2000 Annual Report on
International Religious Freedom: Lebanon
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
U.S. Department of State, September 5, 2000
LEBANON
The Constitution
provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in
practice; however, there are some restrictions.There was no change in the status of
respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report.Discrimination
based on religion is built into the system of government. There are no legal barriers to
proselytizing; however, traditional attitudes and edicts of the clerical establishment
discourage such activity. The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the
Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human
rights.
Section I. Government
Policies on Freedom of Religion
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion and the Government generally respects
this right in practice. The State is required to ensure the free exercise of all religious
rites with the caveat that public order not be disturbed. The Constitution also provides
that the personal status and religious interests of the population be respected. The
Government permits recognized religions to exercise authority over matters pertaining to
personal status such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. There is no
state religion; however, politics are based on the principle of religious representation,
which has been applied to every conceivable aspect of public life.A group that seeks
official recognition must submit its dogma and moral principles for government review to
ensure that such principles do not contradict popular values and the Constitution. The
group must ensure that the number of its adherents is sufficient to maintain its
continuity. Alternatively, religious groups may apply to obtain recognition through
existing religious groups. Official recognition conveys certain benefits, such as
tax-exempt status and the right to apply the religion's codes to personal status matters.
Religious
Demography
Because the
matter of religious balance is such a sensitive political issue, a national census has not
been conducted since the founding of the modern Lebanese State. Consequently, there is an
absence of accurate data on the relative percentages of the population of the major
religions and groups. Most observers believe that Muslims make up the majority, but they
do not
represent a homogenous group. There also is a variety of other religious groups, primarily
from the Christian and Jewish religions.
There are 18 officially recognized religious groups. Their ecclesiastical and demographic
patterns are extremely complex.Divisions and rivalries between groups date back as far as
15 centuries, and are still a factor today. The pattern of settlement has changed little
since the 7th century, although there has been a steady numerical decline in the number of
Christians compared to Muslims. The main branches of Islam are Shi'a and Sunni. Since the
llth century there has been a sizable Druze presence, concentrated in rural, mountainous
areas east and south of Beirut. The smallest Muslim minorities are the Alawites, and the
Ismaili ("Sevener") Shi'a order. The "Twelver" Shi'a, Sunni, and Druze
each have state-appointed
clerical bodies to administer family and personal status law through their own religious
courts, which are subsidized by the State. The Maronites are the largest of the Christian
groups. They have had a long and continuous association with the Roman Catholic Church,
but have their own patriarch, liturgy, and customs. The second largest group is the Greek
Orthodox Church
(composed of ethnic Arabs who maintained a Greek-language liturgy). The remainder of the
Christians are divided among Greek Catholics, Armenian Orthodox (Gregorians), Armenian
Catholics, Syrian Orthodox (Jacobites), Syrian Catholics, Assyrians (Nestorians),
Chaldeans, Copts, evangelicals (including Protestant groups such as the Baptists,
Seventh-Day Adventists, and Friends), and Latins (Roman Catholic). Most Christian groups
also administer their own family and personal status law. State recognition is not a legal
requirement for religious practice. For example, although Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus
are not officially recognized, they are allowed to practice their faith without government
interference; however, they legally may not marry, divorce, or inherit in the country.
The Government allows private religious education. There is a vigorous debate on the issue
of public religious education, but no final curriculum has been adopted. Publishing of
religious materials in different languages is permitted. The country's religious pluralism
and climate of religious freedom have attracted many refugees fleeing religious
persecution in neighboring states. They include Kurds, Shi'a, and Chaldeans from Iraq and
Coptic Christians from Egypt and Sudan.The Government promotes interfaith understanding by
supporting a committee on Islamic-Christian dialog, which is cochaired by a Muslim and a
Christian,
and includes representatives of the major religious groups. Leading religious figures who
promote Islamic-Christian dialog and ecumenicism are encouraged to visit and are received
by government officials at the highest levels. Governmental Restrictions on Religious
Freedom.
The unwritten "National Pact" of 1943 stipulates that the President, the Prime
Minister, and the Speaker of Parliament be a Maronite Christian, a Sunni Muslim, and a
Shi'a Muslim, respectively. The Taif Accord, which ended Lebanon's 15-year civil war in
1990, reaffirmed this arrangement but resulted in increased Muslim representation in
Parliament and reduced the
power of the Maronite President. The Accord called for the ultimate abolition of political
sectarianism in favor of "expertise and competence." However, little substantive
progress has been made in this regard. A "Committee for Abolishing
Confessionalism," called for in the Taif Accord, has not yet been formed. Christians
and Muslims are represented equally in
the Parliament. Seats in the Parliament and Cabinet, and posts in the civil service, are
distributed proportionally among the 18 recognized groups.
Each religious group has its own courts for family law matters, such as marriage, divorce,
child custody, and inheritance. State recognition is not a legal requirement for religious
practice. For example, although Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus are not officially
recognized, they are allowed to practice their faith without government interference;
however, they legally may not marry, divorce, or inherit in the country. The Government
does not require citizens' religious affiliations to be indicated on their passports;
however, the Government requires that religious affiliation be encoded on national
identity cards. An individual may change his religion if the head of the religious group
he wishes to join approves of this change. There are different personal status codes for
each of the 18 officially recognized religious groups. Administered by representatives of
the groups, these codes govern many areas of civil law, including marriage, divorce,
inheritance, and child custody. Many families have relatives who belong to different
religious communities, and intermarriage is not uncommon; however, intermarriage may be
difficult
to arrange in practice between members of some groups because there are no procedures for
civil marriage. An attempt in 1998 by then-President Elias Hrawi to forward legislation
permitting civil marriage failed in the face of opposition from the religious leadership
of all confessions.
Article 473 of the Penal Code stipulates that one who "blasphemes God publicly"
will face imprisonment for up to a year.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period
covered by this report. Governmental Abuses of Religious Freedom In September 1999, Marcel
Khalife, a leading singer and songwriter, was accused of insulting Islam for incorporating
lines from a poem based on verses from the Koran into a song he recorded in 1995. An
indictment was
issued charging the singer with blasphemy. Most political and religious leaders, with the
exception of the Sunni Grand Mufti of the Republic, criticized this action. Khalife was
acquitted of the charges on December 15, 1999.
Forced Religious Conversion of Minor U.S. Citizens
There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had
been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal
to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Section II.
Societal Attitudes
Discrimination based on religion is built into the system of government. The amended
Constitution of 1990 embraces the principle of abolishing religious affiliation as a
criterion for filling government positions, but few practical steps have been taken to
accomplish this. One notable exception is the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which, through
universal conscription and
an emphasis on professionalism, has significantly reduced the role of confessionalism (or
religious sectarianism) in that organization.Citizens still are struggling with the legacy
of a 15-year civil war fought along religious lines. Some of the harshest fighting of the
war occurred within religious groups. There are no legal barriers to proselytizing;
however, traditional attitudes
and edicts of the clerical establishment discourage such activity. The Committee of
Islamic-Christian Dialog remains the most significant institution for fostering amicable
relations between religious communities. It has received the Archbishop of Canterbury and
leading representatives of other groups on ecumenical missions to promote understanding
between Muslims
and Christians. Clerics play a leading role in many ecumenical movements worldwide. For
example, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch, Aram I, is the moderator for the World Council
of Churches. The Imam Musa Sadr Foundation has also played a role in fostering the
ecumenical message of Musa Sadr, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared in Libya in 1978.
On October 3, 1999, one person was killed when a bomb exploded in a Maronite church in an
eastern Beirut suburb. There were no arrests made in this case during the period covered
by this report.
Throughout the fall of 1999, approximately 6 random bombings were carried out against
Orthodox churches and shops that sold liquor; the bombings took place in the northern city
of Tripoli and in surrounding areas. The Government suspected that radical Sunni
extremists carried out the bombings in retaliation for Russian military operations in
Chechnya. Police officials
detained and allegedly tortured a number of Sunni youths for suspected involvement in
these bombings; however, the youths later were released due to a lack of evidence.
In December 1999, Sunni extremists killed four LAF soldiers in an ambush in the northern
region of Dinniyeh after these soldiers attempted to arrest two Sunni Muslims allegedly
involved in a series of church bombings. On December 31, 1999, the LAF retaliated by
launching a massive military operation against Sunni insurgents in north Lebanon. Five
civilians, 7 LAF soldiers, and 15 insurgents were killed in this operation.
Section III. U.S.
Government Policy
U.S. policy
supports the preservation of pluralism and religious freedom, and the U.S. Embassy
advances that goal through contacts at all levels of society, public remarks, embassy
public affairs programs, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
programming. The issue of political sectarianism remains a delicate one. The United States
supports the
principles of the Taif Accord and embassy staff regularly discuss the issue of
sectarianism with political, religious, and civic leaders. Embassy staff members meet
periodically with the leadership--both national and regional--of officially recognized
groups, all of whom have a long tradition of meeting with foreign diplomats and discussing
issues of general public interest. The Embassy regularly attends events sponsored by the
Committee on Islamic-Christian Dialog. The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom visited the country in April 2000 to discuss this issue with the
religious leadership and with local lawyers and activists. The Embassy sponsored the visit
to Beirut of the founder of the American Muslim Council to speak before the interfaith
committee about Islam in America. USAID programs in rural areas of the country also
require civic
participation, often involving villages of different religious backgrounds, with the aim
of promoting cooperation between religions.
[end of document]
Distributed
by: The American Lebanese Institute
2077 National Press Bldg.
Washington, DC. 20045
(202) 298-1201
================================================================================