Lebanon
(2000)
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.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |