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(Beirut) – Lebanese authorities should take immediate measures to ensure that there is no repeat of violence against protestors in downtown Beirut and that perpetrators of violent attacks are held accountable, Human Rights Watch said today.

Lebanese security personnel used rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, water cannons, butts of rifles, and batons to control protesters on August 22 and 23 in downtown Beirut. Security forces also fired live ammunition, reportedly in the air, to disperse protesters.

 

On August 23, Lebanon’s state prosecutor Samir Hammoud tasked military prosecutor judge Sakr Sakr, who under Lebanese law has jurisdiction over crimes committed by the security forces, to investigate the violence. Lebanese authorities should ensure that the investigation into violence by security forces is independent, effective, and transparent, and that security personnel responsible for unlawful use of force are held accountable.

 

 

Lebanon has an unfortunate habit of opening investigations into violence by security forces but never concluding them. Lebanon’s judiciary needs to show that it can rise to the occasion and hold those responsible for excessive violence accountable.

 

“Lebanon has an unfortunate habit of opening investigations into violence by security forces but never concluding them,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Lebanon’s judiciary needs to show that it can rise to the occasion and hold those responsible for excessive violence accountable.”

Human Rights Watch staff monitored part of the protests on August 22 and 23 and interviewed 12 witnesses, including 6 wounded protesters. Galvanized by police violence used against peaceful protesters earlier in the week, an estimated 5,000 demonstrators poured into Riad al-Solh square on August 22, protesting political and economic corruption and the state of public services in Lebanon. Protests organized by the “You Stink” movement and other groups urging sustainable solutions to the waste crisis began in July.

The August 22 protest began peacefully at 6 p.m. with a significant number of families taking part. The police had set up barricades to prevent the protesters from reaching the seat of government at the Grand Serail as well as Parliament at Nejmeh Square. At around 7 p.m., tension increased as protesters tried to get closer to those buildings. Witnesses said that some protesters threw firecrackers and water bottles over the police barrier near the Grand Serail. Another group of protesters tried to reach Nejmeh Square, where parliament is located, but were confronted by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) stationed nearby and an Internal Security Force (ISF) unit assigned to protect parliament

 

The standoff with the security forces quickly escalated as security forces appeared to fire live ammunition in the air to disperse the protesters, who responded by throwing bottles and sticks at them. Human Rights Watch researchers later collected 5.56mm bullet casing cartridges – used in the M16 rifles issued to Lebanese security forces – at the site. Several of those interviewed also showed Human Rights Watch 5.56mm cartridges they had collected. Protesters and activists shared images of live bullet shells on social media.

 

Violence also erupted near the Grand Serail, where members of the riot police and other units from the Internal Security Forces used tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and apparent live fire in the air to forcibly disperse protesters from Riad al-Solh square. The events were caught on camera by TV stations broadcasting live from the protests. Clashes between security forces and groups of protesters throwing rocks and sticks continued until late at night with heavy use of gas canisters, rubber bullets, and water cannons.

In three cases Human Rights Watch documented, wounded protesters or their friends said that security personnel shot rubber bullets at them from close range, resulting in severe injuries that required hospitalization. Three protesters said they suffered minor injuries from rubber bullets that hit them in their legs, arms, or stomachs as they tried to flee. Another three protesters described being pursued and beaten by baton-wielding policemen even though they were leaving the protest area and had not taken part in any violent act. Many experienced mild suffocation problems from the dense teargas. A female activist helping to organize the protests said that a police officer beat her in the head.

According to the Lebanese Red Cross, 75 protesters were injured on August 22, 15 of whom were hospitalized for their wounds. The Internal Security Forces said that 35 policemen were also injured that night. The state prosecutor told the newspaper Al-Joumhouria that investigations showed “that no one was wounded with live bullets and the injuries that occurred at the first day of protests [August 22] were due to the use of rubber bullets.”

The Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, which monitors freedom of the press, documented nine cases of violent attacks against journalists on August 22 and 23, identifying most of the attackers as security personnel. Nada Andraos, a journalist from LBC TV, a local station, told Human Rights Watch that ISF members hit her and her photographer with a stick and sprayed them with a water hose. Beating journalists covering a protest is unlawful and an indefensible attack on press freedom, Human Rights Watch said.

“Policing demonstrations can be challenging, but what happened on Saturday was clearly an unjustified excessive use of force,” Houry said. “The police seemed more interested in teaching protesters a lesson than in maintaining public order.”

On August 23, new protests took place in downtown Beirut, with many protesters calling for the resignation of the government and accountability for the violence against the protesters. Groups of protesters threw rocks at the police and tried to forcibly remove barricades set up by the security forces. Security forces responded with teargas, rubber bullets, and water cannons. Some protesters also set fire to trashcans, and destroyed public property such as traffic lights and parking meters. The ISF reported that 99 people were wounded, including protesters and security officers, and that 32 people were detained. Clashes between protesters and security forces erupted again on August 25.

In policing demonstrations, security forces, including the military, should abide by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Human Rights Watch said. The principles call upon law enforcement officials to apply nonviolent means before resorting to force, to limit the use of force in proportion to the seriousness of the offense, and to use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life. The Internal Security Forces adopted a code of conduct in 2011 that stipulates that “Police members will not resort to the use of force unless it is necessary, proportionate and after exhausting all possible non-violent means, within the minimum extent needed to accomplish the mission.”

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouq announced on twitter on August 23 that everyone who gave orders to shoot, and every police officer who shot at protesters will be held accountable. The state prosecutor told local media on August 26 that investigations are ongoing and surveillance cameras are being used to identify the troublemakers who started riots. The prosecutor said that members of the security forces were also questioned.

Impunity for violence by security forces is a recurring problem in Lebanon. Investigations into previous incidents of excessive, and in some cases lethal, violence against protesters, if initiated, have not been concluded. All public information available indicates that Lebanon never investigated incidents in which security forces, including the army, used force against protesters, such as the violent dispersal of Palestinian protesters in Northern Lebanon on June 29, 2007, which left two Palestinians dead and at least 28 injured; and the violent dispersal of protesters in Hay al-Sellom, a poor neighborhood in Beirut, on May 27, 2004, which killed five protesters and wounded dozens.

“It’s long past the time for Lebanon to get serious about holding its security forces accountable,” Houry said. “The authorities need to deliver on their promises of effective investigations and accountability, or the laws that are supposed to protect Lebanese from abuses and ensure respect for basic rights will have no deterrent effect.”

Accounts From Witnesses, August 22

Elias, protester:
Elias said that he started running away from Riad al-Solh square towards a shopping area called the Beirut Souks when ISF units fired teargas canisters to disperse protesters in front of the Grand Serail. He said that they appeared to be directly targeting protesters with the canisters. “But I didn’t just want to run away,” he said. “I turned back and gave the peace sign to the police officers and started to march slowly toward the front lines with my hands over my head indicating for them not to shoot. Then, I saw someone get hit and I rushed over to them. Then the security forces fired an object directly at me – at my head.” He does not know what hit him. He was rushed to the hospital where he received about a dozen stitches.

Abdullah, protester:
Abdullah said he was watching TV on the evening of August 22 when he decided to join the protest to support his fellow countrymen and voice his frustration with the lack of adequate public services and high unemployment rates. He arrived at the Azarieh building, which leads down toward Riad al-Solh square. “Within 10 minutes of arriving to the area, I realized how out of control things had gotten,” he said. “I saw a police officer crouch behind a car aiming at protesters. Before I knew it, I heard a loud sound. I was hit and fell down. I don’t know what he fired at me but it left a gaping hole in my arm. Others rushed to my side and I was transported to Rizk Hospital for surgery.” He said his injuries have kept him from riding the moped he uses for his job as a deliveryman. He fears that he will be fired. “The hospital staff said that the Health Ministry will cover our hospital costs, but who will compensate me to cover my living expenses while I am out of work?”

Ahmad, protester:
Ahmad said that policemen were shooting riot guns and rubber bullets from close range, directly toward him and other protesters. The police charged and started firing teargas canisters and beating him and the others with sticks in Beirut Souks, he said. “I saw a woman in the middle of the road who was suffocating from the teargas bombs,” he said. “I yelled out don’t shoot and tried to run to her to help her – instead I got shot in my stomach. He said that the Lebanese Red Cross immediately took him to the emergency room at Hotel Dieu. “The doctors cut me open from my chest to his stomach, making sure that my vital organs had not been perforated before they sewed me up,” he said

Other protesters:
A protester who asked not to be named said that his friend was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet at close range and was rushed to Hotel Dieu hospital. The friend who was injured provided Human Rights Watch with multiple pictures of his leg wounds and the rubber bullet that was extracted from his leg at the hospital, but asked not to have the photos or his name made public because he did not want his family to know that he had been participating in protests.

Another male protester who preferred not to be named said that as he ran away from Riad al-Solh square toward Nejmeh square, he saw an ISF officer using a stick to beat a woman who appeared to be fleeing the chaos and had not been attacking anyone. He said he saw the police unit guarding parliament beating other protesters with sticks and firing bullets into the air.

Another protester said that he and some of the organizers tried to form a buffer zone between the security personnel and protesters to calm things down while security forces started to fire rounds of live ammunition into the air. He said that he and his friends pleaded with the officers to stop using live ammunition and that in response an officer hit him in his back with the butt of his rifle.

 

Lebanon’s Un-collected Problems

By Sahar Atrache

 

Protests over corruption and political dysfunction are growing in Lebanon. Clashes between protesters and security forces have left dozens wounded over the last few days, increasing instability in a country highly polarised along politico-sectarian fault lines, threatened not long ago by sectarian clashes and violence, and already overwhelmed by nearly 1.2 million Syrian refugees, ongoing border tensions as well as kidnappings by Sunni Islamist militants.

Crisis Group’s Lebanon Senior Analyst Sahar Atrache examines the underlying causes of the crisis and the possible scenarios that Lebanon faces.

1) Given the political paralysis, was it just a matter of time before these protests broke out?

Popular resentment and anger toward the political class’s abysmal performance have been building up for a long time. The sight and smell of trash submerging neighbourhoods in Beirut and elsewhere constituted a tipping point; thousands took to the streets to give public expression to mounting discontent.

The crisis started when the government, yielding to pressure from residents and activists, closed the capital’s main landfill on 17 July, without a ready alternative. Opened on a temporary basis in 1998, the Naameh landfill was supposed to be closed in 2004, but government inaction kept it in use; eleven years later it was filled far beyond capacity, contributing to heavy air and seawater pollution in the area. Criticism of the cabinet’s waste management malpractices first started on social media and was followed by symbolic actions by a handful of activists who, for example, tossed garbage bags in front of the environment minister’s residence. There were a number of small demonstrations before protests started gathering momentum on the weekend of 22-23 August.

To see all types of rubbish (from food and beverages to medical waste, plastic, paper, glass, broken and old furniture…) piling up in city streets over the past few weeks brought home the point that the country is in deep crisis. Lebanon has been without a president for over a year, its government is inactive, its parliament has unconstitutionally renewed its own mandate. State institutions have become increasingly unproductive, unable to perform their most basic responsibilities. Many Lebanese have adapted to the state’s malfunctioning and its fading service-delivery over the years by resorting to privatised alternatives. Yet a state-initiated resolution to the garbage crisis, with its unbearably repelling daily effect, is imperative if stability is to be restored.

As we argued in a report published in late July, “Lebanon’s Self-Defeating Survival Strategies”, the Lebanese political class has tried to contain an unfolding governance crisis through temporary and imperfect stopgaps, invoking regional turmoil as an excuse, while only compounding the problems. And now we have seen, in the garbage crisis, that political divisions and disagreements are so deep-rooted that even flawed stopgap measures are difficult for the government to implement.

2) Are the protests likely to grow? Where do you see this going?

The high turnout – around 10,000 protesters on 22 August and at least twice that number the next day – surprised most Lebanese, including the organisers themselves.

But these protests are tapping into a deeper seam and offer a rare opportunity for Lebanese disaffected with partisan politics and opposed to both the 8 March and 14 March alliances (the two major coalitions led, respectively, by Hizbollah and the Future Movement). They have been cross-regional and cross-sectarian, breaking the apathy of many who, for some time, had become indifferent to public causes, and renewing belief that mass mobilisation outside of a political-sectarian framework is still possible.

Yet, their future remains uncertain. The organisers, an array of activists and non-governmental organisations, including an ad-hoc group called “You Stink” that initiated the campaign, lack the logistical requirements to translate the protests into concrete change, hobbled as they have been by problems in coordination, communication and organisation. Some of the participants raised divisive or unrealistic slogans, such as “regime change” or the downfall of the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam, which provoked Salam’s supporters to block roads in some parts of the country. The organisers eventually withdrew these demands in a press conference, but they were unable to formulate clear alternatives. If they fail to do so, protests will start to taper off.

The use of force revealed a state of panic inside the establishment.

More significantly, a number of protesters – accused of being infiltrators intent on sabotaging largely peaceful demonstrations – destroyed private and public properties in downtown Beirut on 23 August. The actions of a few might dissuade many others from participating in the protest scheduled for 29 August, after one set for 24 August was cancelled (in order to make better preparations, according to organisers).

3) How do you judge the security forces’ harsh response to the protesters? What could government and security forces do to keep protests as peaceful as possible?

Images of water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets fired at protesters on 22 and 23 August shocked broad segments of the population. The use of violence against peaceful protesters has become a rare exception in Lebanon since the 2005 withdrawal of Syrian troops. Unsurprisingly, it served as a catalyst, pushing many to take to the street to express their outrage and their solidarity with the protesters.

Moreover, the use of force revealed a state of panic inside the establishment, which seemed deeply threatened by events, even though the protesters were unarmed. Authorities even erected a concrete blast wall the next day near the prime ministry in downtown Beirut, but under public pressure were forced to dismantle it within 24 hours. Excessive force and the building of the wall have widened the gulf between the government and large segments of society, and have further discredited the political class.

While aiming to protect the government and parliament buildings, and preserving Lebanon’s stability amid regional turmoil in volatile times, the security forces’ resort to brute force threatens the country’s fragile peace. To prevent things from slipping out of control, the government, political leaders and security commanders should agree to ban the use of force other than standard riot-control techniques, issue clear and public instructions against it, and hold security personnel accountable. Moreover, the government should immediately release dozens of activists arbitrarily arrested in the past few days.

4) How might these protests affect the current government? What are the likely scenarios?

Regardless of the protests’ outcome, the government is barely functioning, paralysed by deep divisions among its members. The demonstrations may have raised a red flag for politicians, reminding them of the urgent need to better manage the garbage crisis and avoid total breakdown. Indeed, the government has accelerated steps to resolve the issue, selecting winning bidders for new waste collection contracts in the country’s six governorates. However, many parties, including the protesters, are suspicious of these deals, given a long history of corrupt agreements and zero outcome. A day after their announcement, the cabinet cancelled the controversial contracts, invoking the bidders’ excessively high rates.

Lebanon is likely to continue to face a deepening crisis.

On several occasions, the prime minister has expressed frustration at the government he heads, accusing his political rivals of undermining its functioning. He has even mooted the possibility of resigning. Regardless of whether he follows through, Lebanon is likely to continue to face a deepening crisis. It is unrealistic to expect major improvements in the government’s performance when its constituent parts are political rivals whose allies in Syria are engaged in a life-and-death struggle with each other. If the Salam government were to collapse, it would only extend the political crisis. The formation of a new government could take months, if not longer.

Amid these tensions, there are also risks of renewed violence and/or sectarian clashes, although the two main parties, Hizbollah and the Future Movement, have an interest in avoiding open conflict. They are both motivated by a common interest in containing Sunni extremists and preventing intra-Lebanese disputes from spinning out of control. Neither wants to exacerbate the current crisis or to see the back of the Salam government.

5) What about Lebanon’s main backers Saudi Arabia and Iran? Where do they stand with regard to the protests? Could/would one of them try to tip Lebanon’s “flimsy political equilibrium” as part of their regional sparring?

For now, Riyadh and Tehran have not spoken out publicly about the protests. There appears to be a tacit convergence of interest between these two rivals in preserving the country’s status quo and in not jeopardising its fragile calm while the region is a mess.

6) What can be done to address the root causes of the garbage crisis and get past the current episode?

In the immediate future, the political class urgently needs to strengthen the country’s immune system, first and foremost by providing a sustainable and transparent solution to the garbage crisis in particular, but also by holding long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections to put the democratic process back on track. In the longer term, if Lebanon is to avoid teetering on the edge of endless crisis, radical changes will have to be implemented.

As we argued in July, these include: reinforcing state institutions, improving the quality and delivery of essential services, addressing social and geographic disparities, ending widespread impunity by promoting a culture of accountability, refraining from interfering in the judicial process, and fighting endemic corruption within both the political system and society at large. As the protests have shown, time may be running out for a political class incapacitated by incompetence and inertia.