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Lebanon is a complex country, characterized by multiple layers of conflict and human rights abuse. ICTJ has worked in Lebanon since 2005, and originally focused on educational and capacity building activities. Currently the Center is engaged with memorialization projects, and has been assisting victims’ groups to develop action strategies on the right to know and the rights of families of the disappeared. 

Background

With a succession of interrelated wars, two parallel occupations and a string of high-profile assassinations, Lebanon carries a heavy legacy of human rights and humanitarian law violations—almost none of which have been addressed in a serious or transparent manner. Lebanon remains vulnerable to resurgent violence, in part due to the lack of justice, accountability and respect for the rule of law.

There are successive periods for which truth and accountability is being sought. The first is the Lebanon 1975–1991 war, in which a wide range of local and external actors were involved, and widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law occurred. A recent Red Cross study concluded that 75 percent of Lebanese citizens had “personal experience” of armed conflict. This figure does not include those who were affected in a more indirect way.

Following the end of the war in 1991, a law provided blanket amnesty for the most egregious wrongdoers and ignored victims’ rights. Abuses continued to be committed throughout 1991–2005, and parts of Lebanon remained under occupation by Israel and Syria. No serious measures were taken to adequately address the problems of victims’ families or disappeared, injured or displaced persons, despite continuous mobilization by victims’ groups.

The 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and a number of political and intellectual figures in a series of targeted attacks led to the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2007. Despite its value in seeking accountability for high-profile assassinations, the creation of the tribunal has raised questions about the lack of accountability for past crimes, the selectivity of justice, and the existence of several thousands of Lebanese victims whose rights and claims have never been heard.

In May 2008, 17 human rights organizations and victims’ groups presented a statement to President Michel Suleiman, demanding that the issue of the disappeared be made a national priority and that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission be created. Although Suleiman acknowledged the issue in his oath statement, and the cabinet pledged to address it in a serious and comprehensive manner, as of 2010 decision makers had not translated these words into action.

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ICTJ Activity

ICTJ’s current work in Lebanon seeks to increase the capacity of civil society and policymakers working on enforced disappearances and encouraging decision makers to take concrete steps in addressing the issue. The Center facilitates discussions around the need to address the past as well as accountability and the rule of law.

Enforced disappearances: addressing the families’ right to know

ICTJ encourages the creation of a comprehensive truth-seeking process to address enforced disappearances. It supports victim’s litigation and also assists stakeholders in developing appropriate legal and institutional frameworks. This work included an exposure trip for Lebanese policymakers and civil society representatives to Bosnia-Herzegovina, which ICTJ organized in June 2010, in partnership with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. This visit led to the creation of two working groups to create a targeted lobbying strategy and draft a comprehensive law on the missing.

In 2008 ICTJ also initiated a groundbreaking research project on strategic litigation and the right to know, which led family associations to file cases before national courts seeking to obtain information on the fate of their loved ones and the protection of mass graves.

Encouraging public discussion about the past:

ICTJ facilitates discussion on past conflicts and how to address their current legacies. This included a series of monthly workshops in 2008 and 2009 providing comparative experiences, in partnership with Lebanese NGO UMAM D&R. The Center provided advice and feedback for an urban center project being developed by the Municipality of Beirut, and submitted a commissioned report with recommendations on how to represent the memory of the war.

The Center is currently developing an oral history project, which will be conducted with Université Saint Joseph and UMAM D&R. It aims to engage the younger generation and increase their understanding of the violence and its consequences through an inter-generational discussion of the past.

Understanding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon:

ICTJ facilitates trainings and workshops to strengthen civil society engagement in issues of rule of law and accountability and transitional justice tools.  Based on its long-term study of hybrid tribunals, ICTJ sought to encourage a better understanding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, with a particular focus on its comparative and technical aspects, through workshops, public lectures, a field trip for journalists in 2008 and the publication of a Handbook on the STL in English, Arabic and French.

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(Updated August 2010)