After a challenging hiatus, ALEF is proud to release our long-awaited situation report on the state of human rights in Lebanon, covering the period from 2019 to 2023. Since 1999, our annual reports have been central to our mission, shedding light on Lebanon's human rights challenges. The crises of recent years—including political deadlock, financial collapse, [...]
ALEF- act for human rights is deeply concerned with the extensions of the state of emergency in Beirut. Following years of raising the alarm about a shrinking civic space, this decision can lead to more intimidation, repression, and abuse. Concerns on State of Emergency in BeirutDownload
In Lebanon, prisons and detention centers are chronically overcrowded. The World Prison Brief ranks the Lebanese prison and detention system as the 34 most overcrowded in the world. Severe overcrowding in prisons and detention centers has resulted in conditions that pose a significant threat to the health, safety, and dignity of detainees. Only Roumieh prison [...]
April 10, 2019 ALEF – Act for Human Rights published its annual report on the most critical challenges and developments to human rights in Lebanon in 2018. Dr. Elie Abou Aoun, ALEF’s Secretary General, highlighted some positive, although delayed, steps which were taken by Lebanese authorities promoting in human rights. These included holding the Parliamentary [...]
The Situation of Human Rights in Lebanon In 2018, the Lebanese government took some positive steps towards promoting human rights and showed willingness to comply with certain human rights matters. However, it clearly lacked the capacity and political will to further improve legislation, enforce laws, uphold the country’s international obligations, and create meaningful change. This [...]
In 2017, Lebanese Parliament amended and passed several laws that improve human rights in Lebanon and reaffirm the realization of several efforts by Lebanese civil society in areas concerning elections, transparency, women’s rights, and torture prevention. Recent legislative reforms include changing the electoral law and the prohibition of marital rape, as well as the criminalization [...]
Currently, Lebanon hosts over 1.5 million Syrians and 500,000 registered Palestinian refugees1, amounting to the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Even though the Syrian refugee crisis is in its sixth year and there is an abundant ow of international support, policy- makers fail to respond to the crisis adequately and in [...]
As in previous years, the Lebanese government has taken some positive steps towards promoting human rights in 2016, but has missed several opportunities to uphold the country’s international obligations, and failed to address major protection concerns of the general population. The Lebanese criminal justice system continues to overlook many of the international standards set by [...]
Through the adoption of contemporary international procedures, the Lebanese legal system in theory guarantees due process and fair trials. The justice system now allows for civil lawsuits without recourse to the Sharia, the right to legal counsel in any criminal case, and an absolute protection against “double jeopardy”—a defendant may not be prosecuted twice for [...]
The principles of a fair trial are preserved by a wide array of international agreements and conventions that apply to citizens as well as the state. The most significant of which are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The state of Lebanon has ratified [...]
