Overview of Human Rights in Lebanon

Lebanon is a parliamentary republic. Since 2005, Lebanon has been wracked by unrest and spate of politically-motivated assassinations that threaten to destabilize the country.  Of particular note was the assassination of anti-Syrian former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.  That incident spurred what came to be known as the "Cedar Revolution" -- a nationalist uprising against Syrian influence, which was believed to have been behind Hariri's murder. 

Later in 2005, a Lebanese government was formed without the external influence and control of Syria for the first time in 30 years. The elections were considered to be generally free and fair albeit with a few minor irregularities. A new pro-democracy majority opposed to Syrian influence selected Fouad Siniora as prime minister.

In the months after the end of Syrian control, the government has attepted to right some of the human rights abuses of the past three decades. A new democratically elected parliament and reform-minded government are in place and the government has worked to decrease the restrictions on press, assembly, and media censorship.

Significant improvements have been made in some areas of human rights abuses, but overall the record in Lebanon is still issue-ridden. The government lacks transparency and many officials are considered corrupt. Frequently, the government limits the freedoms of speech and press, movement, and assembly. Citizens’ privacy rights are also infringed upon arbitrarily. The judiciary is also not independent. It is easily influenced by the executive branch and other authorities. Palestinians in Lebanon are the victims of widespread, systematic discrimination.

Meanwhile, although official Syrian influence has ended in the region, Palestinian and Lebanese militias, particularly Hezbollah, act as Syrian proxies and maintain undue influence over large parts of the country. Though in recent times Lebanon has begun to take steps to limit Palestinian arms, no steps have been taken to disarm extra-legal armed groups or Hezbollah.

On July 12, 2006 the Lebanon-based organization Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a border raid from Southern Lebanon into Israel. Israel responded with military action and the violence continued to escalate on both sides. It is estimated that over 1,500 people, mostly civilians, died in the conflict. An August 2006 United Nations brokered cease-fire has theoretically ended the hostilities between the two sides.

From the time of the aforementioned Cedar Revolution, through the war between Hezbollah and Israel, and in the post-war period in late 2006 well into 2007, Lebanon has been marked by serious unrest, violence and even murder.  Such a climate, and in particular, one where Hezbollah's influence is strong, cannot be hospitable to ensuring the protection of human rights across the board.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

78th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.