Lebanese cabinet meeting on trash crisis fails
By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya/Tuesday, 25 August 2015
An emergency Lebanese cabinet meeting on Tuesday has ended in failure in a bid to address the trash crisis amid street violence and calls for the feuding government to resign. An agreement was reached, however, on cancelling all the tenders from companies to remove the piling garbage that have been previously announced. Al Arabiya News channel’s correspondent in Beirut confirmed the withdrawal of members from Hezbollah and its allies, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Armenian Tashnag Party in Lebanon from the talks on Tuesday. Six ministers from the Hezbollah group and its allies withdrew four hours into the meeting. Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil said he was also pulling out because of a “theater” being performed with regards to the trash issue, according to the Associated Press.
Beirut-based activists from the “You Stink” campaign held two large rallies over the weekend and a smaller march on Monday over uncollected rubbish, reflecting long-simmering anger about government incompetence and political corruption. Protest organizers have called on Lebanese at home and abroad to join them in a large rally on Saturday.
Lebanese activists chant slogans during an anti-government protest in front the main Lebanese government building, downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (AP)Ministers arrived in cars at the heavily guarded Serail Palace on Tuesday and began their meeting. Workers erected concrete blast walls around the building on Monday, which protesters quickly covered with colorful anti-government graffiti. On Sunday, Prime Minister Tammam Salam threatened to resign as public discontent brought thousands into the streets. The protests that initially started peacefully over the weekend descended into violence after clashes between police and protesters that wounded scores. Lebanon’s army commander General Jean Kahwaji said late on Monday the armed forces would protect any peaceful demonstrations but would not tolerate “security violators or infiltrators” who sought to sow “sedition and chaos.”Protest organizers have blamed the violence on troublemakers whom they say are connected to rival sectarian parties.
The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon on Monday urged “maximum restraint” by all sides.The protest campaign, which has mobilized independently of the big sectarian parties that dominate Lebanese politics, blames political feuding and corruption for the failure to resolve a crisis that has left piles of uncollected garbage stinking in the scorching sun in recent weeks. The cabinet and parliament are deadlocked, politicians have been unable to agree on a new president for more than a year while Syria’s war next door has aggravated sectarian tensions and driven more than one million refugees into the country. Behind the deadlock is the power struggle between the two political blocs who are divided over Syria – the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies including Christian politician Michel Aoun, and the Saudi-backed mainly Sunni pro-Western Future Movement led by politician Saad al-Hariri and his allies. The Salam cabinet, formed last year with the blessing of regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, has avoided a complete vacuum in the executive arm. It brings together Hariri’s Future movement, Shi’ite Hezbollah and Christians.
But it has struggled to take even basic decisions and tension in cabinet has escalated over appointments in the security agencies and army. The trash crisis began last month when the main refuse tip for Beirut was closed, with no ready alternative. While collection has resumed in some areas, no lasting solution has been found.[With Reuters and the Associated Press]
Where security forces went wrong at #YouStink
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/Published: 25/08/2015
The tear gas chemicals will by now have ceased burning away at eye, throat, and lung tissue, but the deep purple bruises of rubber bullet strikes are still tattooed on the torsos of hundreds of Lebanese men and women, at least one of whom remains in life-threatening condition after being struck on the head. Many of those present in downtown Beirut on Saturday described what unfolded as the most severe and disproportionate use of force by Lebanese state security agencies against unarmed civilians they had seen in their lives. Demonstrators attending the anti-government #YouStink rally, ranging from elderly and disabled citizens to young children, were met abruptly with rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons, and even live rounds fired into the air.
A greater degree of restraint was shown at a follow-up rally the next evening, when a small minority of protestors sparked clashes with riot police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. Still, over 400 injuries in all were reported over the weekend, and there is general agreement among activists, human rights NGOs, and even some politicians, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam, that seriously excessive force was used by security agencies.
“Honestly, what happened on Saturday was shocking,” Nadim Houry, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division, told NOW. “I was there and personally witnessed a lot of it. The violent security response was completely disconnected from what was happening on the ground. This was a violation of basic human rights norms and UN principles [and] goes against the basic pact in Lebanon of respecting freedom of expression and assembly.”Indeed, the response may well have even been in violation of security forces’ own internal rules and regulations. Security sector reform specialist Dr. Drew Mikhael, who has worked with various Middle Eastern police departments, including Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF), told NOW that page 13 of the ISF’s code of conduct includes the following stipulations:
“Police members will not resort to the use of force unless it is necessary, proportionate and after exhausting all possible non-violent means, within the minimum extent needed to accomplish the mission.”“Police members will resort to the use of firearms only when it is absolutely necessary and according to the law; such use will be commensurate with the scale of danger and will happen only after exhausting all other possible means.”According to Mikhael, the latter paragraph applies to “all use of force, not just firearms.” Consequently, “considering the current narratives of the events, it is very hard to justify the level of force used […] throwing ineffectual plastic bottles is patently not commensurate with tear gas and water cannons.”
“Moreover,” Mikhael wrote in an email to NOW, “was there any attempt to solve the situation using non-violent means? If the facts stemming from the weekend are proven correct (ideally through public inquiry), this incident counts as a very serious infraction of the ISF code of conduct.” NOW was unable to reach ISF press spokesman Maj. Joseph Msallem for comment, and ISF Human Rights Officer Gen. Ziad Kaedbey said he could not comment without prior written permission from ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous.
Asked by NOW what a state response to the #YouStink demonstrations in line with international norms would have looked like, Mikhael cited the general approach adopted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), whom he said was “considered by world experts as one of the most accountable and transparent police services in the world.” Faced with the weekend’s rallies, the PSNI would first of all have been in contact with the organizers in advance of the event, and would remain in “constant dialogue” with them throughout.
Second, if it was deemed necessary – and legal – to remove demonstrators from Riad al-Solh Square, clear warning would have been given well in advance, whether “through loudspeakers or large signs.” Those choosing to remain in the Square after being ordered to leave would then be “recorded on video and ID’d for prosecution at a later date” – not confronted with firearms. Thirdly, because more than one security agency was involved (the ISF, the army, and the parliamentary guard), overall command would have been given in advance to one institution only. This would have averted one of the key accountability questions that has surfaced since Saturday; namely, who actually gave the orders to shoot?
An official investigation announced Sunday by State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud will attempt to answer that question, among others. Houry, however, worries the investigation may not be as rigorous, objective, and far-reaching as he and other human rights observers would hope. “We need an independent investigation that sheds light on exactly what happened, and also explains who gave the orders, who was involved, and holds people accountable,” Houry told NOW. “What I’m concerned about is traditionally in this country, when something bad happens, they launch an investigation and then we never heard back from it […] is it going to be independent? Is it going to go till the end?”
“Or is it just another morphine shot to get people to stay quiet about it?”
