(Beirut) - The United Arab Emirates government should allow hundreds of deported Lebanese citizens and Gazans an opportunity to appeal their expulsions, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today to the UAE interior minister.
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(Beirut) - The Lebanese government should immediately drop criminal charges against three men for posting comments critical of President Michel Suleiman on Facebook, Human Rights Watch said today.
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2010 Yearbook on Peace Processes (School for a Culture of Peace, June 2010) [text]Annual disaster statistical review 2009: the numbers and trends (CRED et al., 2010) [text via PreventionWeb]Background Papers on Climate Change and Migration (German Marshall Fund, June 2010) [access]- Eight papers emanating from the Fund's "Transatlantic Study Team on Climate-induced Migration."No Refuge: Palestinians in Lebanon, RSC Working Paper, no. 64 (RSC, June 2010) [text]Report on the application of Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection (European Commission, June 2010) [text via Refworld]Tagged...
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(Beirut) - Members of Lebanon's parliament should vote to end restrictions on Palestinian refugees' rights to own property and work, Human Rights Watch said today. The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) introduced a bill on June 15, 2010, that would cancel prohibitions on property ownership and social security benefits for Palestinians, and ease restrictions on their right to work.
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The blockade against the Gaza strip is making big headlines, especially since the Israeli raid onto an aid ship that killed 9 people. A couple of stories concerning the blockade and the life of the Palestinian people have caught our attention this morning. First the International Red Cross says that the blockade against the Gaza strip is illegal as a violation against Geneva conventions. From Vision MP, this story gathers together various internet reports on the statement. According to the Al Jazeera website, An ICRC statement issued Monday termed the blockade a “collective punishment” and a crime under international law.“The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development,” the ICRC said.“Gazans...
Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 23, no. 2 (June 2010) has just been published. Contents include the following:Matrimonial Strategies and Identity Relations between Palestinian Refugees and Lebanese after the Lebanese Civil WarGovernance, Governmentalities, and the State of Exception in the Palestinian Refugee Camps of LebanonMental and Physical Health Consequences of Repatriation for Vietnamese Returnees: A Natural Experiment Approach [see also earlier working paper]Beyond the Discourse of Trauma: Shifting the Focus on Sudanese RefugeesLet Them Land: Christmas Islander Responses to TampaRefugees as People: The Portrayal of Refugees in American Human Interest StoriesCyprus: Peace, Return and Property Also included is the final conference report for IASFM12, held...
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EU Support for Integration: What about Beneficiaries of International Protection? A User's Guide to EU Standards, Funds and Cooperation (UNHCR, April 2010) [text]Jalil: The Forgotten Refugee Camp (MEMO, April 2010) [text]Professionalising the Humanitarian Sector: A Scoping Study (Feinstein International Center & RedR, April 2010) [text]States of Fragility: Stabilisation and its Implications for Humanitarian Action (ODI, May 2010) [text]UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Colombia (UNHCR, May 2010) [text]Tagged...
(Beirut) - The Lebanese authorities should prosecute those involved in the mob killing on April 29, 2010, of Muhammad Msallem, an Egyptian suspected of murdering four people in Ketermaya, a village in the Shouf mountains, Human Rights Watch said today.
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21st Century Aid: Recognising success and tackling failure (Oxfam, April 2010) [text]Forced Migration Research and Policy: Overview of current trends and future directions (RSC, April 2010) [text]"Humanitarian State Building: The Experience of Steering Committees in Southern Lebanon," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (3 May 2010) [text]Improving Asylum Procedures - Comparative Analysis and Recommendations for Law and Practice: Key Gender Related Findings and Recommendations (UNHCR, March 2010) [text]Not displaced, out-of-place: Education of IDP Children in Georgia (NRC, April 2010) [text]Public health equity in refugee and other displaced persons settings (UNHCR, April 2010) [text]"Refugees in Burma, Malaysia and Thailand: Rescue for Rohingya," World Today, vol. 66, no. 5 (May 2010)...
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(New York) - The reforms undertaken by Middle Eastern and Asian governments fall far short of the minimum protections needed to tackle abuses against migrant domestic workers, Human Rights Watch said today in a report released in advance of May 1, International Labor Day.
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(New York) – The Libyan government should take the opportunity of the Arab League meeting this weekend to reveal the fate of high-profile people who disappeared in Libya years ago and have not been heard from since, Human Rights Watch said today. The Arab league will meet in Sirte, Libya, on March 27, 2010.
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(Beirut) - The Lebanese government should investigate the seizure of a human rights lawyer's passport by General Security, a group of 16 Lebanese and international human rights organizations said today.
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(Beirut) - Lebanon should release migrants and refugees who remain in detention despite having finished their sentences, a group of 14 Lebanese and international human rights organizations said yesterday in a letter to top officials.
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A worker checks a switch linked to a generator that distributes electricity to residents in Beirut. (Photo: AFP/ JOSEPH BARRAK)
A few months ago, the Lebanese Anti-Bribery Network—an initiative of the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) supported by CIPE—organized a roundtable in Beirut to discuss a draft policy paper on good governance in the Lebanese electricity sector, with representatives of the national utilities company Electricité du Liban present. In an eerie strike of irony, an hour into the event, the hotel hosting the roundtable experienced a power shortage that resulted in a brief blackout.
A recent working paper by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that reducing electricity constraints to business could raise per capita GDP by up to two percent...
Local experts agree that corruption in Lebanon has become a challenge of enormous size and systemic reach. And neither the public nor the private sector can tackle this challenge alone. Recognizing this, the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), with CIPE’s support, created a vehicle – the Lebanon Anti-Bribery Network (LABN). Through it both the Lebanese private and public sectors could work collectively against corruption and bribery in an environment which does not attempt to lay blame, but rather seeks to identify constructive solutions.
On January 27, 2010, over 50 participants, including representatives from the Lebanese Ministry of Finance and former Ministers of Finance, as well as representatives from the private sector and civil society, debated a preliminary policy...
(Beirut)-Middle East governments repressed efforts to promote human rights and backed away from bold reforms despite growing human rights challenges and promises to take action, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing the Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen country studies from its World Report 2010.
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Long-term CIPE partner the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) just released their 2009-2010 documentary on YouTube. The piece highlights LTA’s anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and corporate governance programs and activities in both Arabic and English....
(Beirut) - Lebanon has missed a December 22, 2009, deadline for setting up a national institution to prevent torture, a group of Lebanese and international human rights organizations said today. The government should move quickly to consider a proposal commissioned by the Justice Ministry that would address the issue, the groups said.
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(New York) - Many governments' policies toward migrants worldwide expose them to human rights abuses including labor exploitation, inadequate access to health care, and prolonged detention in poor, overcrowded conditions, Human Rights Watch said today in advance of International Migrants Day, on December 18, 2009.
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(Beirut) - Lebanese authorities should investigate the circumstances surrounding the detention and disappearance of Nawar `Abboud, Human Rights Watch and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) said today. A UN panel declared on November 10, 2009, that Lebanese authorities had arbitrarily detained him a year ago and then failed to provide convincing answers concerning his disappearance.
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(Beirut) - The Lebanese government should investigate the deaths of eight migrant domestic workers during October, 2009, as well as the reasons for the disproportionately high death rate among this group of workers, Human Rights Watch said today. An estimated 200,000 domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Ethiopia, work in Lebanon.
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BEIRUT - A decision by Lebanese judicial authorities is an encouraging first step toward recognizing the right of families of victims of enforced disappearances during the 1975-1990 war era to know what happened to them, five international human rights groups said today.
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Broken homes, broken lives: end forced evictions in Chad (Amnesty International, Sept. 2009) [text]Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Establishment of a Joint EU Resettlement Programme, COM(2009) 447 final (European Commission, Sept. 2009) [text via Refworld]"Design and implementation of a hospital information system for the Palestine Red Crescent...
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They’re all making strides in corporate governance. In the recent issue of Corporate Governance Trends, a quarterly CIPE publication, you’ll read about new tools for family-owned businesses in Lebanon to implement corporate governance, a private sector-driven initiative to create the Corporate Governance Code in Algeria, and a successful program in the Philippines using scorecards to rank companies’ corporate governance performance. Even in these uncertain times, CIPE partners continue to move forward in their efforts to create better business environments and promote good governance. With the global downturn on everyone’s mind, we’ve also included an interview with CIPE Executive Director John D. Sullivan about the importance of good governance as a response to the...
Country of Origin Information Report: Iraq (UK Border Agency, July 2009) [text via Refworld]IOM Emergency Needs Assessments: Post February 2006 Displacement in Iraq (IOM, June 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]IOM Monitoring and Needs Assessments: Assessment of Iraqi Return (IOM, May 2009) [text]- See related press release.Iraqi Refugees: Women's Rights and Security Critical to Returns (Refugees...
Aid and Violence: Development Policies and Conflict in Nepal (Feinstein International Center, June 2009) [text]Breeding Fragmentation? Issues in the Policy and Practice of Decentralisation in Uganda, Issue Paper No. 1 (Refugee Law Project, June 2009) [text]Building a Better Relationship: Palestinian Refugees, Lebanon, and the Role of the International Community (IDRC, June 2009) [text via...
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“There are no winners or losers in this election, the only winner is democracy and the biggest victor is Lebanon.”
Those were the words of Saad Hariri, son of former slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who spoke after the much-anticipated parliamentary elections of June 7 that saw the Western-backed March 14 bloc retain power after facing strong opposition from the Hezbollah-led opposition coalition, March 8. For a country as tiny as Lebanon, the importance of the election is disproportionately large. The country of 4 million desperately needs a batch of elected officials who can inject fresh ideas into a confessional system continually mired in paralyzing stalemates. Under Lebanon’s sectarian national unity system, the parliament is divided equally between Muslims and...
Audette Salem was killed twice. The first time was when "they" kidnapped her children, Richard and Marie Christine, on September 17, 1985. The kidnappers were never identified, and the fate of her children never elucidated. Audette's life was put on hold that day.
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(Beirut) - Political parties and candidates in the June parliamentary elections should outline their plans to improve Lebanon's human rights record and promise to enforce the country's obligations under human rights law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
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(Beirut) - One year after the outbreak of fighting between opposition and pro-government groups that left at least 110 people dead, Lebanese authorities have yet to make public the results of their investigations into the killings of civilians, Human Rights Watch said today.
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