Lebanon
(2001)
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.
Citizens still are struggling with the
legacy of a 15-year civil war fought along religious lines.
There are periodic reports of friction between religious
groups; however, it frequently is difficult to distinguish
between political and religious differences. 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. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 4,035 square
miles and its population is approximately 3-3.5 million.
Because the matter of religious balance is such a sensitive
political issue, a national census has not been conducted
since 1932, before 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 Muslims do not represent a homogenous group.
There also are a variety of other religious groups, primarily
from the Christian denominations, as well as a small Jewish
population.
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 still are 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 maintain 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). There also are some atheists
in the country.
There are a number of foreign missionaries
in the country, primarily from Catholic and evangelical Christian
churches.
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.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
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, child custody, 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. 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 1989, reaffirmed this arrangement but resulted in increased
Muslim representation in Parliament and reduced the power
of the Maronite President.
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. An individual may change his religion if
the head of the religious group approves of this change.
The Government allows private religious
education. The issue of religious education in public schools
no longer is the subject of vigorous debate. Muslim and Christian
clergy currently are working together to prepare unified
religious educational materials to be used in public schools.
A number of both Christian and Muslim religious
holidays are considered national holidays. The Christian
holidays are Christmas, Good Friday, Easter (for both Western
and Eastern rites), St. Maroun Day, All Saints Day, Assumption
Day, and New Year. The Muslim holidays are Eid al-Adha, the
Muslim New Year, the Prophet Mohammed's birthday, Eid al-Fitr,
and Ashura. The Government also excuses from work public
sector employees of the Armenian churches on Armenian Christmas
and St. Vartan Day.
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.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The 1989 Taif 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. 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. 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. State recognition is not
a legal requirement for religious practice. For example,
although Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus are not recognized
officially, they are allowed to practice their faith without
government interference; however, they legally may not marry,
divorce, or inherit in the country.
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. However,
civil ceremonies performed outside the country are recognized
by the State.
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.
Publishing of religious materials in different
languages is permitted.
Religious groups administer their own family
and personal status laws (see Section II). Many of these
laws discriminate against women. For example, Sunni inheritance
law provides a son twice the inheritance of a daughter. Although
Muslim men may divorce easily, Muslim women may do so only
with the concurrence of their husbands.
Article 473 of the Penal Code stipulates
that one who "blasphemes God publicly" will face
imprisonment for up to a year. In 1999 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;
however, he was acquitted of the charges in December 1999.
No one was prosecuted under this law during the period covered
by this report.
There were no reports of religious prisoners
or detainees.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious
conversion, including 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 III. Societal Attitudes
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 strongly discourage such activity. There were
reports that members of the Christian community in Kesirwan
with the knowledge of local clergy occasionally harassed
verbally church leaders and persons who attend an unrecognized
Protestant evangelical church.
The Committee of Islamic-Christian Dialog
remains the most significant institution for fostering amicable
relations between religious communities.
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 (see Section
II). 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. Police arrested four persons in connection
with the bombings and their trials were underway at the end
of the period covered by this report.
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 also has played a role in fostering
the ecumenical message of Musa Sadr, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared
in Libya in 1978.
Section IV. 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. 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 |