Background and Context

October 2023 brought tragic news that deeply impacted not only Lebanon but also the global community. Israeli bombardments in Gaza since October 7, 2023, have resulted in the loss of more than 10,000 Palestinian lives.

The Gaza conflict has been a focal point of discussion for over 50% of Lebanese Members of Parliament (MPs). Social media statements on Gaza undergo careful scrutiny, with those solely driven by ideological and political viewpoints excluded from the data presented in this report. However, statements unwaveringly advocating for the protection of Palestinian human rights are included. Notably, what stands out is that, for the first time since the initiation of this monitoring in June 2022, representatives from every political party have released statements pertaining to human rights, except for the National Liberal Party with MP Camille Chamoun being excluded from this monitoring due to his latest tweets added at the end of this report in the “Poor Performers” section.

Methodology

After a decline to the lowest monthly statement count in the previous month, there was a striking surge in October. A record-breaking 264 statements addressing human rights issues were made by 65 MPs, utilizing their personal accounts on X and Facebook. This constitutes 51% of the total Parliament.

These statements have been categorized into the following seven topics:

• Palestinians’ rights
• Journalists’ rights and safety
• Judicial independence
• Beirut blast investigations
• Media law and freedoms
• Armenians’ rights
• LGBTQIA+ rights

Data Display

It is important to acknowledge that the data collected during this process may not be exhaustive. Nonetheless, despite its inherent limitations, the gathered data enables us to formulate hypotheses concerning the discourse surrounding human rights issues. This analysis specifically focuses on journalists’ rights and freedom of speech within the public political discourse throughout October 2023.

Figure 1. Distribution of data across Members of Parliament

Notably, after a period of silence on human rights issues since June 2022, MPs Charbel Maroun, Fadi Alameh, Hussein Hajj Hassan, Jihad El Samad, Mohamad Khawaja, Nabih Berri, Raed Berro, and Salim Aoun have issued statements addressing the human rights of Palestinians, in light of the Israeli bombardments in Gaza.

Figure 2. Distribution of data across political parties and groups

Figure 3. Distribution of data based on group type

Figure 4. Distribution of data across theme of statement

 Table 1. Distribution of data across theme of statement and group name

Analysis

Within the 264 statements, a noteworthy emphasis was placed on the rights of Palestinians amid the Israel-Palestine war. Of these, 218 statements were dedicated to addressing the inhumane and illegal attacks by Israeli forces. Notably, 182 statements commented on the attack on Al-Ahli (Al-Maamadani) hospital that occurred on October 17. Additionally, among the 35 statements on journalists’ rights and safety, 32 statements reacted to the assault by Israeli forces on Lebanese journalists in South Lebanon, resulting in the tragic death of journalist Issam Abdallah and injuries to other journalists. The remaining statements delved into other topics covered in previous months.

To gain a deeper understanding of which political groups were the most vocal during October 2023, an examination of the total count of statements made by each group is insightful. The following tables provide an overview of these findings:

Table 2. Ranking based on absolute numbers - five political groups with highest numbers of statements

Table 3. Ranking based on relative numbers - from the political group with the highest percentage of members who made statements to the one with the lowest percentage

A notable development in political group rankings has emerged this month, with all MPs from Jamaa Islamiya, the Dignity Movement, the Union Party, the Marada Movement, and Ahbash addressing human rights in their statements. Furthermore, breaking a prolonged period of silence on human rights issues, MPs from Hezbollah have now voiced their support for the human rights of Palestinians.

Table 4. Ranking of the top-10 MPs who shared most statements from June 2022 till October 2023

In October 2023, mirroring the previous month, MP Paula Yacoubian again emerged as the most prolific speaker on issues related to human rights, making a total of 12 statements. However, MP Yacoubian was closely matched by MPs Mneimneh and Moussawi, who also made 12 statements each. Throughout our monitoring efforts since January 2023, MPs Mark Daou, Halimé Kaakour, and Ibrahim Mneimneh have consistently maintained their positions in the top three in terms of statement frequency.

“Poor Performers”: Anti-Human Rights Standpoints

The Xenophobe

MP Camille Chamoun issued a highly objectionable statement regarding Palestinians, drawing an inappropriate comparison between Gazans and Palestinian militants responsible for the Damour massacre in Lebanon 1976 (see image 1 below). He posted another tweet with a highly sexist tone regarding Hillary Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky affair (see image 2 below). He ultimately removed the first tweet but retained an additional statement from the National Liberal Party.

In line with the principles of human rights advocacy and the indivisibility of human rights, MP Chamoun, like other individuals categorized as "Poor Performers," will not be included in the data gathered for this monitoring. This decision is rooted in the belief that human rights advocacy should be consistent. An individual cannot be a human rights champion at one moment and one topic and exhibit discriminatory behavior at other moments regarding other topics.

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