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TITLE: LEBANON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
LEBANON
Constitutionally, Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic
republic. By tradition, the President is a Maronite, the Prime
Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of the Chamber of
Deputies a Shi'a Muslim. The 128 deputies are divided equally
between Christians and Muslims.
Non-Lebanese forces continue to control much of Lebanon. Their
presence impinges on Lebanese central authority and prevents
the application of normal constitutional protections in those
areas. There are 30,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. A 1991
security and defense pact establishes a cooperative framework
between Lebanese and Syrian armed forces, but Syrian military
and intelligence units operate independently. According to the
Taif accord, the two governments were to decide in September
1992 to redeploy Syrian troops to the Biqa' Valley, with full
redeployment shortly after. Lebanese officials failed to raise
the issue with the Syrian Government. They have at times cited
a number of reasons, including the army's alleged unreadiness
to take over routine security functions performed by Syrian
troops. Pervasive Syrian influence over Lebanese politics and
Lebanese decisionmakers lay at the root of this unwillingness
to engage Damascus. The U.S. Government has publicly called
for a decision to redeploy.
Israel exerts control in and near its self-proclaimed "security
zone" in southern Lebanon largely through the Army of South
Lebanon (SLA) and the presence of about 1,000 Israeli troops.
The SLA maintains a separate and arbitrary system of justice in
the zone, without reference to central Lebanese authority.
Palestinian groups operate autonomously in refugee camps
located throughout the country and maintain a separate,
arbitrary system of justice for fellow Palestinians.
The Government continued to consolidate its authority in some
parts of the country by disarming Christian militias and the
pro-Fatah Popular Nasirite organization but was less concerned
with disarming others, especially in the south. It made no
effort to disarm the Iranian-backed Hizballah and its allies or
the Israeli-backed SLA. A decades-old cycle of raids and
counterraids in the south continued between Hizballah and
allied guerrillas on one hand and the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) and SLA on the other. Following Hizballah Katyusha
rocket attacks against civilian targets in northern Israel in
July, the IDF launched an intense, week-long series of attacks,
termed "Operation Accountability." Over 150 persons were
killed and 500 wounded in Lebanon, and thousands of houses were
destroyed or damaged. A chief feature of the operation was a
declared policy of depopulating the south. Israeli warnings to
civilians to flee led to the dislocation of over 300,000 people
for a 1-week period. There were credible accounts of IDF use
of phosphorous shells against military and civilian targets.
Lebanon has a free market economy. The country possesses few
important natural resources. Before the outbreak of civil war
in 1975, Lebanon was an important financial and commercial
center, but the war greatly weakened its commercial leadership
and inflicted massive damage on its economic infrastructure.
In 1993 the economy partially recovered from sharp
deterioration in the previous 2 years. The Hariri Government
was able to restore public confidence, stabilize the economy,
and launch a program to reconstruct the economy's
infrastructure.
The human rights situation in Lebanon deteriorated as the
Government launched two sets of assaults in 1993. The
Government frequently arrested without due process opponents of
government and Syrian policy in Lebanon, temporarily closed
three newspapers, and indefinitely suspended broadcasting by a
television network critical of the Government. The level of
violence was at its lowest since civil strife began in 1975,
but civilians and their property continued to be victims of
artillery and aerial attacks, bombings, abductions,
assassinations, and explosions. The Government made a small
start in returning to their homes some of the more than 600,000
Lebanese displaced by the civil war.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Political killings continued to occur in 1993, but the number
declined as the Government further consolidated its authority
over portions of the country. On December 20, unknown persons
bombed the east Beirut headquarters of the Kataib Party while a
meeting of the party's Politburo was under way; two persons
died and 130 were injured, many of them party officials.
Numerous dynamite attacks by unknown persons on cars and
buildings throughout Lebanon caused some casualties and serious
property damage. In June members of the militant Sunni Islamic
Grouping tried to blow up a busload of clerics attending a
Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical conference in north Lebanon, but
their explosive device went off prematurely, killing one of the
perpetrators. The authorities arrested six suspects and
charged them with inciting sectarian discord and attempting to
assassinate clerics, but they have not yet been tried. An
official of the Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and a
member of the militant Islamic Al-Ahbash movement, among
others, were assassinated. In April Israeli helicopters
attacked the car of Samir Suwayden, Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) commander in South Lebanon, near
Yatar. His wife, daughter, and another person were killed.
Rival Palestinian factions continued to engage in a cycle of
politically motivated murder, mostly in the southern city of
Sidon and nearby refugee camps but also in Beirut. At least 11
such killings occurred during the spring. Most of the targets
were officials of Fatah and the Abu Nidal organization (Fatah -
Revolutionary Command). Other Palestinians were the object of
assassination attempts, including Muhammad Abu Samra of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
b. Disappearance
There were no known disappearances in 1993 attributable to
state security forces. However, thousands of Lebanon's
inhabitants kidnaped during the years of civil unrest remained
unaccounted for. Militias and non-Lebanese forces were
responsible for most of these kidnapings. Some victims are
believed to have been summarily executed. The Government has
taken no judicial action against groups responsible for the
kidnapings, including those which held Western hostages. The
families of the missing formed a group to pursue their cause
with the help of a Beirut lawyer and former member of one of
the militias, the Sunni Muslim Murabitun.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
There were credible reports of the use of excessive force by
the Lebanese army against detained members of the former
militia of the Lebanese Forces (LF). Abuse included beatings
as well as tying detainees' hands behind their backs and
suspending them from the wrists for lengthy periods. Those
responsible for the abuse were not punished.
Conditions in some prisons are harsh, threatening the lives and
health of the inmates. A former police commander, Brigadier
Antoine Saadah, alleged in a study published locally that
overcrowding in Lebanese prisons in some instances exceeded
four times the normal occupancy. The Beirut-area Roumieh
prison, designed to accommodate 246 prisoners, is said actually
to house more than 1,000. Saadah and other human rights
activists report instances of suffocation resulting from the
overcrowded conditions. An eyewitness said overcrowding in
Batrun prison was particularly bad, with 40 people jailed in a
15-foot cell.
Abuses also occurred in areas outside the State's authority.
There were persistent and credible reports that various
Palestinian groups engaged in torture of Palestinian rivals.
In June, when Fatah released 95 members of the Abu Nidal group
from its prison in southern Lebanon, for example, the prisoners
alleged torture and ill treatment.
Supporters of exiled General Michel 'Awn credibly reported that
they had suffered torture by Syrian security elements during
prief periods of detention in the autumn and winter of 1993.
There were also allegations of torture and abuse by the SLA at
Al-Khiyam prison in the Israeli-controlled security zone. One
international observer has concluded that torture and other
cruel treatment is no longer widespread at the Al-Khiyam
prison, based on evidence gathered in interviews with released
prisoners. The SLA continued to deny access to the facility by
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Arrest warrants are required before arresting a suspect. There
were credible reports, however, of the availability of blank
warrants signed by the military prosecutor. By law, arresting
officers must refer suspects to a prosecutor within 24 hours of
arrest. A suspect must be released if not charged within 48
hours of arrest. However, some government prosecutors
authorized the indefinite detention of suspects for
interrogation without reference to a court or a judge. The law
permits incommunicado detention at the discretion of the
investigating judge. Every person arrested has the right to
legal counsel, but there is no public defender's office. The
bar association has an office to serve those who cannot afford
a lawyer. Bail is permitted in most cases, excluding felonies.
The army ignored due process in a campaign of arbitrary arrests
in 1993. Its efforts focused on members of the former militia
of the Christian Lebanese forces, sympathizers of the exiled
former army commander and self-proclaimed Prime Minister Michel
'Awn, and members of Lebanon's Popular Nasirite Organization
(PNO), a former militia noted for close links to Fatah. All
these groups were at odds politically with the Syrian and
Lebanese regimes and Syrian policies in Lebanon. In the autumn
and winter of 1993, the Lebanese army arbitrarily arrested
dozens of 'Awn's supporters and turned them over to Syrian
Military Intelligence (SMI) units in Lebanon. SMI typically
held them briefly in detention, and the detainees provided
credible reports of torture during interrogation. These
arrests occurred in the wake of attacks with small explosives
on Syrian sentries in Christian areas near Beirut. Lebanese
authorities arrested a member of an extremist Christian group,
the Guardians of the Cedars, in November on the charge of
conspiring with 'Awn and the Israeli Government. Military
court proceedings were under way at the end of the year.
In the summer, the army arrested 30 members of the LF and held
them incommunicado for more than a week without placing charges
or referring the cases to the military prosecutor. Later,
these members of the LF were accused of threatening state
security and of assassinating Lebanese army officers and
soldiers in 1990. The LF and an army faction backing Michel
'Awn's seizure of power were fighting at the time. One LF
member remains in detention. The army also took steps to purge
its ranks of suspected LF members.
Authorities arrested four PNO members July 20 and released them
in September. They were never charged.
Amnesty International reported in April that 8 persons were
arrested in March for distributing leaflets opposing the
Government and the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. They
were believed to be held incommunicado for an unknown period at
the Defense Ministry. 'Awn supporters alleged that brief
detentions by the army, for periods ranging from a day to a
week, were commonplace. In July a leading 'Awnist was arrested
for defamation after he issued a press release making
exaggerated claims that hundreds of illegal detainees were in
Lebanese jails. He was detained for 7 days.
Arbitrary detention by local militias and non-Lebanese forces
continued to occur in areas outside the central Government's
authority. In March the Israeli navy detained for 24 hours
five Lebanese fishermen who were fishing off the coast of Tyre
inside Lebanese territorial waters. In March Israeli forces
released three citizens it had arrested inside the security
zone and held without charges for about 20 days. The SLA
continued to hold at least 350 Lebanese and Palestinian
detainees at Al-Khiyam prison and denied access to them by the
ICRC and family members. Seventeen detainees were released in
March and another three in May. In March the Iranian-backed
Hizballah militia handed over to the ICRC one person and the
remains of another. The party had kidnaped them 2 years ago.
No judicial action was taken against Hizballah.
The Government does not normally use exile as a means of
punishment. However, in 199l it pardoned former army commander
and self-proclaimed Prime Minister 'Awn, along with two aides,
on condition that they leave the country and remain in exile
for 5 years. They were accused of usurping power.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Each confessional group has its own court for family and
personal status cases. There is a separate military court
system. In refugee camps, Palestinian elements operate an
autonomous and arbitrary system of justice; rival Palestinian
factions often try their opponents without due process.
Although Lebanese law provides the right to a fair public trial
and the judiciary is considered independent and relatively
impartial, influential politicians continued to intervene
successfully to protect supporters from detention and
prosecution. Government interference in the judicial process
and low judicial salaries led to the resignation of several
prominent judges and to corruption and bribery of others. The
Government took steps to adjust salaries in September. The
appointment of judges, like other government appointments, is
allocated on the basis of religious affiliation.
The resignations, aggravating an already severe shortage of
judges, dealt a blow to efforts to speed adjudication and erase
a backlog of cases that had developed during the civil war. An
inability to conduct investigations in areas outside effective
government control also caused trial delays.
The legal system is discriminatory in its handling of so-called
crimes of honor. Men, for example, are typically acquitted of
murder charges in cases involving the murder of adulterous
wives. By law, in some instances a female's testimony before a
notary public carries half the weight of that of a male.
There are no known political prisoners, although political
opponents of the Syrian and Lebanese regimes are often detained
without charges for short periods of time.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
While Lebanese authorities generally show no interest in
controlling personal life, they are not reluctant to interfere
with the privacy of some foes. Laws require that government
prosecutors obtain a warrant before entering houses, except
when the Lebanese army pursues an armed attacker. Militiasand
non-Lebanese forces operating outside areas of central
government authority frequently violated rights of privacy.
Various factions and the Government use informer networks and
monitor telephones to gather intelligence on their foes. A
Member of Parliament, former Prime Minister Salim Al-Huss,
questioned the Government about taps on phones belonging to
members of Parliament and politicians but received no response.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
Law in Internal Conflicts
The situation in South Lebanon remained explosive. Hizballah
and other Lebanese and Palestinian militias on the one hand,
and Israel and the SLA on the other, engaged in a cycle of
violence which led to civilian casualties in South Lebanon and
the deaths of two members of the United Nations Interim Force
in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Lebanese and Palestinian militias
attacked SLA and IDF troops deployed on Lebanese soil and
Israeli civilians in northern Israel. The Israelis directed
air strikes and artillery shelling on alleged guerrilla and
terrorist targets inside Lebanon.
Events culminated in July when Israel launched land, sea, and
air attacks on Lebanon in "Operation Accountability." The
Israeli offensive was designed to put an end to militia rocket
attacks on northern Israel. The intense, week-long assault
included a declared policy of depopulating the south,
accomplished by using radio broadcasts and leaflets to warn
residents of named villages, towns, and cities to flee by
certain deadlines. These tactics resulted in mass panic and
the dislocation of over 300,000 southerners, who sought refuge
in areas to the north, including Beirut. During the Israeli
strikes, about 150 civilians were killed and 500 wounded. Nine
hundred houses were completely destroyed and 2,450 were
partially damaged.
There were credible eyewitness reports of Israeli use of
phosphorous shells with respect to both Lebanese military and
civilian targets. International observers found evidence that
at least 17 civilians had received phosphorous burns.
On September 13 the Lebanese army opened fire on demonstrators
in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Nine civilians were killed
and 36 wounded. Hizballah had organized the rally to protest
the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Washington,
despite direct warnings from the Government and Syrian
authorities that they intended to enforce a ban on
demonstrations. The army said soldiers acted in self-defense
after elements in the crowd had opened fire. The Government
says it is investigating the incident.
Violations of international humanitarian standards with respect
to treatment of prisoners continued to occur.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Lebanon has a long heritage of freedom of opinion, speech, and
press, although many Lebanese journalists have been killed and
kidnaped in the past two decades by Lebanese and foreign
factions. Although there were repeated attempts to muzzle
these freedoms in 1993, criticism of the Government's policies
and leaders continued. Dozens of newspapers and magazines are
published throughout Lebanon, financed by various Lebanese and
foreign groups. While the press is nominally independent,
press content often reflects the opinions of these financial
backers. In addition, a legal framework exists to impose
restrictions on the media. Some restrictive press regulations
were imposed during the civil war but remain in place, such as
Decree 104 of 1977. Laws prohibit attacks on the dignity of
the head of state or of foreign leaders, authorize the
prosecutor general to shut newspapers for up to 1 week without
reference to the courts if articles appear that, in the view of
the authorities, threaten Lebanon's foreign relations or incite
sectarian conflict, and prohibit the publication of state
secrets. A special publication court exists to try cases
involving these matters. The 1991 Lebanese-Syrian security
agreement contains a provision effectively banning
informational activity that could endanger the security of
either State.
In April and May the Government temporarily shut down three
newspapers. Nida' Al-Watan, owned by a vocal Maronite critic
of Prime Minister Hariri, was accused of inciting sectarian
discord and suspended for 38 days. It had alleged that Hariri
was buying Christian church property in a bid to Islamize
Lebanon. Al-Safir, one of Lebanon's most popular dailies, was
closed for publishing alleged state secrets. It had printed
the text of an Israeli proposal submitted to the Lebanese
delegation to the Middle East peace talks. During the paper's
1-week suspension, it appeared using a valid permit for the
moribund Beirut Al-Masa' newspaper. Trials in both cases are
under way. Al-Sharq was closed for 1 week after printing a
cartoon that was deemed insulting to the President's family.
In October the Public Prosecutor charged two newspapers,
Al-Liwa and Ad-Diyar, with slandering government officials.
The Government also made a new charge against Nida' Al-Watan in
October for publishing a story alleging that Japanese Red Army
members were present in Lebanon. The authorities denied the
story and said it harmed Lebanon's reputation. A pro-Awn
publication was closed in October for distributing pornography.
Direct press criticism of Syria and its role in Lebanon
virtually vanished in 1993. One leading journalist was
subjected to anonymous threats after writing columns critical
of aspects of Syrian policy in Lebanon. Other reporters
described a widespread practice of self-censorship on matters
related to Syria.
Diverse political groups, particularly former militias,
operated a wide variety of unregulated radio and television
stations. As these groups accepted the spread of state
authority and began to manage their broadcasts on a commercial
basis, heavily slanted propaganda diminished. The Taif accord
calls for the regulation and organization of the broadcast
media; this proposal is controversial, however, and the
Government has not submitted a draft law to Parliament.
Pending passage of new regulations, the Information Minister
and major stations signed an honor code in February banning
programming which would disturb public order, stir ethnic or
sectarian enmity, slander Lebanese leaders or friendly nations,
violate moral standards, or promote Israel. The honor code has
no discernible impact on broadcasting. Exploiting the absence
of a legal framework, the Government moved to close one of its
critics, the Independent Communications Network (ICN). The
station, owned by the publisher of Nida' Al-Watan, was accused
of inciting sectarian discord. In late December, the Civil
Court permitted ICN to resume broadcasting and scheduled for
February a hearing of the Government's case against the
broadcaster. The Public Prosecutor has asked for prison
sentences of 3 years for ICN management.
Lebanon's partially state-owned television station, Tele-Liban,
had long enjoyed virtual autonomy with respect to its news and
public affairs programming. The Cabinet, however, reasserted
in August the Information Minister's legal right to monitor and
effectively control Tele-Liban's activities.
In 1993 the Government revived police control over all
nonperiodical publications, books, foreign magazines, plays,
and films, which must be submitted to the Public Security
Directorate for approval before distribution. A prize-winning
film on national reconciliation was banned for several months
and released only after the producer made some changes. The
police briefly closed a play, "The Rabbit and the Saints,"
acting on a request from the Maronite church. Censors later
reversed the decision. Police confiscated a novel, "Garden of
the Senses," by a well-known local author, saying it had
pornographic passages.
Lebanon has a strong tradition of academic freedom and a
flourishing private educational system, born from the
inadequacy of public schools and an attachment to sectarian
affiliations. Students exercise the right to form campus
associations, and the Government does not usually interfere
with student groups. The Government's arrests of students
sympathetic to the exiled General Michel 'Awn and to the
Lebanese Forces in 1992 chilled student activism among those
students in 1993.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Any group wishing to organize a rally must obtain the prior
approval of the Interior Ministry, but this law is not
uniformly applied. Some political factions, such as the Shi'a
Amal movement, the Christian Kataib Party, and the mostly Druze
PSP were permitted to stage rallies during 1993, but some
Christian groups were not. The army obstructed a meeting of
the Kataib Party Salvation Committee (a group at odds with the
policies of the party mainstream), and the Interior Ministry
did not grant the Committee a permit for a rally. Other
Christian groups opposed to the Government were warned by army
intelligence officers against staging rallies.
Hizballah held demonstrations and marches unhindered by the
authorities. On September 13, however, the army opened fire on
Hizballah demonstrators in an effort to impose a government ban
on protests (see Section 1.g.). The rally was staged in
opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian agreement. Sunni
Islamist groups in Tripoli, foiled by the government ban from
making a similar protest, later organized an antipeace process
gathering inside a mosque.
Army intelligence monitors the movement and activities of
members of opposition groups, some of whom charged that
intelligence officers have warned them against holding private
meetings with other oppositionists.
Neither Israel nor Syria allows groups openly hostile to them
to operate in areas they control.
c. Freedom of Religion
Lebanese practice their various religions freely. There are 17
officially recognized sects, including numerous Christian
denominations, Muslims (Sunni, Shia, and others), and Druze.
There is no state religion, but Lebanon's confessional
political system means that a wide range of government
positions are filled on the basis of religion.
There are no restrictions on any particular religious groups,
foreign clergy, or places of worship. Religious groups are
free to publish religious material, operate schools, and
establish charitable organizations.
Lebanese have the legal right to convert from one religion to
another, but the confessional character of society makes
conversion to another religion difficult. Women, however,
often adopt the religion of their husbands. Conversion can
mean ostracism from family and friends. Local religious
leaders often pressure members of their congregations against
taking part in the religious activities of other groups.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Lebanese traditionally have enjoyed freedom of travel, domestic
and foreign. The spread of government authority has removed
barriers that blocked domestic travel during the civil war, but
obstacles remain. Lebanese armed forces and Syrian troops
maintained checkpoints in areas under their control. In the
south, the SLA and IDF maintained tight restrictions on the
movement of people and goods into and out of the security zone.
There are some restrictions on foreign travel by Lebanese
citizens. Husbands may block foreign travel by their wives and
minor children. The introduction in 1993 of compulsory
military service for many males aged between 18 and 21 meant
that youths subject to the draft are required to register at a
recruitment office and obtain a travel authorization document
before leaving the country. Travel to Israel is illegal for
all Lebanese citizens, but many do so through Israeli-
controlled territory in southern Lebanon. There are no legal
restrictions on the right of all citizens to return. Many
emigres are reluctant to return for a variety of political,
economic, and social reasons. Palestinian refugees with valid
residency papers have the right to return to Lebanon.
The Government began the process of encouraging the return to
their homes of over 600,000 Lebanese displaced during the civil
war. The process was slowed by financial constraints as well
as lingering insecurity felt by the displaced. Hundreds of
families, however, received keys to their homes and began to
repair them. The Government concentrated its efforts on
returning Christians to areas of the Shuf and 'Alayh from which
they had fled in the wake of Christian-Druze fighting in the
mid-1980s.
Lebanon has historically both generated and received refugees.
There are approximately 180,000 stateless undocumented persons
in Lebanon. Although the families of some of them have lived
in Lebanon for generations, they suffer broad discrimination
since they are not accorded the legal rights enjoyed by the
rest of the population. They include the inhabitants of border
areas in dispute between Lebanon and Syria and Lebanon and
Israel, Kurds, Syriac Orthodox, and members of other sects.
These people do not benefit from such government services as
the national social security fund, and cannot be employed by
the Government. Concern about preserving sectarian balance was
one obstacle to the naturalization of these people in the
past. In 1993 political support grew for a plan to naturalize
a confessionally balanced group of non-Palestinian stateless
persons who have continuously resided in Lebanon for the past
15 years. The Government is reviewing applications.
Most non-Lebanese refugees in Lebanon are Palestinians. The
Government has estimated their number at 361,000, but this
figure only includes families of refugees who arrived in 1948.
Some estimates of the actual number of Palestinians in Lebanon
now range from 450,000 to 500,000. Although the Government in
1991 ended its practice of denying work permits to
Palestinians, a strong bias against them continues to compel
often highly trained Palestinian refugees to take menial work.
Palestinians and other aliens may own land only of a limited
size and only after obtaining the approval of five district
offices. The law applies to all aliens, but for political,
cultural, and economic reasons it is applied in a manner
disadvantageous to the Palestinians and, to a lesser extent,
Kurds. Under Lebanese citizenship law, only Lebanese males may
transmit citizenship to their spouses and children.
Lebanon refused to admit 419 Palestinians deported by Israel on
December 17, 1992. The deportees remained in an effective no
man's land between Israeli and Lebanese controlled territory
inside southern Lebanon. The Government turned a blind eye to
the supply of relief material to the deportees, despite a ban
on such activity. By the end of 1993, all of the deportees had
returned to the Israeli-occupied territories except for about
15 deportees who reportedly elected to remain outside the
occupied territories to avoid imprisonment.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy in which the people have
the constitutional right to change their government. However,
until the Parliamentary elections in 1992, the people had not
been able to exercise this right during 16 years of civil war.
According to the Constitution, direct elections for the
Parliament must be held every 4 years. The Parliament, in
turn, elects the President every 6 years. The President and
Parliament choose the Cabinet. Political parties may form, and
some flourish. Since the emergence of the post-1943 state, a
relatively restricted group of traditional and sectarian
leaders largely have determined national policy. The unwritten
1943 National Pact allocated power on a confessional system
based on the 1932 census. The Pact stipulated that the
President would be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a
Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament a Shi'a Muslim.
Until 1990, seats in Parliament were divided on a 6-to-5 ratio
of Christians to Muslims. Positions in the government were
allocated on a similar basis between Christians and Muslims.
Efforts to alter or abolish the confessional system of
allocating power were at the center of Lebanese politics for
more than 3 decades. Those religious groups most favored by
the 1943 formula sought to preserve it, while those who
perceived themselves to be disadvantaged sought to revise it on
the basis of different demographic data or to abolish it
entirely. The struggle gave a strongly sectarian coloration to
Lebanese politics and to the continuing civil strife in the
country. Under the National Reconciliation Agreement reached
in Taif, Saudi Arabia in October 1989, Members of Parliament
agreed to alter the National Pact to create a 50-50
Christian-Muslim balance in the Parliament and reorder the
powers of the different branches of government.
Constitutional amendments embodying the political reforms
stipulated in the Taif agreement, which represented a dramatic
political and psychological change, became law in 1990. They
included an expansion of the number of seats in Parliament and
the division of seats equally between Muslims and Christians
and the transfer of some powers from the President to the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. Parliamentary elections were held in
1992. The elections were not prepared and not carried out in a
manner to ensure the broadest national consensus. Because the
results do not reflect the full spectrum of the body politic in
Lebanon, they cast doubt on the ability of the Lebanese people
to change their government through truly democratic means.
Palestinians in Lebanon, with the exception of the few who have
gained Lebanese nationality, have no political rights. An
estimated 17 Palestinian factions operate in Lebanon, ranging
from several characterized as "Islamic" to numerous pro- and
anti-Arafat organizations, many built around prominent
individual leaders. Most Palestinians live in refugee camps,
under the control of one or more political factions. Leaders
are not elected, and there are no representative institutions
that would permit popular participation in running camps.
Fundamental protections and freedoms expected of governments
exist in some but not all Palestinian areas.
There are no legal barriers to participation by women in
politics, but the culture discourages it. Three women were
elected to Parliament in 1992. Two were related to deceased
politicians, and the third is the sister of the Prime
Minister. Very few women hold policy-level positions in the
Government.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Several local associations are devoted to human rights,
including the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights, the
Lebanese Association for Human Rights (headed by a Member of
Parliament), and the Lebanese Bar Association's Office for
Human Rights. The Government does not interfere with the
activities of these organizations, according to their leaders.
There were no known requests by international human rights
organizations to investigate the situation in Lebanon in 1993,
but occasional inquiries were made. The SLA has refused
requests for access by the ICRC and other international
humanitarian groups to visit the prison it operates at
Al-Khiyam in southern Lebanon.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Sixteen years of civil war blocked progress in many social
fields, including laws and practices on discrimination. In
1993, the Cabinet and Parliament considered amendments to laws
that discriminate against women, children, and the disabled,
but no action was taken.
Women
Lebanese women, many of whom have professional degrees, can
work outside the home and increasingly do so out of necessity.
The idea that women should be supported by men prevails,
however, and many, including those with professional training,
remain home with their families or until their children are
grown. Males exercise considerable control over female
relatives, often restricting such activities outside the home
as travel or contact with friends and relatives. Women may own
property but may not be able to exercise control over it due to
legal and cultural restrictions. The law stipulates that a
woman must obtain the prior approval of her husband to open a
business or engage in trade. The Judicial Institute refused to
accept 200 female law graduates in November, offering no
grounds for the decision.
Violence against women occurs, and the press reports frequent
cases of rape, but judicial authorities have no statistics on
the extent of the problem. Doctors and social workers believe
most abused women do not seek medical help. The society's
emphasis on personal privacy and honor makes it difficult for
women to seek legal redress, suggesting that cases reported in
the papers are but a fraction of the total number. The
Government has neither expressed an interest in the problem nor
made an effort to combat it.
Each confessional group in Lebanon has its own family and
personal status laws administered by religious courts, and each
group differs in its treatment of marriage, family property
rights, and inheritance. Many of these laws discriminate
against women. For example, Sunni inheritance law gives a son
twice the share of a daughter. Although Muslim men can easily
divorce, Muslim women can do so only with the approval of their
husbands. Divorce is difficult for Christians following
Catholic rites, including Maronites. Many seeking divorce
convert to an orthodox faith. Parliament approved in November
a law that allowed women to testify in matters related to land
registry. Previously, a woman's testimony had carried only
half the weight of a man's.
Children
The Government has not placed priority on children's rights and
welfare. There is no evidence of government spending to
protect children, although Lebanon has ratified the Children's
Rights Charter. The area of children's rights is one of many
demands made on a state that is just emerging from years of
social and financial chaos. The plight of children is a
growing concern in Lebanon. A huge number of children are
neglected, abused, exploited and even sold to disreputable
adoption agents at a rate of $5,000 for an infant, according to
children's rights monitors. Hundreds of abandoned children are
found in the streets, begging and cleaning car windows; others
are hired illegally at low wages. Juvenile delinquency is
rising. There are 428 cases before the delinquency court in
north Lebanon alone, and many delinquents wait in ordinary
prisons for trial and remain there after sentencing. Limited
financial resources have hindered efforts to build adequate
facilities to rehabilitate delinquents.
Religious Minorities
Discrimination based on religion is built into the system of
government (see Section 3). The amended Constitution of 1990
embraces the principle of abolishing confessionalism as a
criterion for filling all government positions, but no steps
have been taken to accomplish this.
People with Disabilities
Over 100,000 people were handicapped during the civil war.
This traditional society has tended to neglect the disabled and
handicapped, and the concept of rights for the disabled is a
novelty for it. Most efforts to secure education,
independence, health, and shelter for the disabled were made by
private institutions dealing with the handicapped, of which
there are more than 100 throughout the country. In the
aftermath of the war, the issue of rights for the disabled has
gained the Government's attention, and in late 1992 a minister
was given responsibility for handicapped affairs, although he
lacked a ministry and financial resources. Parliament amended
a 1973 law on the disabled, with a view to eliminating all
obstacles that block equal treatment for the disabled. Even
rudimentary needs remain unmet, however. Lebanon's heavily
damaged cities make no accommodation to the disabled, and
building codes still have no requirements to ease access.
Facilities for the disabled in most instances are inadequately
funded by the Government and various religious institutions,
and other charities which run them. In this area as in others,
the level of public philanthropy is low.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
All workers, except government employees, may form and join
unions and have a legal right to strike. Worker
representatives must be chosen from those employed within the
bargaining unit. Trade unions may determine their own policies
and programs as long as they do not involve themselves in
politics. About 600,000 persons form the active labor force,
many of whom are members of Lebanon's 160 labor unions and
associations. Twenty-three of the unions, with about 250,000
workers, are represented in the General Confederation of
Workers (CGTL), 42 percent of the estimated labor force.
Lebanese authorities do not control or restrict unions,
although union leaders allege that the Government has tried to
intervene in elections for union officials. In 1993 the CGTL
executive council elections resulted in the defeat of CGTL's
long-term president. There were credible allegations that the
Labor Minister helped sway electors, encouraged by both leading
candidates. Palestinians in Lebanon may organize their own
unions. Restrictions on their right to work in the country,
however, make this right more theoretical than real. Few
Palestinians participate actively in trade unions in Lebanon.
Public school teachers, the staff at Lebanese University,
Trans-Mediterranean Airways employees, and municipal contract
workers (principally garbage collectors) in several cities
including Beirut staged a handful of warning strikes in 1993.
The longest lasted 3 days. Strikers suspended their walkouts
in these cases in response to government offers to examine
their demands. As of December 31, however, those demands were
largely unmet.
After months of negotiations and strike threats, CGTL and the
Government struck a deal in December on a nationwide wage
increase.
Three hundred workers at a private steel factory struck on
September 29 over management's decision to increase their hours
of employment and over alleged inroads on worker's freedom to
organize. As of November 1 the strike was unresolved. Laws
prohibit retribution against strikers and leaders, and there
are no known cases of such retribution. Two strike leaders
among the Beirut municipal contract workers, however, were
detained by the police for several hours.
Unions are free to affiliate with international federations and
confederations, and they maintain a variety of them.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right of workers to organize and to bargain exists in law
and practice. Most workers' groups engage in some form of
collective bargaining with their employers. Stronger
federations obtain significant gains through their own
collective bargaining efforts. Weaker unions rely on the
mediation of the CGTL, which negotiates across-the-board pay
increases with private employers' associations. The CGTL often
assists unions affiliated with it in their bargaining efforts
and on occasion has assisted nonunionized workers. There is no
government mechanism to promote voluntary labor-management
negotiations, and workers have no protection against antiunion
discrimination. While such discrimination exists, its
practical impact on union rights is negligible largely because
of CGTL activism.
In May the International Labor Organization (ILO) reviewed a
complaint lodged by the CGTL against the Government regarding
the arrest of striking bank employees in 1992. The ILO, noting
that the Government had not denied the fact of the arrests and
had not responded adequately to ILO inquiries, asked the
Government to safeguard unions' freedom to strike in the future.
There are no special economic incentives or export processing
zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
While not prohibited by law, forced labor is not practiced or
condoned by the Government. However, children, domestics, or
other foreign workers are sometimes forced to remain in
situations amounting to coerced or bonded labor.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The 1946 labor code stipulates a minimum age of 8. Workers
between the age of 8 and 16 cannot work in excess of 7 hours,
with 1 hour of rest provided after 4 hours. They are also
prohibited from working between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
There is a general prohibition against "jobs out of proportion
with a worker's age." The labor code also prohibits certain
types of mechanical work for children aged 8 to 13, and other
types for those aged 13 to 16. The Labor Ministry is tasked
with enforcing these requirements, but the civil war left it
with few resources and a demoralized and sometimes corrupt
staff. The law is not rigorously applied, and many younger
children work in family businesses.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Ministry sets a legal monthly minimum wage, which was
raised in December to about $117 (197,000 Lebanese pounds).
The law is not enforced effectively in the private sector. In
theory the courts could be called upon to enforce it, but in
practice they are not. Trade unions actively try to assure the
payment of minimum wages in both the public sector and
large-scale private sectors, such as teaching and transport.
Inflation and currency devaluation make it impossible for a
worker and family to live on the minimum wage; most workers
have to earn additional income to make ends meet.
Labor law prescribes a standard 6-day workweek of 48 hours,
with a 24-hour rest period per week. In practice, workers in
the industrial sector work an average of 35 hours a week, and
workers in other sectors of the economy work an average of 30
hours a week. The law includes specific occupational health
and safety regulations. Labor regulations call on employer's
to take adequate precautions for employee safety. Enforcement,
the responsibility of the Labor Ministry, is uneven. Labor
organizers know of no right of workers to remove themselves
from hazardous conditions.
[end of document]
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