The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today concluded its consideration of the combined twenty-third to twenty-fourth periodic report of Lebanon after its Experts raised questions about the kafala system for migrant domestic workers, the absence of a definition of racial discrimination, and the treatment of refugees, among others.
On migrant domestic workers, the Committee Experts said that they continued to be victims of discrimination and violence, often confined to the residency of their employer, and passports were withheld from them. There was a need to abolish the sponsorship system and the requirement to reside in the home of the employer. The kafala system was a source of discrimination and violence and it must be abolished.
Lebanon did not yet have a law that defined racial discrimination. Committee Experts asked about measures taken to adopt a specific law regarding discrimination, in line with the provisions of article 1 of the Convention. The Lebanese Criminal Code criminalised any act of racial discrimination in general terms. From that standpoint, the Committee was concerned regarding a lack of clarity in the legislation prohibiting racist speech, stereotyping, and stigmatisation, particularly against refugees.
Concerning refugees, the Committee Experts were concerned about curfew measures imposed on refugees, particularly on Syrian refugees. Control points at entrances and exits of refugee camps slowed down ambulances and were perceived as a humiliation by the refugees. The situation of Palestinian refugees was particularly concerning and the Experts asked for updated information on any efforts by Lebanon to promote and protect their rights. The situation of Syrian refugees held in detention centres was also concerning – what measures were being taken to punish those perpetrating crimes against them and to provide reparations to victims?
Salim Baddoura, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, stated that Lebanon was facing exceptionally difficult circumstances as a result of various severe crises that were affecting the country, especially the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lebanon was also still facing a stifling refugee crisis as it was hosting more than one million displaced Syrians, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, as well as refugees from other countries, and this was causing a deterioration of the living conditions and put a great weight on the host community, in addition to the hostile intentions of Israel towards Lebanon and the transgressions against the Lebanese people in south Lebanon.
Despite these circumstances, Mr. Badourra said Lebanon remained committed to shoulder all its international responsibilities, especially in the field of human rights, and adhered to the international human rights mechanisms, which made up one of the most important pillars to strengthen and promote human rights. Lebanon sought not to distinguish between citizens and refugees in providing basic services.
The delegation of Lebanon said that a standard employment contract for domestic migrant workers was being utilised since 2009, protecting their rights and organising a contractual relationship in an equitable manner. A new standard unified contract for domestic migrant workers had been adopted by the Labour Ministry in 2020 but was unfortunately suspended by the Lebanese State Shura Council. The Ministry of Justice had activated a hotline for migrant domestic workers to complain about treatment and commence a dispute. Seventy-seven such complaints were addressed to the Ministry in 2020.
While there were no specific provisions against racial discrimination, the delegation said judges could cite the Convention, as it was a higher force in comparison to national law. The Criminal Code criminalised all acts of discrimination that could embody hate speech or instigation against any communities. Racist speech against migrant workers and refugees was being combatted by various Lebanese authorities.
Concerning refugees, the delegation said that the Ministry of Labour decision 193 of 5 August 2017 provided a list of various documents needed for Palestinian refugees to obtain a work permit, which they were able to do. The Lebanese Government adopted a legal framework to protect refugees in 2003, signing a memo of understanding with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, ensuring temporary protection for refugees in Lebanon. Palestinian refugees had complete freedom of movement, whether in Lebanon or when going abroad. Laws providing an appropriate and reasonable timeframe for birth registration applied to both Lebanese and non-Lebanese persons without discrimination. There were between 25,000 to 30,000 birth registration cases among Syrian refugees, as Lebanon had undertaken an awareness raising campaign among refugees to register their children so that they would have identification documents, also helping to enrol them into schools and kindergartens.
In his concluding remarks, Ibrahima Guissé, Committee Member and Country Rapporteur for Lebanon, welcomed the open and candid dialogue, commending the entire Lebanese delegation given the difficult context, particularly the power cuts in the country affecting their ability to hear all questions and to provide replies.
Salim Baddoura, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva, noted that a major step forward was taken on the path of strengthening the fight against racial discrimination and racism in Lebanon in this meeting.
Li Yanduan, Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of the Racial Discrimination, thanked the delegation for their participation.
The delegation of Lebanon consisted of representatives of the Council of Ministers, Internal Security, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, National Commission for Lebanese Women, Palestinian Dialogue Committee, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will issue the concluding observations on the report of Lebanon at the end of its one hundred and fourth session on 25 August. Those, and other documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, will be available on the session’s webpage.
The webcast of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public on Monday, 16 August at 4 p.m. to start its consideration of the combined twenty-second to twenty-forth periodic report of the Netherlands (CERD/C/NLD/22-24).
Report
The Committee has before it the combined twenty-third to twenty-fourth periodic report of Lebanon (CERD/C/LBN/23-24).
Presentation of the Report
SALIM BADDOURA, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, stated that Lebanon was facing exceptionally difficult circumstances as a result of various severe crises that were affecting the country, especially the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lebanon was also still facing a stifling refugee crisis as it was hosting more than one million displaced Syrians, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, as well as refugees from other countries, and this was causing a deterioration of the living conditions and put a great weight on the host community, in addition to the hostile intentions of Israel towards Lebanon and the transgressions against the Lebanese people in south Lebanon. Despite these circumstances, Lebanon remained committed to shoulder all its international responsibilities, especially in the field of human rights, and adhered to the international human rights mechanisms, which made up one of the most important pillars to strengthen and promote human rights. Lebanon sought not to distinguish between citizens and refugees in providing basic services. For example, the Ministry of Social Affairs, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the international community, had developed a plan to respond to the Syrian displacement crisis. In a related context, the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee had drawn up a plan to help Palestinian refugee camps better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 4 August 2020, Lebanon had witnessed a huge explosion that completely destroyed the port of Beirut and caused serious material damage throughout the city, especially in neighbourhoods adjacent to the port. Lebanese agencies, in cooperation with the international community and civil society, had conducted a comprehensive survey of the damage and provided assistance to the affected people and residents without any discrimination. The Ministry of Social Affairs, in partnership with the international community, had developed a national strategy for the protection of women and children. It was important to note the efforts of the Ministry of Justice and the National Authority for Lebanese Women’s Affairs to amend several laws that still discriminated between women and men, in addition to laws that provided greater protection for women, such as amending the Domestic Violence Act. Lebanon was currently working to modernise the National Plan for Human Rights through a transparent participatory process, in cooperation with representatives of all relevant government agencies, the House of Representatives and Lebanese civil society.
Questions by the Country Rapporteur, Members of the Taskforce for Lebanon, and the Rapporteur for Follow-up
IBRAHIMA GUISSÉ, Committee Member and Country Rapporteur for Lebanon, welcomed the high-level makeup of the delegation of Lebanon, noting it represented the country’s commitment to human rights. One year after the port of Beirut explosion, the Committee extended its full compassion to the people of Lebanon.
Lebanon did not yet have a law that defined racial discrimination – the Committee would appreciate answers regarding measures taken to adopt a specific law regarding discrimination, in line with the provisions of article 1 of the Convention.
The Lebanese Criminal Code criminalised any act of racial discrimination in general terms. From that standpoint, the Committee was concerned regarding a lack of clarity in the legislation prohibiting racist speech, stereotyping, and stigmatisation, particularly against refugees. What steps had been taken to prohibit and punish racist hate speech and discrimination? There was no criminalisation of the dissemination of ideas and organizations that spread racial hatred. As such, the Country Rapporteur sought updated information on legislation being prepared in this regard.
Regarding migrant domestic workers, the Committee was informed that unlike nationals, personal information and addresses were noted, potentially giving rise to targeted harassment. Was this investigated and punished, and were victims provided with reparations?
MARC BOSSUYT, Committee Member and Member of the Task Force for Lebanon, noted Lebanon’s extraordinary economic and financial difficulties following the Beirut port explosion. On 23 May 2015, the Council of Ministers had adopted a decree to appoint 10 members to the National Human Rights Institution, however it did not seem that this commission was operational, nor did it seem that the Lebanese budget allowed for its functioning.
Mr. Bossuyt asked for information on the Human Rights Action Plan and whether the fight against racial discrimination would be included therein, whether ringfenced resources would be available to the independent commission, and whether the independent national human rights commission had a mandate to address racial discrimination, and if so, what work had been carried out by the commission already? An evaluation of the previous plan was underway – what was the outcome of this process?
BAKARI SIDIKI DIABY, Committee Member and Member of the Task Force for Lebanon, stated that the Committee would appreciate even a short summary with regards to the justice system and cases linked to racial discrimination. Information was requested regarding progress on the efforts to coordinate among Ministries to improve education with regards to racial discrimination, such as new textbooks, representation of various communities in materials, and ensuring a coherent and clear access for refugee children to schools.
GUN KUT, Committee Member and Rapporteur for follow-up to concluding observations, thanked the delegation of Lebanon for their acceptance of conducting this discussion under such circumstances. Welcoming the delegation’s compliance with the one-year delay in presenting the follow-up interim report, Mr. Kut noted the importance of timely reporting.
The current report dated back a few years, therefore the Committee would like to hear more regarding developments that had taken place since the submission of the periodic report, regarding the proper functioning and implementation of the National Human Rights Institution and Action Plan, as well as any developments regarding the right to education and restrictions to education on the grounds of nationality and migration status.
Replies by the Delegation
In response to the questions and comments, the delegation of Lebanon said that the new National Human Rights Action Plan was based on fundamental freedoms and took into account observations of the review of the previous Action Plan. The Human Rights Commission created two draft laws in 2019, finally submitting them in June 2020 after various amendments. However, before passing them, the Government resigned in August 2020 after the Beirut port explosion, leading to delays in the adoption of laws related to the human rights institution. The ratification of the two laws would happen as soon as the new cabinet had been formed, or once a positive response from the State Council had been received.
While there were no specific provisions against racial discrimination, judges could cite the Convention, as it was a higher force in comparison to national law. The Criminal Code criminalised all acts of discrimination that could embody hate speech or instigation against any communities. Any complaint of racial discrimination was followed up by the authorities towards a final ruling. The total absence of digitisation sometimes made it difficult to obtain statistical data, and the COVID lockdown had made the situation more complicated. Victims had the right to request reparations according to the law. Lebanon had passed a law establishing an authority to receive discrimination complaints.
Regarding education, syllabi and curricula had been upgraded in line with Lebanon’s values, teaching children the principles of accepting and understanding the other, and strengthening the bonds of humanity regardless or religion, sex or colour. All levels of education were based on these principles of tolerance, in public or private schools. Each community was allowed to have its own schools, provided the content of education was in line with Lebanon’s values. Formulation of curricula was done with the understanding that Lebanon had a large refugee population.
Refugee children were able to join schools regardless of their financial resources or identification documents. Therefore, it was natural to test the children to know at which level these children should join. Some even considered that migrants had more privileges. Some Syrian children performed very well in the official exams, coming at the top of their classes. Any student going to school was entitled to a certificate indicating their exam results, enabling children to continue studying in any country.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was responsible for ensuring the access of Palestinian refugees to education. One in three Palestinian refugees received education in Lebanese schools without any discrimination. The registration mechanism allowed Palestinian refugees to accede to universities under the same conditions that were afforded to Lebanese students.
A law to create a mechanism to enable the reception of complaints in an automated manner to facilitate the collection of statistics had been passed.
Racist speech against migrant workers and refugees was being combatted by various Lebanese authorities. In 2018, a National Strategy to Prevent Racism and Fundamentalism was adopted by the Parliament to combat violent extremism. The Strategy included nine pillars: dialogue; good governance; justice, human rights, and rule of law; civic integration and civil society; gender equality and empowerment of women; education and skills; economic development and job opportunities; strategic communications; and empowerment of youth. Its goals included generating a culture of human rights through training to reduce tensions between host communities and refugees.