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Lebanon: Syrian Refugee Children Blocked from School

Education Ministry Should Remove Barriers; Extend Registration Deadline

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s Education Ministry should extend the December 4, 2021, school registration deadline for Syrian children and end policies that are blocking Syrian refugee children’s access to education, Human Rights Watch said today. Thousands of…
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News

Congress needs to investigate the Pentagon’s failure to protect civilians

A New York Times exposé on a previously undisclosed attack on dozens of noncombatants in Syria is indicative of DOD’s impunity.

Pentagon leadership cannot – or will not – fix its civilian casualties problem. It’s long past time for Congress to step in. On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right...We have…
A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.
News

Letter to President Biden on US Policy Toward the Middle East

November 3, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: US Policy Toward the Middle East Dear President Biden, When you were elected last year, we urged your incoming administration to strive to be a…
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The Torture Continues, Say Syrian Refugees Who Returned

Shortly after Denmark began telling Syrian refugees that parts of Syria are "safe" and stripped them of their temporary protected status, I talked to a 31-year-old refugee who voluntarily returned to Syria from Jordan in December 2020. He told me…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

Protecting Justice from Political Interference

“We won’t get to the truth...this fixation on the Beirut Blast is a distraction,” a Hezbollah official told my colleague and me after his organization invited us for a “cup of coffee” following the publication of our investigation into the…
The Lebanese Association of Lawyers march at the First Anniversary of Port Blast, Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4, 2021.
Report

“Our Lives Are Like Death”

Summary Syria is a death country, a kidnapping country. Anyone coming back will lose their money or their life. — Salam, 26, from al-Jeza in Daraa Syrian refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan…
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Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch…
News

Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

Struggle to Survive Amid Devastation, Property Destruction

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch said in a report released…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

Lebanon’s Tragic Cycle of Violence Has a Cause

Reverse Culture of Impunity and Support Investigation into Beirut Blast

Scenes from Lebanon shocked residents and the world on Thursday when the streets of a residential and commercial district in Beirut descended into a level of violence last seen during the country’s the civil war: Families sheltering in hallways,…
Lebanese army soldiers are seen through the bullet-riddled window of a car after deadly clashes erupted in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.
News

Lebanon: Planning Lapses Endanger School Year

Re-opening Delayed; 700,000 Out of Classes Last Year

(Beirut) – The education system in Lebanon is at risk of collapse, with devastating consequences for children, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities’ egregious planning failures have aggravated the impact of the country’s financial and Covid-…
Students sit inside a school bus at the end of their school day in Beirut, Lebanon,
News

European Parliament Calls for UN Probe into Beirut Blast

Resolution Expresses Alarm at Lebanon’s Man-Made Disaster

This week the European Parliament heeded calls from survivors of the August 2020 Beirut blast, families of the victims, and many human rights groups to establish an international, independent fact-finding mission within the United Nations framework…
The Lebanese Association of Lawyers march at the First Anniversary of Port Blast, Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4, 2021.
News

Lebanon: UN Rights Body Should Investigate Beirut Blast

Rights Groups, Survivors, Victims Urgently Call for Justice

(Beirut, September 15, 2021) – Member states at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should establish an international, independent, and impartial investigative mission, such as a one-year fact-finding mission, into the Beirut port…
In this Aug. 9, 2020 file photo, political graffiti is visible in front of the scene of the August 4 explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon
Report

“They Killed Us from the Inside”

Update 9/8/2021: In a letter dated August 17, 2021, General Joseph Aoun, the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, responded to Human Rights Watch stating that the Army Command is unable to answer questions on the events that led to the Beirut Blast,…
News

The Trouble With the ‘LGBT Community’

When I met a former independent Lebanese parliament member, she asked me, “How can we mobilize the LGBT vote in Lebanon?” She wanted to understand why the Lebanese “LGBT community” had not voted as a block in the 2018 parliamentary elections to oppose…
LGBT activists in Beirut, Lebanon shout slogans and hold up a rainbow flag as they march to demand equal rights in a country gripped by economic and financial crisis, June 27, 2020.
News

Lebanon Universal Periodic Review Outcome Statement

Item 6 - Universal Periodic Review

We are deeply concerned that the responses provided by the Lebanese government during this UPR cycle fail to match the reality on the ground, where the Lebanese are facing the most drastic deterioration of rights in decades. While the government…
Lebanon One Year Later Explosion Call Investigation
News

UN Security Council: Restore Syria Cross-Border Aid

Russia Should Allow Full Year of UN-Led Aid Delivery from Turkey, Iraq

(New York) – Russia should not block the United Nations Security Council from reauthorizing and expanding cross-border humanitarian aid operations across northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Millions of people in northeast and northwest…
UN humanitarian aid trucks enter northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on June 1, 2021