14/06/2024
The National Human Rights Commission has published its second annual report on the state of human rights in 2023
The European project on counter-terrorism in Lebanon has supported, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Lebanon (UNDP), the publication of the second annual report on the state of human rights for the year 2023 of the National Human Rights Commission.
The preparation of this official report on the current state of human rights in Lebanon illustrates an important step forward in the activity and work of the National Human Rights Commission in the promotion and protection of human rights in an independent manner.
The event was opened by the President of the National Human Rights Commission, which includes the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Lebanon, Dr. Fadi Gerges, and the Secretary General of the Arab Network for Human Rights Institutions, Sultan Bin Hassan Al Jamali from Qatar, and the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Qatar and Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), Ms. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah, who thanked all persons, organizations and entities that have cooperated and supported the National Human Rights Commission of Lebanon in order to enable it to carry out its activities. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah, who thanked all the individuals, organisations and entities that have cooperated and provided support to the National Human Rights Commission of Lebanon to enable it to carry out its tasks, including the finalisation of the report. They reiterated their financial and technical support to the Commission and stressed that it is the only institution in the Arab world that includes a national mechanism for the prevention of torture.
The presentation of the report was attended by representatives of the European Union, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UNDP, the President of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, heads and representatives of diplomatic and UN missions in Lebanon, as well as representatives of the security forces, institutional representatives of trade union and human rights organisations, religious authorities and members of civil society.
The independent National Human Rights Commission has, since its establishment in 2016, faced difficulties in its full functioning due to the lack of official budget allocation, relying largely on donor support. The chairman of the Human Rights Commission, Dr. Fadi Gerges, thanked the FIIAPP and UNDP for this support, which has enabled the launch of the second annual report, despite the extremely complex circumstances Lebanon and the Commission are going through.
Moreover, he stressed in his speech that “the launch of the report comes in compliance with the provisions of Law No. 62 of 27 October 2016 and that despite the continuing obstructions and difficulties, the Commission will continue its mission to protect and promote human rights in Lebanon, prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment, investigate them, prosecute their perpetrators and compensate their victims, because the protection of rights is not a matter of public policy, but rather an absolute and non-derogable obligation of the State”.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations addressed to stakeholders to protect civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in Lebanon, particularly of vulnerable groups, in order to improve the human rights situation in light of the deteriorating situation in Lebanon.
