Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Lebanon

Introduction

1. Human Rights Watch submits the following information regarding Lebanon’s human rights record since its 2021 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including efforts towards implementation of UPR recommendations and developments in the human rights situation.[1] This submission is not a complete review of all recommendations supported by Lebanon, nor a comprehensive review of Lebanon’s protection of human rights.
2. While the election of a new president and the appointment of a new prime minister in 2025 have resulted in increased government commitments to strengthening human rights protections and judicial independence,[2] Lebanon has failed to make sufficient progress on several recommendations from its prior UPR. These include matters related to justice, accountability, judicial independence, social and economic rights, the criminalization of free speech, women’s rights, prison conditions, and the rights of migrant workers.

Justice, Accountability, and Judicial Independence

3. In its last UPR, Lebanon accepted recommendations related to pursuing justice and accountability, combating corruption at all levels, adopting a law guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary, and completing an independent and credible investigation into the causes of and assigning responsibility for the explosion of August 4, 2020.[3] Lebanon has also noted recommendations calling on it to accede to and ratify the Rome Statute.[4]
4. In May 2024, Lebanon’s former government reversed a decision giving the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute serious crimes committed on Lebanese territory since October 7, 2023. Lebanon has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC. Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have documented unlawful attacks and apparent war crimes by the Israeli military in Lebanon, including apparently deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on journalists,[5] peacekeepers,[6] medics,[7] and civilian objects;[8] the unlawful use of booby traps;[9] and the unlawful use of white phosphorus[10] over residential areas.
5. Lebanon’s government recently approved a draft judicial independence law that strengthens judicial independence,[11] but parliament has yet to pass the draft law. After being suspended for more than two years, the investigation into the Beirut port explosion resumed this year,[12] and Lebanon’s public prosecutor has reversed decisions by his predecessor that had effectively obstructed the investigation. For years, Lebanese officials and suspects in the Beirut blast case have abused Lebanon’s laws, including the criminal and civil procedure codes, to block the investigation and other cases of corruption and financial crimes.
6. Lebanese officials have also continued to use the military courts’ jurisdiction over civilians as a means to intimidate or punish them for political activism or to stamp out dissent.[13] Those who have stood trial at military courts describe incommunicado detention, interrogations without a lawyer, ill-treatment and torture, the use of confessions extracted under torture, decisions issued without an explanation, seemingly arbitrary sentences, and a limited ability to appeal.[14]
7. Although Lebanon accepted a recommendation to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict,[15] it has failed to implement it.

Recommendations:

• Ratify the Rome Statute and urgently grant the ICC jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute grave crimes committed on Lebanese territory since October 2023, regardless of nationality, under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute.
• Adopt a draft law on judicial independence that is in line with international human rights standards and principles on judicial independence, including the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.
• Remove legal and political barriers that have previously stalled the investigative judge in the Beirut Port blast case from resuming his work, including by making the necessary judicial appointments in line with international standards on the independence of the judiciary, removing immunities protecting sitting members of parliament from being held to account, and ensuring that security forces can execute investigation and arrest requests issued by the investigative judge in the case.
• Amend article 751 of Lebanon’s Code of Civil Procedure and article 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that judicial investigations are not subject to political interference and obstruction.
• Enact a law to remove civilians from the military court’s jurisdiction entirely.
• Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Social and Economic Rights, including the Right to Social Security and the right to Electricity

8. The government of Lebanon has failed to take adequate steps to reform, expand, and fund its existing social security system, despite accepting recommendations to implement social security programs and supporting access to social security.[16]
9. In 2024, more than 70 percent of the population in Lebanon experienced multi-dimensional poverty, according to the World Bank, with at least 44 percent living on less than the equivalent of US$3 per day.[17] Approximately 800,000 people reportedly receive monthly cash assistance as part of “Aman”, Lebanon’s poverty-targeting cash grant program.[18]
10. Lebanon’s main social insurance mechanism, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), is only available to workers in the formal economy, excluding the majority of the work force who work informally.[19] For those outside of formal employment, access to social security programs is very limited. The main tax-financed social assistance program is heavily means-tested, and intended for what the government defines as “the poorest” households, leaving the majority of people in poverty without access to any form of social security. To determine who qualifies, the government uses a method called “proxy-means testing,” which estimates a household’s poverty level based on a series of proxy indicators, like the type of housing, ownership of appliances, and demographic household information. This method has been widely criticized by policy experts,[20] United Nations agencies,[21] and human rights organizations[22] for producing high rates of error, bolstering discriminatory policies, and reinforcing stereotypes about poverty. As these programs are primarily funded through loans from the World Bank rather than progressive domestic revenue, they are also unsustainable and contribute to Lebanon’s staggering debt.
11. Since 2023, the government has taken some steps towards establishing a more rights-aligned social security system. In April 2023, Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs,[23] with technical and financial support of UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO), launched the National Disability Allowance (NDA) program,[24] providing a monthly benefit of US$40 to individuals with disabilities, initially restricting eligibility to those between the ages of 18 and 28. In December 2023, parliament adopted Law 319, introducing a new contributory pension scheme within the NSSF.[25]
12. The Law would allow people falling into the following categories to voluntarily enroll in the new pension scheme, which replaces the existing End-of-Service-Indemnity System: Self-employed Lebanese workers living in Lebanon, Lebanese domestic workers, Lebanese employers and non-permanent agricultural workers, and Lebanese individuals working outside the country.[26]
13. In February 2024, the government released its first National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS),[27] committing to an ambitious vision to transform the existing failing social security system into a more universal one.  
14. Lebanese authorities have also failed to uphold the right to electricity by mismanaging the sector for decades, resulting in widespread blackouts

Recommendations:

• Expand universal social security programs like the disability allowance and implement other universal schemes such as a social pension and a universal child benefit, moving towards a universal social security system in line with human rights standards.[28]
• Translate commitments made towards establishing a universal social security system in the NSPS into law, increase investments in social security through progressive domestic revenue generation, and promptly establish a mechanism to address complaints related to social security
• Explicitly recognize the right to electricity and take urgent steps to ensure that all residents have a continuous, affordable, and clean supply of electricity that does not contribute to the climate crisis, with a focus on increasing generation capacity from hydropower, wind, and solar.
• Appoint the members of the independent Electricity Regulatory Authority to direct the sector, as mandated by law

Freedom of Expression

15. Lebanon has previously noted recommendations to decriminalize blasphemy, defamation, and criticism of public officials[29] and supported recommendations to ensure that the new media law is amended in accordance with its international obligations.[30]
16. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly issued summons including to activists, lawyers, teachers, artists, and comedians including for merely criticizing the actions of government and public officials, alleging corruption within the banking sector, or making jokes about Lebanon’s army.[31]
17. Lebanon’s new media law is still under review by a parliamentary committee. Lebanon’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression “within the limits established by law,” but the penal code criminalizes defamation against public officials and authorizes imprisonment for up to one year in such cases. It also authorizes imprisonment for up to two years for insulting the president, flag, or national emblem.[32] The military code of justice prohibits insulting the flag or army, an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.[33] Other laws outlaw speech deemed insulting to religion or speech that incites sectarianism.[34]
18. Lebanon’s laws have been used by public officials and powerful individuals to silence speech that is not only legitimate, but necessary for the functioning of a vibrant society governed by the rule of law.

Recommendations:

• Lift all restriction on freedom of expression, including insult and criticism of public or religious officials.
• Ensure that the new media law meets international human rights standards, including by eliminating criminalization of peaceful speech.
• Repeal insult and defamation provisions in the penal code and replace them with civil penalties.
• Ensure that security services halt practices of summoning journalists for investigation based on acts protected under the right to freedom of expression.

Women’s Rights

19. In its previous UPR, Lebanon accepted or partially accepted recommendations to adopt a law criminalizing sexual harassment, implement programs to ensure gender equality, reform its domestic violence law in line with international standards, and take measures to effectively combat domestic violence .[35]
20. In 2020, Lebanon passed the “Law to Criminalize Sexual Harassment and Rehabilitation of Its Victims.” The law is a step forward by making sexual harassment a crime and outlining whistleblower protections. However, it falls short of the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, which says that governments should address violence and harassment at work through an “inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach,” including through labor laws, occupational safety and health laws, and equality and nondiscrimination laws, in addition to criminal law. The Convention also requires specific measures for particularly at-risk populations. For Lebanon, this could include migrant domestic workers.[36]
21. Between April and December 2024 alone, Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces received over 594 complaints related to cases of domestic violence, according to Lebanon’s National Human Rights Commission.[37]
22. The current domestic violence law fails to specifically criminalize marital rape and personal status laws undermine protections against domestic violence.[38] In April 2024, several independent members of parliament submitted a draft law, which would increase protections for women facing abuse. This law has not been passed, and adequate steps have not been taken to combat gender-based violence.
23. Lebanon has previously noted several recommendations to adopt legislation guaranteeing equal treatment of women in case of marriage, inheritance, divorce, and custody and nationality of their children, and eliminating gender-based discrimination.[39] Lebanon also partially accepted or noted recommendations to amend existing legislation so that men and woman are treated equally with respect to marriage, divorce, and inheritance rights, and the right to pass on their citizenship to their children and spouses.[40]
24. Thus far, the government has failed to take adequate steps to ensure equality between men and women and to combat gender-based discrimination. Various religion-based personal status laws remain discriminatory against women and allow religious courts to control matters related to marriage, divorce, and child custody. Lebanon’s nationality law bars Lebanese women, but not men, from passing citizenship to their children and foreign spouses.[41]

Recommendations:

• Ratify the 2019 ILO Violence and Harassment Convention.
• Enact robust legal protections against all forms of gender-based violence for all people in Lebanon, including migrant domestic workers.
• Ensure that all reports of sexual harassment or gender-based violence are thoroughly investigated and that perpetrators are held to account.
• Amend the nationality law to allow Lebanese women to pass on citizenship to their children and spouses.
• Adopt an optional civil code that would ensure equal rights for all Lebanese who wish to marry under it and ensure that it complies with Lebanon’s international human rights obligations.
• Lift reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

On Torture and Prison conditions

25. Lebanon had previously accepted recommendations to uphold the principle of non-refoulement, improve the living conditions of prisoners, implement the anti-torture law and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), and ensure that the national preventative mechanism against torture can carry out its work transparently and with a sufficient budget.[42]
26. Since then, Human Rights Watch has reported on the continued use of torture by Lebanese security agencies, including by Lebanon’s military intelligence and the General Directorate of State Security.[43] Authorities have failed to implement Lebanon’s Anti-Torture Law, including by trying a torture case at a military court, instead of the criminal court as mandated by law.[44]
27. Prison conditions have deteriorated since 2019, with severe overcrowding across Lebanese prisons and restrictions on prisoners’ right to food.[45] The majority of Lebanon’s prison population is being held in pre-trial detention, and in 2025 overcrowding levels exceeded 300 percent of prisons’ capacity.[46]

Recommendations:

• Bring the anti-torture law into compliance with the UNCAT and ensure its full implementation, including by ensuring that torture cases are investigated and tried by Lebanon’s criminal courts, as required by the law.
• Take urgent steps to relieve prison overcrowding, including by considering alternatives to detention for pretrial detainees, and provide prisoners with adequate and reliable access to food and medical care.
• Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
• Uphold the principle of non-refoulement.

Rights of Migrant Workers

28. Lebanon has failed to act on accepted UPR recommendations to implement and enforce a Standard Unified Contract to protect the rights of migrant domestic workers, afford migrant workers full legal protections, extend labor rights to migrant domestic workers, and reform the sponsorship system for migrant workers to guarantee that the legal status of migrant workers does not depend on their employers.[47]
29. The legal status of thousands of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon is regulated by a restrictive and abusive regime of laws, regulations, and customary practices known as the Kafala (sponsorship) system.[48]
30. After the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, many migrant workers were reportedly abandoned by their employers and denied access to shelters across the country.[49]
31. Recruitment agencies have been repeatedly accused of subjecting workers to abuse, labor violations, and human trafficking.[50]

Recommendations:

• Amend Lebanon’s labor law to ensure that domestic workers are granted the same legal protections afforded to workers across the country.
• Officially abolish Lebanon’s Kafala system by explicitly granting migrant workers all their rights and reforming the visa sponsorship system so that workers’ legal status in the country is not dependent on sponsors and that workers can end their employment without the consent of their sponsor.
• Ensure accountability for all violations committed against migrant workers.
• Ratify the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the ILO Domestic Workers Convention.

Refugee Rights

32. In its previous UPR, Lebanon accepted recommendations to strengthen the protection of rights and freedom of refugees, including by respecting non-refoulement obligations, and to allow refugees legal residence and freedom of movement.[51] However, between 2020 and 2025, the LAF deported thousands of Syrians, including unaccompanied children, back to Syria, prior to the fall of the Assad regime, placing them at risk of torture.[52] Some of those deported told Human Rights Watch that the LAF gave no consideration to their registration with the UN Refugee Agency or fears of persecution if returned.[53]

Syrian refugees have faced coercive measures adopted by the Lebanese government, designed to deter and reduce Syrian presence in the country. Human Rights Watch has documented or followed accounts of summary removals/refoulement to Syria,[54] demolition of refugee shelters,[55] arbitrary arrests and raids including crackdowns on Syrians working without authorization,[56] and ad-hoc curfew and checkpoints that applied only to Syrians.[57]

33. Between August 2021 and September 2023, the LAF worked with Cypriot authorities to keep refugees from reaching Europe, before deporting them to danger in Syria.[58]
34. More than 100,000 Syrians refugees have recently entered Lebanon since December 2024,[59] following the fall of the Assad regime and the outbreak of sectarian violence against Alawites and Druzes in Syria’s coastal towns, the suburbs of Damascus and Sweida governorate.

Recommendations:

• Reverse all Higher Defense Council decisions and related General Security Directives regarding the summary deportation of Syrians and demolition of permanent and semi-permanent structures.
• Honor the principle of non-refoulement by not forcibly returning or rejecting individuals at ports of entry whose lives or freedom would be threatened.
• Accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and to its additional Protocol and implement that accession with domestic legislation consistent with international refugee standards.