[Lebanon] Civic Space Quarterly, April 2022-June 2022

[Lebanon] Civic Space Quarterly, April-June 2022

Civic Freedoms Under Threat 

Civic Space Quarterly. A periodical bulletin from CeSSRA’s Civil Society Observatory. 

The Civic Space Quarterly provides a periodic update on the state of civil society and civic space in Lebanon. It is based on data from the CeSSRA’s Civil Society Observatory research programme. 

1. Civic Space Trends for April - June 2022 

a) Freedom Of Assembly: Workers Groups Remain the Main Mobilising Actor

Overview of Collective Actions Mapped

The period that spans from April 1 to June 30, 2022 saw 288 collective actions. This is a decrease of 23% compared with the first quarter of 2022 when 375 collective actions were mapped.

Mobilisations during the second quarter of 2022 reveal similar trends to those witnessed from January to March 2022. Protesters resorted to sit-ins and demonstrations (63% of all mobilisations) and roadblocks (23%) to demand reforms (31%) and socioeconomic rights (32%). They also rejected policy decisions (18%) such as the cancellation of the mechanical examination for cars, and the ban on subsidised flour use except for bread bakeries.

From April to June 2022, workers groups were the main mobilising actor leading 50% (144) of all mobilisations. This is consistent with the first quarter of 2022. Public administration employees, teachers, contract professors, judicial assistants, military retirees, healthcare workers and other workers groups mobilised to demand increases in wages, transportation allowances, social assistance, health coverage, and payment of school fees for their children. 

Collective and informal groups organised 22% of the mobilisations to denounce deteriorating socio-economic living conditions as they suffer from bread shortages, increase in fuel prices, medicines shortages, extended water and electricity cuts, further decrease in purchasing power, and rise in commodity prices.

On parliamentary elections day, May 15, numerous physical clashes over election-related disputes were monitored nationwide (more on violations below). However, only 5 collective actions related to parliamentary elections were organised in May and June: political parties supporters organised 3 mobilisations to protest election results, and civil servants who worked in polling stations held 2 sit-ins to demand the payment of their dues.

Objectives

Grievances

*More than one mode of action, mobilising actor, grievance, and objective can be used per collective action.

Constant Restrictions on Freedom of Assembly 

From April 1 to June 30, 2022, 12 collective actions were met with repression, with 8 mobilisations repressed in April. Means of repression included summoning and interrogations (9), assaults on demonstrators (6), restrictions on freedom of assembly (3), and arrests (1). The number of repressed mobilisations remained constant compared to the first quarter of the year.

Means of Repression

In another infringement on freedom of assembly, on June 24, the Minister of Interior demanded security forces to take the necessary measures to prevent any celebration, meeting or gathering promoting homosexuality, without referring to any legal text to justify this ban. This ban goes in contradiction with the constitutional right of Lebanese citizens to exercise their right to freedom of assembly and expression. It also violates the right of LGBTQ people to express and assemble freely which was officially accepted by the Lebanese government in Lebanon’s 2021 Universal Periodic Review process at the Human Rights Council. A sit-in at the Ministry of Interior was scheduled for June 26 to protest the ban, but was postponed due to an increase in death threats and calls for counter-demonstrations, and out of fear that the security forces would not protect them.

b) Freedom Of Association: the Prevalence of Charity Oriented Associations  

Creation of 52 New Associations and 10 New Syndicates 

The Official Gazette published 50 new associations from April 1 to June 30, 2022. 85% of them aim at providing economic support, health services, education, and employment opportunities. Aid and charity organisations continue to prevail given the absence of a welfare state and of social services and rights in Lebanon.

Number of New Associations Created

10 new syndicates were established in April, May and June 2022, for optical centres’ owners, educational technology sector employees, electricity sector workers in the North, tour guides, fishing sector workers, beekeepers, self-development coaches, flower shops’ employees, shipping and unloading operators, and nutritionists. 

Number of New Syndicates Established

Banks: a Central Actor of Shrinking Civic Space 

During a protest in June, the Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disabilities denounced bank restrictions on  foreign currency accounts which affect the ability of CSOs and associations to provide aid and assistance, and put them at risk of closure. As most of their funding comes from abroad, CSOs have been particularly affected by bank restrictions imposed since the beginning of the economic crisis at the end of 2019. Restrictions include limited access to foreign currencies accounts, additional charges on transfers and withdrawals, and withdrawals of sums in foreign currencies in Lebanese pounds at a depreciated rate. 

An agreement that would grant 40% of the money donated to charitable associations transferred in the year 2021 in cash has not been confirmed yet.

c) Freedom Of Expression: Crackdown On Activists And Journalists

Targeting of Journalists

On May 6, journalists staged a sit-in in Beirut on the Press Martyrs' Day to denounce the repression of press freedom. Despite their mobilisation, 10 journalists were targeted by state authorities between April 1 and June 30 2022. This represents a significant increase compared to the previous quarter when 2 complaints were filed against journalists. 

In reaction to this crackdown on journalists, the Alternative Press Syndicate published a statement to denounce the regular violation of freedoms of speech and opinion, condemn the appearance of journalists in front of military and security bodies when they should appear in front of the judiciary, and reprobate the excessive use of the ‘‘slander and defamation’’ charge that restricts freedom of expression.

Between April and June 2022:

• Lebanese American University security guards expelled a photographer from the campus to prevent him from covering the student protest against the dollarisation of tuition fees.

• Once again General Security detained journalist Nada Homsi upon her arrival at Beirut airport. There were no legal or judicial warrants in her name.

• Municipality representatives in Bint Jbeil detained Beirut Today journalist Hanin Haidar and threatened to beat her. She was interviewing residents about the elections.

• Hezbollah and Amal Movement members attacked Megaphone journalist Hussein Basal. He was filming irregularities during the voting process in Ansar.

• Rioters severely beat Al Manar journalist Maher Qamar who was covering the voting process in Machghara.

• The army attacked journalists Sara Hammoud and Andra Garabet as they were filming soldiers assaulting protesters. Soldiers ordered them to stop filming, beat them, and aimed guns at their faces. 

• Journalists Luna Safwan and Marwa Saab were summoned based on a slander and defamation complaint filed against them by Jaafar Al Attar, who both women accused of sexual harassment. 

• The intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces summoned journalist and writer Lina Mounzer for a ‘‘minor security incident’’. 

Targeting of Activists

Activists were also targeted by authorities.

• Stand-up comedian Shaden Fakih appeared before the Military Court for "insulting and harming the reputation of the General Directorate of the ISF". She was sentenced to pay a fine. Her lawyers made a case against military trials of civilians. In Lebanon, authorities routinely resort to the military tribunal for investigating civilians.

• Officers from the General Security and the Internal security questioned LGBTQ+ and feminist activists at a cultural centre. Since then, the Internal Security's information branch regularly calls the activists inviting them ‘‘for a chat over coffee’’, and monitors their social media accounts.

Censorship

Two cases of censorship were reported between April and June 2022:

• For three days, Thawra Map’s page on Instagram was blocked. Thawra Map monitors the assets, spending, and movements of people linked to the ruling class in Lebanon.  

• The animated film Light Year was censored because of a same-sex kiss scene, and after Disney refused to make cuts requested by censorship authorities. 

Parliamentary Elections

On May 15, parliamentary elections were held in Lebanon. Intimidation of journalists, extensive self-censorship, and limited violent incidents against the media were reported throughout the electoral campaign. On elections day, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections registered 3,600 violations, including 1273 cases of absence of privacy in voting booths, 198 cases of intimidation of candidates, 95 assaults, 30 roadblocks to prevent voters from reaching the polling stations, and 14 cases when journalists, candidates or observers were prevented from entering the polling station. 

Democratic Elections Violations

2. Focus: Lebanese Authorities’ Crackdown on LGBTQ Community’s Civil Freedoms

In Lebanon, LGBTQ people have regularly faced structural discrimination, violence, and violation of their legal, social, economic, and political rights over the last decades. Deteriorating socioeconomic living conditions have exacerbated these already existing violations. This targeted repression of a marginalised community reflects a general decline of the state of freedoms and liberties in Lebanon.

The Ministry of Interior Ban on LGBTQ Pride Celebrations, Meetings, and Gatherings

In one of the latest attacks against the LGBTQ community, on June 24, the Ministry of Interior banned LGBTQ celebrations, meetings, and gatherings. This ban violates the LGBTQ community's freedom of expression and assembly, despite the Interior Minister asserting that “freedom of expression cannot be invoked in this case’’. 

This is not the first time such a ban occurs, and LGBTQ gatherings have regularly been banned or cancelled. For instance, in May 2018, Lebanese authorities suspended the second Beirut Pride, and arrested and sued Beirut Pride founder, and in 2019 the Beirut Pride third edition’s opening concert was cancelled.

Legal Framework

The ban goes in contradiction with a recommendation “to ensure the rights to peaceful assembly and expression for LGBTQ people’’ accepted by Lebanon in 2021 at the UN Human Rights Council. Moreover, any ban on LGBTQ communities violates the constitutional right of all Lebanese citizens to exercise their right to freedom of expression and assembly.

LGBTQ Community & Freedom of Assembly and Expression 

To understand how freedom of assembly and expression are key for LGBTQ people to demand their rights, it is interesting to look back at the October 17 social movement during which, LGBTQ people moved their demands from the margins to the mainstream discourse. Their chants (“For gay people, we will not stay silent’’; “For trans women, we will chant in the streets”) and graffiti (‘‘LGBTQ Rights’’, ‘‘Abolish article 534’’, ‘‘Intersex rights’’, ‘‘I am tired of being in the closet’’, ‘’LGBT rights are human rights’’) voiced yet again their demands, and amplified their voices. 

Restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, such as the June 24 ban, aim to silence LGBTQ people and to further invisibilise them.  

Targeted Crackdown of Civil Rights, General Deterioration of Freedoms

Tarek Zeidan, the executive director of Helem, an NGO that advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights, declared to Human Rights Watch on July 4 that although the June 24 ban targets a specific community, it reveals a general deterioration of human rights and freedoms in Lebanon. Similarly, Lama Fakih, the deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, stated that “Bans on [LGBTQ] events not only discriminate against gender and sexual minorities and their advocates, but they also undermine everyone’s rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression in Lebanon’’.

The targeted crackdown on specific groups, such as the LGBTQ community, journalists, and activists, is part of a larger attempt to stifle free speech, and impact the general state of freedoms and liberties in the country.