2023-10-03 16:15:55
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Lebanese authorities must urgently investigate the violent and premeditated attack during a freedom march on September 30, organized by 24 civil society organizations to protest the recent repressive campaign against individual and political freedoms in Lebanon; This was stated today by Amnesty International. The investigation must also include the abject lack of action by the security forces to protect those who were demonstrating from attack.
Videographic evidence and statements from eyewitnesses indicate that the Internal Security Forces agents present at the scene did not intervene to prevent dozens of attackers on motorcycles from throwing stones at the people who were demonstrating, shouting homophobic insults at them, and attacking them in the street. course of scuffles that lasted about an hour. At least two protesters had to be hospitalized for injuries to the face and eye.
“An urgent investigation must be carried out into the attack on protesters who were simply exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including the failure of security forces to act to protect these people. The totally inadequate response by the security forces is all the more outrageous given the violent assault on peaceful protesters,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Failure to investigate the facts would indicate that the attack is tolerated and would encourage future perpetrators of attacks on other people in relation to the expression of their identity and beliefs. “The Lebanese authorities and Ministry of the Interior have an obligation to ensure that peaceful protesters are not intimidated, harassed or attacked simply for demanding their rights.”
None of the attackers have been arrested despite some openly boasting about their actions on social media and threatening civil society with further attacks if it organized future rallies to support rights and freedoms for all people.
The scheduled protest made no mention of LGBTI rights. However, in recent months, Lebanese groups have claimed that the defense of “freedoms” and “rights” is LGBTI “propaganda” and have called for all promotion of LGBTI rights to be criminalized in Lebanon.
Dozens of attackers were waiting for the people participating in the demonstration when they gathered in the center of Beirut to start the march. The scuffles between protesters and attackers lasted an hour. The Internal Security Forces tried unsuccessfully to create a barrier between the two but did nothing else to stop the attack.
Towards the end of the confrontation, which lasted an hour, the Internal Security Forces hid a group of journalists and feminist activists in one of their vans for their protection, but the aggressors attacked the vehicle. Activists and journalists managed to escape later, but they should not have suffered that attack at any time.
In a video examined by Amnesty International, three members of the Internal Security Forces are seen beating a person in the demonstration who was asking them to stop the attackers’ actions.
In two other videos, agents of the Internal Security Forces appear verbally harassing journalists and ordering them to stop recording the attacks.
Several videos show members of the Internal Security Forces making feeble attempts to separate protesters and attackers, most of them unsuccessful.
Neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the Internal Security Forces have announced an investigation into the events. On October 2, the Interior Minister stated that the demonstration was unauthorized and that the security forces, together with the armed forces, had “handled the situation appropriately.” However, the fact that they had not notified the demonstration did not exempt the authorities from their obligation to protect those who participated in it.
Several people attacked and beaten while participating in the demonstration told Amnesty International that they are thinking about filing a complaint, although they are not sure about doing so due to the risks involved. A lawyer supporting the demonstration told the human rights organization that people “were rightly afraid.”
One brutally beaten protester told Amnesty International that he would not file a complaint because he was afraid of reprisals since his photo had been widely published on social media.
“I am concerned that filing a complaint will provoke extremist groups, since we live in a failed state,” he said.
Since June 2022, and especially since July 2023, Lebanon’s political and religious leaders have intensified their campaign against the LGBTI community. In June 2022, the Interior Minister banned all gatherings during Pride month, saying they promoted “sexual perversion.”
More recently, the head of a prominent political party said LGBTI people should be killed, and the Minister of Culture attempted to ban the movie Barbie on the grounds that it “contradicts morals and values” and called for the media to media used the expression “sexual perversion” to describe homosexuality. Additionally, the Ministry of Education banned a board game in schools because it contained a rainbow.
In August, the far-right Christian group Jnoud el Rab attacked an LGBTI-friendly bar during a drag show; He destroyed furniture, beat people, and threatened the owner with more violence if he continued to “promote homosexuality.” The owner of the bar told Amnesty International that the Internal Security Forces, when they arrived at the scene, prevented the attackers from entering the premises and helped some customers leave, but did not stop the attack or arrest any of them. the aggressors. No one has been held accountable for the events.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Lebanon in 1972, everyone has the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association, without discrimination.
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