Amnesty International launched #MyOpinionIsNotaCrime, a new campaign that calls on the Lebanese Parliament to abolish all laws that criminalize insult and defamation. The organization pointed out that “the Lebanese authorities must immediately halt all prosecutions of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and others who are critical of state officials.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, it was clarified that “the new campaign comes amid a spate of prosecutions of those critical of political, security, judicial, and religious figures in the country, with thousands targeted by criminal investigations since 2015.
Repressive Provisions Incompatible with International Law
According to the statement, between October 17, 2019, and June 24, 2020, Amnesty International documented the cases of 75 individuals who were summoned in relation to defamation and insult charges, including 20 journalists. Today, as public discontent with the authorities’ handling of the multiple crises in the country is growing, Amnesty International has found that high-level officials are again increasingly weaponizing repressive criminal provisions that are not in line with international law in order to silence critics.
Amnesty International found that the officials who filed insult and defamation charges used those laws as a means of retaliation, harassment, or intimidation against their critics. In all cases, the speech the individuals were targeted for is not only protected under international human rights law but also considered necessary for transparency and accountability in a society based on the rule of law.
In addition, the security agencies that summoned and interrogated those accused of “insult” or defamation failed to follow standard procedures that safeguard the defendants’ due process rights and engaged in intimidating behavior, such as threatening the individuals with detention or pressuring them to sign pledges stating that they would stop criticizing the complainant or committing to remove the allegedly defamatory content.
The statement pointed out that “Lebanon’s criminal insult and defamation provisions, which appear in the Penal Code, the Publications Law, and the Military Code of Justice, can carry prison sentences of up to 3 years.”
These include provisions that criminalize “insulting” public officials or institutions, a vague and subjective provision that is not recognized as a crime under international law. Amnesty International is calling for these provisions to be repealed.
Furthermore, Lebanon’s defamation provisions fail to meet international human rights standards and unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression. Under international human rights law, criminal penalties are always disproportionate punishments for reputational harm and should be abolished.
Civil defamation and criminal incitement laws are sufficient to protect people’s reputations and maintain public order, and they can be framed and implemented in ways that provide appropriate protection for freedom of expression.
Recent Cases
In a recent shocking development, a court in July sentenced journalist Dima Sadek to one year in prison and fined her LBP 110 million (equivalent to around USD 1,200 at the market rate) on criminal defamation and incitement charges after she criticized members of a political party on Twitter.
“Dima Sadek’s case is a travesty and an illustration of how archaic criminal laws are being weaponized to punish or silence dissent. Her prison sentence sends a chilling message to less high-profile journalists in the country and will deter people from speaking out against the powerful—whether state officials, political party leaders, or religious figures—especially at a time when impunity is rampant,” said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Lebanon’s insult and defamation laws are designed to protect those in power from all forms of criticism. At a time when Lebanese citizens should be freely discussing what they expect from their leaders given the acute suffering due to the economic crisis, high-ranking officials are targeting journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and others who are peacefully expressing their opinions and working to expose allegations of corruption.”
Earlier in March, the State Security, the Lebanese intelligence agency, intercepted the car of Jean Kassir, a journalist and co-founder of Megaphone, a Lebanese media outlet, and summoned him for interrogation without informing him of the reason for the summons. Kassir later learned that the summons was based on a criminal defamation complaint filed by Lebanon’s top public prosecutor, who was named as one of the “fugitives from justice” in the Beirut port explosion case in a post that was published on Megaphone.
