Drop Legal Proceedings Against Lebanese Singer (Press Release, October 1999)

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Middle East and North Africa: HRW 1999 World Report

Drop Legal Proceedings Against Lebanese Singer
Marcel Khalifa Faces Three Years in Prison

(New York, October 8, 1999) --Human Rights Watch today condemned efforts in Lebanon to prosecute the internationally known singer and composer Marcel Khalifa because one of his songs includes a verse from the Koran.

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1999 World Report


"The right to freedom of expression protects everyone, including musicians and artists. Lebanese law is being used to brand as a criminal one of the leading Arab singers. These proceedings should be dropped and this case should be closed."
Hanny Megally Executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch

Investigating judge Abdel Rahman Shihab last week recommended that prosecutors bring criminal charges against Khalifa for "insulting religious values by using a verse from the chapter of Joseph from the Holy Koran in a song." If Khalifa is charged, he would face trial and possible imprisonment of six months to three years.

"The right to freedom of expression protects everyone, including musicians and artists," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "Lebanese law is being used to brand as a criminal one of the leading Arab singers. These proceedings should be dropped and this case should be closed."

Under article 473 of Lebanon's penal code, blasphemy in public is punishable by one month to one year in prison. Article 474 of the penal code authorizes imprisonment of six months to three years for publicly insulting a religion.

The judge's action against Khalifa concerns "I am Yousef, O Father," a song on the musician's 1995 album, which is based on a work of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Lebanese authorities focused on one line in the song: "I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon bowing down before me." After the judge's actions were publicized, Khalifa said on October 2, "The incriminating evidence is not a verse from the Koran, but a rewriting of the verse by a poet which is something very common in Arab literature.."

The spiritual leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, Sheikh Muhamed Rashid Qabbani, said that musical arrangements of Koranic verses were prohibited. He was quoted as saying that Khalifa's song "insulted the divine inspiration of Prophet Muhamed to whom God revealed the Koran." His view was challenged by Sheikh Muhhamed Hussein Fadlallah, the Shiite spritual leader in Lebanon, who said in a statement that "the composition of the song does not distract from nor harm the sacredness of the Koran."

Prominent Lebanese intellectual, political, and religious figures rallied to Khalifa's defense in Beirut on October 5, where he performed the song to a standing ovation.

For Further Information:
Hanny Megally 212-216-1230
Virginia N. Sherry 212-216-1231

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