Articles for Lebanon

On 22 September 2016, Mohamad Al Souki, a Syrian refugee arrested in late August in Sir El Danniyeh, north of Lebanon, by officers of the Military Intelligence for “not possessing a valid Lebanese residence permit”, reappeared after a month of disappearance. That day, upon information received by a former detainee, a notary public went to the premises of the military police at the Military Court in Beirut and received official confirmation by the authorities that Al Souki was held there.

On 12 September 2014, Walid Diab, 16 year old at the time, was arrested at a military checkpoint upon information of “secret informants”. Secretly detained for three months and severely tortured despite his young age, he is currently facing trial before the Military Court; his next hearing will be held on 26 September 2016.

On 22 August 2016, Layal Al Kayaje, a 31-year-old Palestinian veterinary residing in Saida, port city in South Lebanon, was sentenced to one month in prison by the Military Court of Beirut for "defamation and libel against the Lebanese army" because she publicly denounced her rape by military officers when she was detained in 2013.

On 11 August 2016, Alkarama together with nine Lebanese human rights organisations sent a letter to the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil, to call upon him to accept the request made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (SR IJL) Mónica Pinto to visit Lebanon in 2016.

On 23 June 2016 at 1 am, Malaz Asaad was released from the premises of the General Security in Adlieh, Beirut. He had been missing for almost one month. Welcoming his release, on 24 June 2016 Alkarama informed the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (WGEID), to which it had submitted Malaz's disappearance on 17 June 2016.

On 26 May 2016, the Juvenile Court of North Lebanon sitting in Tripoli ordered the release of Syrian baker Malaz Asaad, pending final determination of the length of his sentence. Handed over to the General Security the following day to implement the Court's decision, Malaz was however never set free and is disappeared since.

On 29 June 2016, Layal Al Kayaje, a 31-year-old Palestinian resident in the port city of Saida, South Lebanon, and veterinary, will stand her first hearing before the Military Court in Beirut for "defamation and libel against the Lebanese army". These charges were laid down because she publicly denounced her rape by military officers when she was detained in 2013.

Between 30 May and 1 June 2016, Lebanese lawyer Nabil Al Halabi was detained by the Lebanese Internal Forces (ISF) following a complaint by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) against him for "libel and slander" because of a Facebook post Al Halabi published denouncing corruption of MoI officials.

On 14 January 2016, members of the Intelligence forces in civilian clothes stormed into the house of 37-year-old Haytham Fatima in Tripoli. They arrested him and took him to the premises of the Ministry of Defence, where he was secretly detained for ten days.

During his detention, Haytham was tortured by members of the Military Intelligence. He was heavily beaten, especially on the head and ears, and forced to make confessions. Due to the heavy beatings he received, Haytham lost the hearing of his right ear.

Nabil Al Halabi, Lebanese lawyer and director of the Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (LIFE), has always been a vocal critic of corruption, the use of military courts and torture in Lebanon. Al Halabi has always been actively and frankly expressing his political views on his Facebook account.