by Lebanese citizens which go unaddressed by authorities. Despite the strained relationship between the Syrians and Lebanese, taking into consideration only Syrian refugees, Lebanon has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, with one refugee per four nationals. The power dynamic and position of Syria and Lebanon changed drastically in such a short amount of time, it is inevitable that sentiments and prejudices prevailed despite progressions and changes in circumstance.
Homonationalism is often seen as the favorable association between a nationalist ideology and LGBT people or their rights, but is further described as a systematic oppression of queer, racialized, and sexualized groups in an attempt to support neoliberal structures and ideals. The term was originally proposed by the researcher in gender studies Jasbir K. Puar in 2007 to refer to the processes by which neoliberal and capitalist power structures line up with the claims of the LGBT community in order to justify racist, xenophobic and aporophobic positions, especially against Muslims, basing them on prejudices that immigrants are homophobic and that Western society is egalitarian. Thus, sexual diversity and LGBT rights are used to sustain political stances against immigration, becoming increasingly common among far-right parties. In Terrorist Assemblages, Puar describes homonationalism as a "form of sexual exceptionalism [dependent on the] segregation and disqualification of racial and sexual others" from the dominant image of a particular society, most often discussed within an American framework.
Lebanese Laïque Pride, also Laïque Pride, Laic Pride, or Secular Pride, is a Lebanese secularist protest movement. The movement consists of various religious and social groups that are united in their call for secularism, women's rights, and media freedom in Lebanon. They advocate for "equality among all Lebanese citizens and the separation of religion and politics." The group is opposed to political sectarianism and confessionalism in Lebanon.
Since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in March 2011, over 1.5 million Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon, and constitute nearly one-fourth of the Lebanese population today. Lebanon currently holds the largest refugee population per capita in the world.
Gender Equality in Lebanon is the attempt that all men and women should receive equal treatment in all aspects of the society without discrimination on their sex. Equality in Lebanon has witnessed controlled attempts towards achieving gender equality. For example, Lebanon was a leading country in the middle east region and pioneered female rights to be enrolled in politics in 1953. Another important date in the Lebanese context to fight gender biases was 1996 where Lebanon endorsed the Convention on the Elimination all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). One of the main reasons for this gap in promoting gender equality is attributed to the over all education policies in the country where the present curricula is irrelevant to advocate for gender equality. Adding to this, some believe that cultural concerns play a big role in this educational tendency of overshadowing gender equality where still women's' roles in society are viewed with a lot of biases and discriminations perceptions.
Sectarianism in Lebanon refers to the formal and informal organization of Lebanese politics and society along religious lines. It has been formalized and legalized within state and non-state institutions and is inscribed in its constitution. Lebanon recognizes 18 different sects: 67.6% of the population is Muslim, 32.4% is Christian, the majority being Maronites Catholics and Greek Orthodox, while 4.52% is Druze. The foundations of sectarianism in Lebanon date back to the mid-19th century during Ottoman rule. It was subsequently reinforced with the creation of the Republic of Lebanon in 1920 and its 1926 constitution, and in the National Pact of 1943. In 1990, with the Taif Agreement, the constitution was revised but did not structurally change aspects relating to political sectarianism. The dynamic nature of sectarianism in Lebanon has prompted some historians and authors to refer to it as "the sectarian state par excellence" because it is a mixture of religious communities and their myriad sub-divisions, with a constitutional and political order to match.
References
↑ "Lebanon", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 28 February 2005
↑ Mikdashi, Maya (2022). Sextarianism: Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon (Stanford: , 2022), . Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp.153–182. ISBN9781503631557.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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