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Following the mitigated 5-year imprisonment sentence against the killer of wife Manal Assi pronounced on July 14 by the Criminal Court of Beirut led by Judge Helena Iskandar while charging the victim with responsibility for allegedly unlawful conduct towards her husband ( http://bit.ly/2amjtWE),  some 167 civil groups signed yesterday a petition to consider cassation and upgrading of the above decision. The request pressed by the Lebanese Council  of Women chaired by lawyer Ikbal Dughan, was filed to the Discriminatory and Appellate Public Prosecution to pressure to this effect. The signatories considered that the Judiciary has completely ridiculed the Lebanese Parliament’s decision to repeal Article 562 of the Penal Code related to so-called ‘honor killing’, while they were expecting the justice system to advocate the rights of victims against culprits. To recall, the Appellate and Discriminatory Offices have a period of one month to appeal the ruling of July 14, meaning that the civil groups have only 6 days including a weekend to convince the competent authorities. (As Safir, The Daily Star, August 9, 2016)

 

The labor ministry lately received frequent queries concerning the employment of migrant women domestic workers (MWDWs) particularly on terms related to the recruitment costs; salaries and especially the deduction of the first two or three months of the worker’s salary that should be transferred to the recruitment agency, and allegedly encouragements to MWDWs by recruitment agencies to flee their employers’ homes and join the agencies in working per hour. In response, the Labor Ministry issued yesterday a statement clearing up the following: Firstly, the prior approval fee for the MWDW (fourth category) is LBP 36 thousand; the fee for workers (of the third category) is LBP 120 thousand; the fee for workers (of the first and second category) is LBP 600 thousand. Secondly, on the issue of deducted salary mentioned above, the statement urged domestic employers to pay the agreed salary directly to the migrant worker or otherwise face prosecution. Thirdly, on the issues of flight of MWDWs from their employers, the ministry threatened to punish the perpetrators and accomplices and to terminate the license of the violating agency. In this context, the labor ministry announced that it has decided to shut down 8 agencies for failing to comply with the above conditions, expressing its readiness to receive related complaints at its departments in Beirut and the provinces. A reminder that the 24/24 hotline for the ministry is (1740). (Al Diyar, August 9, 2016)

 

A report on the regional hospitality market in the first half of 2016 has shown a decline in the performance of the sector in Beirut. The survey conducted by the multinational professional services firm, Ernst & Young, indicated that the rate of occupancy in the four and five star hotels in Beirut has fallen to 54% during the first half of the current year, compared the to 57% for the same period of last year. Interestingly enough, Beirut came 10th among a list of 14 cities in terms of the highest rate of occupancy, (ahead of Mecca, Manama and Amman but behind Riyadh and Cairo). The report also revealed a drop in the average rates of rooms in the Lebanese capital during the first half of 2016 (from USD164 in 2015 to USD 135 this year), representing the highest decline among the 14 mentioned cities. To recall, the average rate of rooms in Beirut (ranked 12th) recorded the highest score in the region after Ras al Khaima and Amman, but beating each of Cairo and Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, the survey indicated that proceeds from room occupancy have dropped by an annual rate of 21.7% during the first half of 2016 (USD 74 against USD 94 in 2015). (Al Akhbar, August 9, 2016)

 

In an important move, the Tunisian Parliament ratified a draft law entailing a set of deterrent penalties for gender-based street harassment of women. The new legislation provides for a one-year imprisonment of anyone who, by action, comment or gesture, harasses a woman in a public place in such that offends her dignity. The said law also fines with 2000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 905) the party who deliberately discriminates in remuneration of equal work of equal value on the basis of gender. The law further proposes aggravated penalties sustained in the Disciplinary Magazine in the case that the perpetrator had authority on the woman victim, while upgrading to 6 years of imprisonment of anyone who had consensual sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years of age. In Lebanon, and, after the release order by the acting investigative judge in the North of the three underage rapists of a girl minor (http://bit.ly/2aFEYGu) ,we are still far from realizing justice and punishing abusers and harassers, notwithstanding all cases of sexual highlighted in the Midnight March campaign on Women’s Day ( http://bit.ly/2aO8dS1), and the frequent harassment of girls reported in Tripoli (http://bit.ly/2b7vimt). However, reactions have been limited to creating a website named  Harass Tracker "http://harasstracker.org، launched by a group of feminist and social activists, that contain a map that tracks incidents of harassment in an attempt to raise awareness on this despicable act. (Al Hayat, August 8, 2016)

 

In cooperation with Al Jinan University, the Arab Union for the Specialized Woman, led by Nariman Jamal Ghanem, organized last Friday a workshop entitled, ‘the project on you and the funding on us’ specialized for women producers and their access to capacity building and funding opportunities for their undertakings. The event was held at the premises of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Tripoli and the North, in the presence of heads and members of various community and women associations from across Lebanon, and the participation of banking institutions, as well as Arab and international donor organizations. In her opening address, Ghanem stressed that similar initiatives will eventually have a foundational legal framework through which they will function. Likewise, Al Jinan Vice President, Dr. Aisha Yakan, expounded on the title of the workshop and the comprehensive mechanism that help translate a simple idea into a productive venture. This, Yakan maintained, involves the following: a brief description of the scheme; defining the product and its underlying benefits, followed by an analysis of the markets and development of relevant marketing, operational, development and financial plans; a management in terms of identifying the organizational structure of the project and the role of respective key parties; funding in line with set of conditions by international donors and partners, entailing innovation, creativity and competitiveness. Also covered during the workshop were: illustrations of the role of microfinance organization, Ibdaa Lebanon, supported by Prince Walid Bin Talal Foundation to enhance capacities of owners of productive enterprises, particularly women; a detailed presentation of the supportive role of Mercy Corps; outline of the package of services provided by BLC Bank aimed at women’s empowerment and finally, the services offered by Al Baraka Bank from an Islamic microfinance perspective. Towards the end of the workshop, participants shared round tables to train on how to prepare a feasibility study and the associated methodology for developing projects to be selected by the donor parties. (Al Mustaqbal, August 6, 2016)

 

In collaboration with the Tripoli-based Al Azm Lawyers Sector and sponsored by former PM Najib Mikati, the Arab Organization for Young Lawyers organized on Saturday a conference entitled ‘Towards the Development of an Arab Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy’. During the conference, Colonel Elie Asmar of the Internal Security Forces made clear that the problem is not restricted to sexual exploitation only, stressing that “forcing any person to practice unlawful acts is considered a form of human trafficking.” Asmar insisted on the need to find a proper mechanism to enforce the relevant legal texts and to revise current laws in effect, particularly as per specifying the recovery period for victims prior to rehabilitation. In the same spirit, the representative of the Geneva Institute for Human Rights in Lebanon, lawyer Manar Zeaiter, said a proper plan to fight the dilemma should take into account the different contexts of the human trafficking process. Zeaiter also pointed out to the flaws in Lebanese laws to this effect, especially those found in the explanatory statements.. (Al Diyar, August 7, 2016)

 

Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation organization strongly responded yesterday to an earlier report which was published by Human Rights Watch and which read, ‘Syrian women at risk of sex trade in Lebanon’ that addressed the handling of the Lebanese government of the dilemma of trafficking in women for sexual purposes. The report, it should be noted, was prepared in the wake of the “Chez Maurice” night club incident last March which resulted in the freeing of some 75 Syrian girls who were subjected to abject forms of sexual slavery by an organized network of pimps and human traffickers. In its statement, Kafa noted that the international organization has used the above case to promote its new policy related to so-called ‘sex work’. It pointed out to the recommendation made by the human rights report as follows: “Criminalizing any consented sexual act between two adults creates problems that deprive sex workers of their basic rights, like the right to protection from violence, justice in challenging violations and the basic health services,” adding, that “forcing a person to provide sex services is the only act that should be penalized and prosecuted.” Kafa, in response, considered that such an approach in tackling prostitution is misleading and is in fact based on weak justifications. It suggests non-incrimination of the prostitution industry on the whole and promoting its regulation. This, Kafa statement went on to say, while realizing that it involves pimps and human traffickers, in addition to commercial enterprises that profit from and promote the industry, and the prime catalyst and promoter of the industry, which is the sex buyer. Kafa questioned the intentions of Human Rights Watch which tend to absolve the above parties and grant them social and legal protection. In conclusion, the Lebanese NGO criticized the international organization for overlooking the gender point of view, when talking about sex work and sex workers as a phenomenon that does not basically affect women and girls, insinuating that sex buyers are not almost absolutely men. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, August 5, 2016)

 

 

Summer school students of the National Orthodox School in Akkar, organized on Wednesday a campaign to support Akkar al 3ateeqa which is competing for  the title of Best Lebanese Town sponsored by L’Orient Le Jour newspaper. In his address to participating students, the school director, MP Nidal Tohmeh, lauded their spirit of initiative urging them to keep committed to local development issues. He stressed the importance of voting to strengthen the determination of the town to reinstate itself on the tourism map. “This is part of the responsibility of every native of Akkar,” Tohmeh said. Together, he added, “we raise our voice to help Akkar al 3ateeqa become a gateway  for the needs of its community, including the completion of the Lebanese University project there.” In conclusion, Tohmeh cast his vote in front of the students who followed each in turn. (L’Orient Le Jour, August 5, 2016)

 

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Despite wide popular condemnations of the sexual assault against the underage girl (16 years) from Tripoli and notwithstanding the full backing in court of the victim’s case as pledged by the president of the Tripoli Bar Association (c.f. http://bit.ly/29WT4wy), the acting investigative judge of the North, Naji Dahdah, exonerated the three young culprits releasing them without bail. Dahdah in his accusatory order, published in As Safir newspaper, considered that the three men “had sex with the underage girl with her full consent,”. The judge has based his decision on the Third Paragraph of Article 505 of the Penal Code, which supports the punishment with imprisonment from 2 months to two years of any party that has sexual intercourse with an underage child who completed 15 years and has not reached 18 years. According to the ruling, and based on charges against the aunt of the underage girl and which was filed by the lawyers of the indictees for incitement of taking legal action against them on charges of rape under the threat of killing her grandfather and post pictures of her, constitutes, according to the decision, a crime stipulated by Article 403/217 of the Penal Code. As such, the lawyer of one of the plaintiffs, Mohammad Khansa, gave preponderance to arrest the aunt. The ruling has instigated concerns of human rights activists and jurists who feared that referring the felony to Article 505, hence considering what happened as a sexual intercourse with consent, could be a prelude to accuse the minor of prostitution later on. (As Safir, Al Diyar, August 5, 2016)

 

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In its edition of today, Al Hayat daily exposed the dilemma of child marriages widely common in rural and disadvantaged areas in the various towns and cities in Lebanon. The problem, the newspaper wrote, has exacerbated with the inflow of Syrian refugees at the start of the war in the neighboring country. Al Hayat cited a survey prepared in 2014 by Saint Joseph University USJ which indicated that around 17.35% of girls have married before the age of 18. The newspaper published stories of a number of early marriage victims who spoke up about their demise. Amina, a Lebanese girl, was forced by her father to marry a well-off man when she was only 15 years to save her family from debts. Amina who had no idea about married life grieved that all the promises by her husband vanished with her marriage contract. She recounted how her husband practiced on her all forms of moral abuse and physical violence, recalling how she wanted abortion but continued to be pregnant. Today, Amina is 20, and her only goal is to protect her daughter from backward mentalities. Another victim, Sanaa, a displaced Syrian girl (14 years), described to the newspaper reporter how she returned home from school one day to find out that her father has decided to marry her to a man in his fifties because he could not take care of her anymore. On the subject, social expert Nawal Khury underlined the main cause of the lingering of similar incidents which is the absence of a declared official age for marriage in Lebanese laws. Besides, male chauvinist mentality still prevalent in many Lebanese communities considers the marriage of children as an essential part of the inherited customs and traditions. Khury recommended a solution to alleviate the phenomenon which is the adoption of a civil personal status law along with setting a clear age for marriage which is the minimum legal age of consent. (Al Hayat, August 4, 2016)