Executive Summary

Cedar Centre for Legal Studies (CCLS) submitted this report to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in response to the Call for Inputs on Counter-Terrorism Law, Organized Crime and Human Rights. The submission is based on documented CCLS casework in Lebanon involving security-led detention, migration-related allegations, military jurisdiction, and allegations of torture.

The report outlines the applicable international and domestic legal frameworks, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), Lebanese Law No. 65/2017 on torture, Law No. 105/2018 on enforced disappearance, and Article 47 of the Lebanese Code of Criminal Procedure.

Based on its documented casework, CCLS identifies recurring patterns in security-related and organized crime-related cases, including the conflation of migration-related conduct with security threats, reliance on coerced confessions, weak judicial oversight during early detention, the use of exceptional jurisdictions for civilians, and lack of accountability for torture and enforced disappearance.

The submission presents four illustrative case studies involving: (1) the enforced disappearance and torture of a Syrian refugee; (2) torture risk and coerced confessions in security-led investigations; (3) the use of military jurisdiction in a civilian security-related case; and (4) pressure on a lawyer engaged in human rights representation. The report identifies violations of Lebanese legislation and international human rights obligations, including provisions related to arbitrary detention, torture, fair trial guarantees, access to legal counsel, and protection of lawyers.

CCLS highlights key legal concerns arising from its casework, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, failure to investigate torture allegations, use of coerced confessions, weak implementation of Article 47 safeguards, expansion of exceptional jurisdictions, and enforced disappearance.

Download the full report.