Lebanon

Human rights defenders working in Lebanon have been subjected to detention, prosecution, harassment, threats and travel restrictions. The Lebanese constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press and a substantial number of human rights organizations operate within the country. However, the government has also been selective in deciding which human rights organizations to officially recognize. Lebanon ’s fractured political landscape and the legacy of the civil war have created a tense atmosphere in which HRDs work. According to the Euro-Mediterranean human rights network, human rights defenders face “allegations, slander and death threats by non-state armed groups and regularly face arbitrary charges before the courts”. In some cases, not only are HRDs unfairly charged, but they have also been subject to military court proceedings. In 2006, the prominent human rights lawyer and defender, Muhammed Mugraby was falsely accused of slandering the country’s military establishment and prosecuted in a military court for dissent.

Under particular scrutiny are individuals who work with the country’s refugee population. They face harassment in the form of travel restrictions, repeated summons and interrogations. They are often charged with defaming Lebanon ’s reputation; creating civil disorder, and even treason. More pressingly, they have the threat of their chosen organizations branded illegal. In 2003, Samira Trad, who is the director of Frontiers Centre, which is devoted to alleviating the suffering of refugees and marginalized citizens, was accused by the authorities of ‘tarnishing the reputation of the State of Lebanon’ and of ‘founding an illegal organization’.