ALEF – Act for Human Rights published its situation report on the most critical challenges and developments to human rights in Lebanon between 2019 and 2023.

Since 1999, ALEF has been issuing annual reports detailing the human rights situation in Lebanon. However, the confluence of extraordinary circumstances that Lebanon, and our organization, faced since 2019 put off ALEF’s routine. These crises impacted our team, our work, our resources and our mission as badly as it influenced the country. Our staff, interns, and volunteers found themselves navigating the very adversities they were working to document and address.

Despite these challenges, ALEF remained dedicated to upholding rigorous standards, diligently monitoring and drafting detailed updates on the human rights situation each year. Thus, recognizing the need to provide a cohesive account of the past period, we decided to consolidate these annual drafts into a single report, offering a clearer and more cohesive analysis of the ongoing issues and challenges.

Between 2019 and 2023, Lebanon grappled with a severe deterioration in human rights conditions as a multitude of crises unfolded in the country. Political instability, financial collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut Port explosion have all intensified already existing systemic issues, leading to widespread violations of civil, political, social, economic, and judicial rights. Vulnerable populations such as refugees, migrant domestic workers, marginalized communities, prisoners, children, and women have been disproportionately affected, facing risks of abuse and neglect. With the government’s failure to address these issues effectively, rule of law in Lebanon has been significantly undermined.

The report also notes some positive steps that were taken in Lebanon promoting human rights. Although death sentences continued to be issued in Lebanon, in 2020, the country’s UN delegation voted in favour of a resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, indicating a potential policy shift. In 2021, Law 205 was enacted, criminalizing sexual harassment, including that in the workplace. In 2022, a judge implemented its anti-torture law for the first time, charging five State Security agents for the torture and death of an inmate in prison. 

Despite these progresses, Lebanon still failed to uphold its numerous human rights obligations, and continued to employ security-centered and short-term approaches in addressing several challenges. 

Lebanese residents’ rights to life, liberty, and security have severely declined. The Port of Beirut explosion led to more than 200 deaths, 7,500 injuries, and displaced around 300,000 individuals, with no kind of local or international accountability in sight. Political assassinations, armed clashes, and sectarian violence remained rampant, coinciding with severe violations of international humanitarian law in 2023 due to the armed conflict along Lebanon’s southern border and the Bekaa. 

The report also sheds light on the right to effective remedy and its impact on freedom of expression, noting that over the past five years, there has been a rise in the number of civilians being prosecuted by the Military Court. Indeed, authorities have arrested numerous civilians over social media posts and statements criticizing political and religious figures. Lebanon’s freedom of peaceful assembly was also threatened numerous times, especially in 2019 and 2020, when protestors were faced with tear gas, rubber bullets, and a disproportionate use of force to disperse protests. 

Prison conditions continue to heavily deteriorate, with overcrowding in prisons and increasing pre-trial detention rates due to the judicial paralysis over the years. Torture remains difficult to curb, especially against marginalized communities in Lebanon. 

Additionally, the Syrian refugee crisis has significantly intensified during these 5 years and has only been dealt with from a security perspective, leading to increased social tensions between refugees and the local host community. There have been numerous instances of foreigners, especially refugees and migrant workers, being deported without due process, raising concerns about violations to the principle of non-refoulement. The international community has also fell short in providing support to Lebanon in terms of responsibility-sharing of refugees and adequate funding support to host communities, and most importantly in terms of exploring long-term solutions.

In 2022, although the Lebanese Parliamentary elections was held in an effort to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, the process was undermined by widespread electoral fraud, miscounts, and violations. Lebanon still suffers from political continuous deadlock with no President, a caretaker government and a paralyzed parliament since 2022. 

The situation report concludes that there is still no effective political will to address fundamental issues that cause recurring violations to basic rights and freedoms, including rule of law, regular and fair elections, economic livelihood, gender equality, freedom of expression, refugee protection, enforced disappearance, labor rights, and rights to fair trial. ALEF, along with a wide network of civil society actors, continues to strive for sustainable social and political development which can only be achieved if based on human rights and freedoms.