By Simona Sikimic BEIRUT: Freedom of association in Lebanon is the “most liberal” in the southern Mediterranean, said a report released Sunday.
The country vastly outperforms all its neighbors – including EU-candidate Turkey – ranking good (or green) across all fields related to the ability of NGOs to open and operate free from government interference, the Freedom of Association in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: A Threatened Civil Society assessment said.
Published annually by the European Commission-funded Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), a collection of over 60 regional civil-society groups, the report is used as an indicator of the general human rights situation in the Mediterranean Basin.
This year’s report notes that “freedom of association has suffered hugely as time passes” with activists remaining hindered by repressive laws and restrictive funding practices and experiencing security and government clampdowns on their scope for action.
Lebanon, however, is singled out for being “the only Arab state with hardly any real restrictions to the right to freedom of association,” with the “year 2008 marking an increase in rights granted to civil society which has continued into 2010,” the report said.
Consequently the country has experienced no reported cases or forced closures and now boasts some 6,000 civil-society groups, nearly 600 of which have formed since 2008, it said.
Several notable hurdles do remain, and the EMHRN is urging for the prompt abolition of special courts, military tribunals and council rulings, which are major hurdles toward stabilizing the country’s commitment to the rule of law.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) NGOs are permitted to operate but are not given official recognition. They must receive equal status to other NGOs and all judicial clauses outlawing homosexuality should be repealed, the report said.
The validity of the report’s assessment criteria has also been placed in doubt, with some activists claiming that it does not fully take into account widespread informal harassment.
“The security networks, but not the Interior Ministry, do exert pressure,” said EMHRN executive committee member, Wahid al-Asma. “This is where Lebanon resembles many other counties, where civil society groups receive anonymous phone calls, saying that they are doing something they shouldn’t and they end up being dragged into an intelligence office.”
Restrictions on judicial freedom – which prevents judges from forming independent pressure groups – and the inability of migrant workers to set up associations has also been denounced.
Restrictions on judicial freedom – which prevents judges from forming independent pressure groups – and the inability of migrant workers to set up associations has also been denounced.
“It is not clear how much of the reform is down to Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, who has been a firm supporter of civil-society organizations,” said Asma. “Whether the positive situation will continue under another minister remains to be seen.”
But while the freedom of association in Lebanon operates under certain restrictions, these are nominal when compared to neighboring Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories that scored very badly (or red) on all evaluation fields.
“In Syria, which also ranked red in all fields, the right of freedom of association remains the most limited, despite numerous promises for change,” said senior report author Nejla Sammakia. “There are no opposition political groups, the Kurdish people are severely marginalized and arrests of human-rights activists remain commonplace.”
It is not uncommon for activists in Syria to be slapped with travel restrictions or inexplicably find their employment terminated. In 2009 the supreme state security court is thought to have sentenced over 45 people including Islamists, human-rights campaigners and Kurds to lengthy jail sentences.
Israel, which in principle corresponds with international standards, has also suffered “setbacks” following the 2008 war on Gaza, with human-rights organizations now being “regarded as enemies of the state,” by Israel.
Since the start of the year, 120 protesters picketing against the eviction of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have been arrested while moves to scale back and control the actions of Arab Israelis have only intensified.
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