(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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"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."
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Hanny Megally
Executive director of the
Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch
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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.
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