Go to: ICTJ Activity | Background | Resources

ICTJ Activity

Lebanon is a country scarred by successive wars, occupations, and ongoing human rights violations. It is a country filled with victims, but public acknowledgement of past violations and suffering is still tentative.

Since 2006 Lebanon has faced a severe political crisis of domestic and regional proportions. The establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has added to the volatility of the situation. Established by the United Nations Security Council to "prosecute persons responsible for the attack of 14 February 2005 resulting in the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and in the death or injury of other persons," the Tribunal is the first but highly politicized measure to seek accountability for political killings in Lebanon. Such killings have been committed throughout recent decades, and some have also contributed to outbreaks of mass violence and inter-communal conflict.

In this delicate situation, fears of renewed conflict and the prospect of increased accountability have led some Lebanese to discuss issues of accountability and justice more openly. The fact that any Tribunal effort deals only with a handful of crimes against high-profile victims underscores the absence of accountability efforts for other kinds of violations. The vast majority of Lebanese victims of human rights abuses continue to live with impunity and denial.

The ICTJ has undertaken several educational and capacity building activities in Lebanon since 2005. These have included a workshop with the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies in 2005, lectures in cooperation with the Human Rights Institute of the Beirut Bar Association, documentation-related activities, and a developing partnership with the American University of Beirut.

In 2008 the ICTJ is strengthening its in-country presence. It is vital that civil society organizations, the media, policymakers, and the public, become better equipped to face the painful questions that the coming period will bring - and are able to discuss them openly, knowledgably, and with reference to other countries' experiences. This is one of the few ways that Lebanon's ticking bomb legacy can be defused, rather than allowing old resentments to fester. The ICTJ is working with local non-government organizations, universities, and professional and other groups in order to help ensure this is the case.

Back to top

Background

Between 1975 and 1990 a succession of conflicts were fought out on Lebanese soil. Both local and foreign parties were involved. Widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law occurred throughout. According to statistics established by the Lebanese police in 1991, there were approximately 145,000 killed, 185,000 wounded, 17,000 missing, 14,000 handicapped, more than 2000 women murdered after having been raped, and about 800,000 forcibly displaced during the war.[1] This is a huge number of victims for a population of 3.5 to 4 million inhabitants, to which some 300,000 Palestinian refugees should be added.

After the conclusion of conflict an all-encompassing amnesty was ratified by the parliament in 1991, which whitewashed almost all crimes committed before that date. The amnesty effectively allowed warlords to participate in post-war politics with no effort to seek justice for victims or accountability for crimes. The main argument at the time was that the amnesty and forgetting were essential to preserving peace and unity in a fragmented society.

Lebanon's armed conflict had ended by the early 1990's - but Israeli and Syrian occupations of Lebanese territory continued. The occupations resulted in continued serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and targeted assassinations. During this period, no serious measures were taken to address the demands of victims' groups, including that of the disappeared and detainees in Syrian and Israeli prisons. When the Israeli army withdrew in May 2000, Syria came under increasing pressure to follow suit. But it was only five years later, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and heightened domestic and international pressure, that the Syrian forces finally left Lebanon.

After Lebanon's unprecedented popular mobilization of 2005, many taboos were shattered, including that of discussing the 1975-1990 war. As such, there was increasing interest in transitional justice issues. Organizations have sought to use greater freedom of action to raise the question of how best to deal with legacies of past human rights abuses and particularly disappearances. However, another war in July-August 2006 with Israel, combined with a string of assassinations and bombings, as well as a deadlocked internal political situation have complicated opportunities for public advocacy of transitional justice issues - even though paradoxically, they have become a more urgent topic of public interest than ever before.

Back to top

[1] See generally Boutros Labaki & Khalil Abou Rjeily, Bilan des Guerres du Liban, L'Harmattan, 1993, Amal Makarem, in Memory for the Future 45 (2002).

(Updated May 2008)