Human Rights Watch Letter to His Excellency Michel al-Murr the necessary receipts and registration numbers in a timely manner. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. We await any comments or clarification that you may wish to provide, which we shall include in any subsequent material that we publish about freedom of association in Lebanon. Sincerely yours, /original signed/ Eric Goldstein Acting Executive Director cc: His Excellency Rafik Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon His Excellency Riad Tabbarah, Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States ADVISORY COMMITTEE Gary G. Sick Lisa Anderson Bruce Rabb Vice Chairs Shaul Bakhash M. Cherif Bassiouni Stanley Engelstein Edith Everett Mansour Farhang Rita E. Hauser Bev. J. Bryan Hehir Marina Pinto Kaufman Judith Kipper Pnina Lahav HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Michele Alexander Holly J. Burkhalter Advocacy Director Barbara Guglielmo Finance & Administration Loue Leicht Brussels Office Director Susan Osnos Communications Director Wilder Tayler BY FACSIMILE (202-939-6324) AND FEDERAL EXPRESS March 1, 1996 His Excellency Rafiq al-Hariri Prime Minister of Lebanon 2560 28th Street, N.W. Your Excellency: Human Rights Watch/Middle East (formerly Middle East Watch) is deeply concerned about the actions taken by your government yesterday to prevent Lebanese citizens from exercising the internationally recognized right to peaceful assembly. We protest in strong terms the military curfew that went into effect in Beirut and other major cities at 3:00 a.m., confining most citizens to their homes "until further notice." The curfew, and the massive deployment of heavily armed soldiers on foot and in vehicles, prevented citizens from participating in peaceful protest demonstrations that had been planned in coordination with a one-day general strike called for February 29. The curfew was accompanied by excessive and clearly intimidating displays of military force across the country. The army later announced the lifting of the curfew at 2:00 p.m., although armed troops remained on the streets, "patrolling and manning checkpoints," according to press reports. The imposition of the eleven-hour curfew thwarted the efforts of the General Labor Confederation (CGTL), one of the major nongovernmental organizations in Lebanon, to organize citizens to make clear their views on February 29 about issues ranging from economic policies to restrictions on freedom of expression. The actions taken yesterday set a disturbing and dangerous precedent. The imposition of the curfew, and the use of heavily armed soldiers to enforce it, illustrate a clear intention of the state to restrict peaceful dissent, by force if necessary. The one-day general strike and protest demonstrations were proposed and adopted at an opposition congress of trade unionists, political parties and student groups, held in Beirut on February 7. "The national meeting declares February 29 a national day for defending freedoms and daily bread," a spokesman at the Joanna Weschler United Nations Representative Robert L. Bernstein BRUSSELS HONG KONG LONDON LOS ANGELES MOSCOW NEW YORK RIO DE JANEIRO WASHINGTON congress said. In announcing the strike, the CGTL leadership called for "peaceful demonstrations" and "respect [for] public and private property." To our knowledge, there was no advocacy of violence by the organizers, notwithstanding your comment that the government "will not allow the overthrow of the system under pressure from the street." Human Rights Watch/Middle East certainly recognizes that to fulfill the government's obligations to protect the lives and property of its citizens it may, at times, be necessary to take extraordinary measures to prevent violence. These measures must not be excessive, arbitrary, or provocative. Human Rights Watch/Middle East first addressed the issue of freedom of assembly in Lebanon in a report published in September 1993. Following the Cabinet's decree on August 11, 1993 to ban all demonstrations -- and the violent suppression of a demonstration in Beirut on September 13, 1993, in which eight protesters were shot and killed by the army - we urged that the ban be rescinded. We also reported that, in response to public demands, the parliament recommended on September 14 that the Cabinet reconsider the ban. But the full Cabinet rejected the parliament's recommendation on September 18, and reiterated its categorical ban on public protest. We believe that not only the Lebanese army should not be used to enforce the ban on demonstrations that was imposed in 1993, but also that the ban itself should be reversed, as it represents an arbitrary restriction on free assembly. We call upon the Lebanese government to recognize the right of peaceful assembly, and to permit trade unionists and other citizens to express their grievances against government policies in a peaceful and public manner. We are also troubled by the army's threat to try before military courts civilians who violated the curfew. We would appreciate a clarification from the government about the basis for such an exceptional measure, particularly because Defense Minister Mohsen Dallul made it clear that emergency law was not in effect. He stated that the army was carrying out security measures under the instructions of the cabinet, but added that "this cannot be considered a state of emergency." We thank you for consideration of the issues raised in this letter, and look forward to a response at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Christopher E. George HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH PUBLICATIONS ON (E901) Lebanon-Restrictions on Broadcasting: In Whose Interest?, 4/97, $5.00 Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme -International- ONGI au statut consultatif (Cat II) auprès du CES des Nations Unies حقوق الانسان الجديدة - أنترناسيونال البعثة الى لبنان (صفة استشارية فتة 2 لدى المجلس الاقتصادي الاجتماعي في الامم المتحدة) Fondation des Droits de l'Homme et du Droit Humanitaire -LibanMembre Correspondant: Fédération internationale des Droits de l'Homme مؤسسة حقوق الانسان والحق الانساني لبنان (عضو) مواصل: الفدرالية الدولية لحقوق الانسان The Foundation for human and humanitarian rights and “Nouveaux droits de l'Homme"-International would like to thank the United nations human rights committee for offering us a chance to file our recommendations following the Committee's meeting on Lebanon in New York on April 7,1997. We appreciate if you take the following recommendations into consideration: · That the Lebanese government respects the spirit of the article 4 and resorts to ⚫ That the judiciary be immune of any interference,,direct or indirect, in its That "torture" be interpreted by the Lebanese government to include That all defendants be allowed the assistance of a lawyer not just before a That the military court, which was set in 1967, be abolished. As a provisional |