Nahr al-Bared: Widespread Displacement of Refugee Population and Prolonged Arbitrary Detention

Between May 20 and September 2, 2007, an armed conflict between the Lebanese Army and a Sunni militant group, Fatah al-Islam, took place in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in North Lebanon. The civilian population of around 40,000 found itself hostage to this conflict, as the militia had established armed positions inside the camp, and the army resorted to heavy artillery shelling and aerial bombardment in its bid to gain control over the group. Between 26,000 and 27,000 camp
residents (Palestinian refugees and Lebanese nationals) were able to flee to the neighboring Beddawi camp. However, by June 2007, between 3,000 and 5,000 civilians had been unable to leave the camp, including those who were elderly, disabled, or minors, and were unable to get food and medical care.
As a result of the fighting, the camp was largely destroyed (a damage assessment showed that the entire camp had to be rebuilt). By September 2011, the first phase of the reconstruction allowed more than 300 families to return, while 8,000 Palestinians were still awaiting the camp’s reconstruction.
The vast majority of the casualties were members of the Lebanese Army and of Fatah al-Islam, according to military and government sources. At least 40 civilians were killed, most of them Palestinians.

The civilian population continues to suffer from severe restriction of movement in and out of the camp:
• Since the end of the conflict, the Lebanese Army declared the camp and its adjacent area as a “military zone,” which is in breach of Lebanon’s local and international legal obligations, according to the monitoring organization Palestinian Human Rights Organization (PHRO). Access to this zone is regulated by military checkpoints, which means that all Palestinian residents and visitors must have permits from military intelligence to enter. Moreover, it is reported that this permit process “has been unclear, and no precise procedure has been communicated to the Palestinian community. During the past three years, the permit system has repeatedly changed with little or no explanation.”Moreover, these restrictions on the freedom of movement have been seriously affecting the economic, social, and psychological situation of the civilian population.While documentation and research by monitoring human rights organizations has focused on victims of Nahr al-Bared, they also have presented information showing that torture has been used for more
than 15 years “displaying a systematic pattern and use of torture.