Last night, the gang “Soldiers of God” attacked a bar in #MarMikhael where a #dragshow was being held, assaulting several participants and damaging some of the bar’s outdoor property. The gang threatened attendees, who left the bar after the ISF arrived. #GayRights #LGBTQ+ #Queer pic.twitter.com/84CHBjbSmK
— Megaphone (@megaphone_news) August 24, 2023
Association
On 23rd August 2023, some attendees at a drag event that was being held at a bar in Beirut were beaten and threatened while attempting to leave. No one has been arrested for the attack.
On 16th August, Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada submitted a draft law to the cabinet proposing that “any act that explicitly or implicitly promotes abnormal sexual acts” would be punished by a fine or a prison sentence of up to three years. As noted by Legal Agenda, this step followed a week of social media buzz about the minister’s extreme stance opposing the screening of the film Barbie and attacking the bill that nine MPs submitted to abolish Article 534 of the Penal Code which punishes “any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature”. As reported by Reporters Without Borders on the same day, parliament was presented with a bill drafted by one of its members, former internal security forces chief Ashraf Rifi, which provides for an even harsher penalty – up to five years’ imprisonment – for those guilty of “promoting, facilitating, protecting or inciting” the commission of homosexual acts.
Wadih Al-Asmar, president of the Lebanese Centre for Human Rights (CLDH), said:
“LGBTI rights are fundamental human rights and stifling them as an excuse to keep a portion of society marginalized under the false pretext of so-called public morals is detrimental to everyone’s human rights”.
Expression
On 25th August 2023, comedian Nour Hajjar was summoned by Lebanon’s Military Prosecution for interrogation at the Military Police headquarters in al-Rihannieh in response to a joke he had made on stage about Lebanese army soldiers taking up second jobs as delivery drivers due to the economic crisis and the devaluation of their salaries in Lebanese pounds.
After appearing before the Central Department of Criminal Investigations, Lebanese journalist Mariam Majdouline Laham was detained on 5th September for 11 hours before her release on bail the following day. Reportedly, she was summoned to appear before the Department following a message she posted on social media in July, in which she accused Judge Mohammah Ahmad Assaf, President of the Sunni Higher Court of Beirut, of deriving personal benefit from a case he was handling.
In a statement issued on 31st August 2023, human rights organisations noted the urgent call for “Judicial authorities to drop criminal charges for peaceful speech, and parliament should urgently repeal laws that criminalize blasphemy, defamation, insults to religion, or criticism of political, religious, or military authorities. Civilians should not be tried by military courts. In no case should authorities detain individuals for peaceful criticism. Public prosecutors and security agencies should refrain from summoning people for investigations for exercising their right to freedom of expression. The authorities should also refrain from exceeding their jurisdiction by pressuring defendants to remove allegedly offending content or to sign pledges before they have had a fair trial.”