News

At a time when spiritual circles in Lebanon trade in moral codes to attack personal freedoms under the pretext of fighting immorality and sin, (c.f: https://bit.ly/2RVy3J4), trafficking in women continues at a large scale. Furthermore, on-going dysfunction within families, violence against women, migrant domestic workers and children, which in some cases take the form of murder, suicide, or more tacitly moral abuse and neglect, hardly ever motivate religious chiefs to interfere in what they generally consider as personal matters. In the latest on trafficking in women, the Anti-Human Trafficking and Morals Protection Bureau revealed that, based on information it has about an unknown woman facilitating prostitution work and managing an upscale prostitution ring (USD 1500 for 60 minutes of sex), and following surveillance action, it uncovered the identity of the procurer. Claudia F, a Venezuelan national, runs the ring from Spain, and has used one of the Beirut hotels to carry out her services. She was reportedly persuaded to come to Lebanon and arrested with two Spanish and Ukranian women. Claudia, who admitted to facilitating sex work for girls in return for a percentage of the profits, was referred to the competent judiciary along with the other suspects. (Al Mustaqbal, November 14, 2018)

 
Previous related news:
Lebanese confessions assaulting personal freedoms
Former Mufti of the Republic intervenes to cancel LGBT party
Selection from recorded daily violence against women
Mother jailed for refusing to hand child to father, women trafficking ring busted
 

An Nahar daily wrote that hopes Lebanese farmers and exporters built on the reopening of the Nassib Crossing to restore the flow of Lebanese goods through the Jordanian border into Arab Gulf markets were dashed due to the Syrian decision on September 10 to raise the transit fees. (c.f: https://goo.gl/iWYnqc). The newspaper cited the head of the Syndicate of Owners of Trucks in Lebanon, Shafiq Lakikis, as saying that the number of trucks passing via the crossing is small as a result of the Syrian measure, negatively affecting export activity. Kassis revealed to An Nahar that, in light of the current stagnation in the industrial, agricultural and productive sectors, and the huge losses incurred on the land transport sector over the past years due to the closure of the borders, the Lebanese side may settle on a 2% - 4% or even 5% increase but not on 10% as is the case today. Lakkis called for reciprocity in accordance with the Arab Facilitation Agreement and other treaties signed between Lebanon, Syrian and Jordan, pointing out that Syrian trucks transport their goods via Lebanese territory into Syria without charge. Concerned transport and export circles, Lakkis said, demanded charges be levied on Syrian trucks correspondingly. Citing informed sources, An Nahar wrote that Syrian enforced tariffs on some refrigerated trailers carrying vegetables have reached nearly USD 1200. Similarly, Jordan imposed USD 140 per ton on trucks, An Nahar said, noting that Lebanon’s Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom, Tracey Shamoun, has intervened but did not succeed in reducing the transit fees to this effect. (An Nahar, November 10, 2018)
 

In collaboration with the Muicipality of Qubiyat and the Union of Municipalities of Jurd Kaita’ and Juma, and under the patronage of the minister of state for administrative reform (OMSAR), Inaya Ezzedine, the Safadi Foundation concludes today the “Women Active in Rural Economic Development- WARED” program. The event takes place at the premises of the Safadi Foundation for Agricultural Development- Deir Dalum, Akkar. The program, which is part of Afkar 3 program funded by the EU and managed by OMSAR, was launched on December 1, 2016. Its aim is to promote the role of women as catalysts for achieving a balanced and sustainable economic development in Akkar, build their capacities to use modern technology in the manufacture of traditional agro-food products, and diversify and expand the sources of income in the aromatic plant production. (Al Akhbar, November 13, 2018)
 

The Appellate Attorney General, Judge Samir Hamoud, yesterday issued a circular to all appellate prosecutors covering a number of procedures to be observed at the time of arrest. These included, assigning the judicial police during the execution of court rulings related to child custody and parenting orders as well as seeking assistance of social workers and mentioning this in the record. Also yesterday, MP Paula Yacubian submitted an accelerated draft law revoking the forcible confinement of the mother who refuses to give in her child. In the explanatory statements of the proposal, that “it is unacceptable to jail mothers on charges of maternity and turn Article 998 of the Code of Civil Procedure into the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads and authorizing their imprisonment if they were so attached to their own children, as happened recently. To recall, Article 998 supports the jailing of a person ordered by the court to hand over their children should they refuse to do so during the execution of the order.  Yacubian referred to the international conventions signed by Lebanon, including the International Conventional on the Rights of the Child (Law. No. 20, 30/10/1990) which requires the Judiciary to give due consideration to children in any court proceedings concerning them.  (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, November 14, 2018)