Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. Annual Report. 2004
Published July 2005

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Lebanon

 Capital : Beirut

Date of Independence : 22/11/1943
Area : 10,452 Km
Population (in millions) : 3.8 (est. 2005)
Rate of Population Increase : 1.26% ( est. 2005)
Ethnic Groups : 95% Arabs, 4% Armenians, 1% others

Religious Groups : 70% (Muslims different sects), 30 Christians
Illiteracy : 22%
No. of Provinces : 5
Polity : Republic
Head of State : Emil Lahoud
No. of Political Parties : 19
GDP (in millions)ppp : $18,830 (2004)
GDP per Capitappp : $5,000 (2004)
 

Overview
 

Lebanon was established as a French protectorate in 1920 in accordance with the Anglo-French Sykes-Pico Agreement following World War I. In 1943, it won its independence. Lebanon since then has managed to maintain a precarious democracy based on the allocation of parliamentary quotas and the division of the top government posts between the 17 officially recognized different religious and ethnic groups that make up the Lebanese population. The mandated Christian presidency and the original 6-5 ratio of Christian to Muslim parliamentary seats came under challenge in 1975 when the initial slight Christian majority turned into a minority due to demographic changes brought about by an increased birth rate among Muslims and the influx of Muslim immigrants. In 1975 war broke out between Muslim militia aligned with the Palestinian guerrilla forces that resided in the country and Christian militia determined to maintain the status quo of Christian privilege. The war lasted for 15 years and brought into the fray Syrian military forces, and Iranian involvement (after 1979) in support of Lebanon’s large Muslim Shi’a community. This confusion of the situation was further compounded by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 in an attempt to oust the Palestinian forces that had founded a strong base there from which it conducted sporadic border attacks against Israel. The war was brought to an end in 1989 on the basis of an agreement concluded in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia, brokered by several Arab countries. The agreement provided for a Syrian military presence in Lebanon to maintain peace and provide the stability needed for the rebuilding of the state’s institutions which had been destroyed completely by the 15-year civil war. Since then the Syrian forces have remained, mainly in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. Their presence is a source of deep controversy between major sections within Lebanese society.

I. Political Rights and Civil Liberties

1. The Executive, Political Parties and Elections. The President, who must be a Maronite Christian, is chosen for a 6-year term that is unrenewable by the 128-member parliament, subject (since the end of the civil war) to prior Syrian approval. The political quota arrangement requires that the Prime Minister be a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) a Shi’a Muslim. Parliamentary seats are divided equally between Muslims and Christians. Political parties are subject to the same law that governs NGOs and are legally free to operate, except for the Christian Lebanese Forces Party which is banned since 1994. Elections are run and supervised by the Ministry of Interior rather than by an independent election committee. According to international observers the last parliamentary elections of 2000 were flawed―mainly due to Syrian influence and weak security―though the recorded irregularities were fewer than in the previous elections of 1996. In September 2001, municipal elections were held for the first time since 1963 in 64 villages and towns previously occupied by Israel. New municipal elections were held again in 2004. The elections were judged to be fair and free. On 4/9/2004, under Syrian pressure, and despite strong domestic and international objections, the Lebanese constitutionwhich allows only one 6-year presidential termwas amended to allow the extension of another 3 years after the term of incumbent president Emil Lahoud cam to an end. As a consequence the UN passed the US-French resolution 1559 calling on the withdrawal of the 14,000 Syrian troops that were stationed in Lebanon since 1975.

2. The Judiciary, Trials, and Detention. Although the Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, it is in practice subject to executive pressure, as well as Syrian political pressure, which affects the appointments in key judicial and prosecutorial positions. There is also an intermingling between the judiciary and the prosecutorial system that undermines the autonomy of the Courts. The Ministry of Justice appoints judges on the basis of religious affiliation. Trials are generally public, and defendants rights are generally observed even in military courts which try cases of treason, espionage and draft evasion. Although the law requires a warrant to make an arrest this is often ignored. The most recent report (2001) by the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights puts the number of prisoners at 7230, with only 2500 of them actually tried and convicted. Security forces continue the practice of arbitrary arrest and detention of suspected criminals, and the frequent use of torture to extract confessions; but it also often detains, for short periods, political opponents and critics of the Syrian government. In January 2004 capital punishment was re-instituted after a six-year moratorium, despite strong objections and strong EU pressures.
 

3. Civil Society and the Freedom of Association. Freedom of association and assembly though provided for in the Constitution are in practice partially restricted. Newly established NGOs need only notify the Ministry of the Interior and provide information about their purpose and internal by-laws in order to be registered. There has been a great increase in the last few years in the number of private voluntary associations, many of which, though, are of a sectarian nature; but there are also several that are exclusively concerned with human rights.

Public demonstrations are not permitted without prior approval from the Ministry of the Interior, although peaceful demonstrations in support of Palestinians and other causes have been allowed to proceed without government interference. However, unauthorized anti-Syrian demonstrations are invariably harshly suppressed by the security forces which often beat and arrest participants. Clashes between the police and students demonstrating against anti-democratic measures occur often. All workers, except government employees, may establish and join unions. The labor force is about 900,000, 14% of whom are members in 210 labor unions and associations. Unions are free to affiliate with international federations, and 37 Lebanese federations with some 200,000 workers were represented in the General Confederation of Labor.
 

4. Freedom of Speech and the Media. The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press but this is not strictly observed in practice. Activists critical of government policies have frequently been arrested and detained and journalists and broadcasters have been intimidated in order to force them into self-censorship. Despite such government attempts to curb criticism tens of independent newspapers continue to attack government policies. The press is privately owned and many receive foreign funding and reflect the opinions of their financial backers. The government’s Surete Generale censors all foreign publications and films. A special Publications Court tries offenders who “attack the dignity of the President or foreign leaders.” A 1991 security agreement concluded with Syria, prohibiting the publication of any material that may be harmful to either state, has succeeded in causing journalists to practice self-censorship in matters related to Syria in order to avoid the risk of prosecution. During 2003 the government has repeatedly harassed, abused and detained journalists.

There are six independent television stations and 36 independent radio stations, owned by prominent political and business elites. Satellite television is available widely. The broadcast media operates relatively freely with only occasional governmental intervention. A recent prominent example of such intervention is the case of MTV whose news editor was prosecuted in 2002 for “broadcasting material that damages ties to a sisterly nation” (Syria) and “assailing the dignity of the President, slandering the security services and undermining social order.” Internet access is free and widely used.

4. Freedom of Religion. Although sectarianism is intrinsic to the Lebanese political system, the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and this is protected in practice. The government subsidizes all religions, and Muslim religious judges who deal with family law receive a monthly salary from the state. There is no state religion; politics, however, is largely based on the principle of religious representation. There is no legal prohibition against proselytizing; but traditional norms strongly disapprove of such activity. Occasional sectarian violence occurs on a very limited scale and is attributable to individuals rather than collective action.

   
    

4. Women and the Marginalized. Though the Constitution provides for gender equality yet in practice some aspects of the law and traditional social norms discriminate against women. Religious courts may require a battered wife to return home despite a clear history of being subject to abuse. The law is discriminatory in its lenient treatment of “honor crimes” in which a man kills a wife or female relative for alleged sexual misbehavior. Women also do not receive equal social security provisions. No woman has ever been a cabinet minister and only three women are in the 128-member parliament. Numerous NGOs exist that are concerned mainly with the welfare of women, and many of these conduct campaigns to encourage women to participate actively in public life.

Nearly 390,000 Palestinian refugees live in overcrowded camps. The government prohibits the building of permanent structures in the camps on grounds that this would encourage permanent residence. The refugees have no right to own property, and suffer from numerous deprivations in services and social benefits as a result of their status as stateless foreign elements in the country.

II. Prospects for Democratic Change
 

The infrastructure of a vibrant democracy is already in place. The sectarian political system will, nevertheless, continue to impede the development of a full-fledged democracy. Lebanon remains, however, a far more open and liberal society than any other Arab country. Unfortunately, this openness, together with the multiplicity of religious sects and their affiliated political quota representation, have invited outside forces to play an influential role in Lebanese politics through the funding of its supporters and agents, thus fostering a fragmentation of the political system and a weakening of the central governmentall factors which negatively impact the cause of democracy. On the other hand, Lebanon's highly diverse and dynamic civil society and its openness to Western influence augers well for a rapid democratic consolidation once Lebanon succeeds in freeing itself from the dominant Syrian influence on its domestic politics.