Lebanon
(1999)
Section I. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and
the Government 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 they do not
contradict popular values and the Constitution. The group must ensure that
the number of its adherents is sufficient to secure 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.
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,
including 12 officially recognized Christian denominations. 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 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 (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). 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 Islamic 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.
Most Christian groups also administer their own family and personal status
law.
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. 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.
The Government does not require citizens' religious
affiliations to be indicated on their passports; however, the Government
requires that religious affiliation be encoded on the new 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, it may be difficult to arrange in practice between members of some
groups because there are no procedures for civil marriage. In March 1998,
then-President Elias Hrawi proposed legislation to permit civil marriage as
a means of secularizing and facilitating intermarriage. This initiative
failed in the face of opposition from the clerical establishment.
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 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.
There was no change in the status of respect for
religious freedom during the period covered by this report.
There were no reports of religious detainees or
prisoners.
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, 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.
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, and U.S. Information Service 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 |