LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 19/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Call for action to condemn the Lebanese authorities’ pervasive convocations of activists limiting freedom of expression
كتاب مفتوح موجه لمفوضية الامم المتحدة لحقوق الانسان من اجل الحد من قمع الحريات في لبنان
August 17, 2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/66833/call-for-action-to-condemn-the-lebanese-authorities-pervasive-convocations-of-activists-limiting-freedom-of-expression-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%85%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AD-%D9%85%D9%88/
To: His Excellency Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Re: Call for action to condemn the Lebanese authorities’ pervasive summons of peaceful activists infringing their right to freedom of expression
Mr High Commissioner, Mr Special Rapporteur,
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to express our great concern about the current human rights situation in Lebanon.
For many months, Lebanese security agencies, particularly the Cybercrime Bureau of the Internal Security Forces, have been summoning individuals with regard to social media posts. Many of these convocations result in periods of deprivation of liberty and often ends with activists signing pledges restricting their freedom of expression. Our appeal has been triggered by the summoning of a prominent Lebanese human rights defender, Mr. Wadih al-Asmar. On Thursday August 16, Mr. Al Asmar received a call from the Cybercrime Bureau requesting him for questioning with regard to posts published on his Facebook account.
Since 2016, there have been at least 39 summons of Lebanese citizens who have made public comments criticizing the Lebanese authorities or political figures. Most of these persons were questioned by the Cybercrime Bureau, which belongs to the judicial police, which often interrogates and intimidates civilians on grounds ranging from posting a picture commenting on a minister’s facial features to much more serious posts questioning the unethical business practices among Lebanese companies. Lebanese authorities have investigated and, in some cases, arbitrarily deprived the liberty of Bassel el Amin, Hassan Saad, Ahmad Amhaz, Firas Bou Hattoum, Tarek Abou Saleh, Hanady Gerges, Fidaa Itani, Rabih Damej, Charbel Khoury, Joy Slim, Imad Bazzi, Safa Ayyad, Rawan Khatib, and Charbel Khoury, among others. Although all of these individuals have eventually been released from detention, Mr. el Amin and Mr. Ahmaz, have been indicted a year after their questioning. Many of those summoned have been charged under Articles 383 to 386 of the Lebanese Criminal Code which criminalise contempt, slander, and libel of public officials.
Those arrested by the military intelligence were Selman Samaha – who was questioned before a military court on charges of “offending the reputation of the military institution” –, Pierre Hashash, Khaled al-Abushi, and Hanin Ghaddar, who was charged in absentia. 15-year-old Youssef Abdallah was also detained for 38 hours by the military intelligence, and denied the right to have a lawyer present during his interrogation, because of a WhatsApp image he had shared considered to be mocking the President. Furthermore, journalists are also often victims of judicial harassment under charges of slander and libel; including recently Mohamad Zbib, Mariam Bassam, and Karma Khayat, whose cases were referred to criminal courts rather than the court of publications. These cases come in addition to the arrests and summons of Mohammed Awad, Omar Kaskas, Ahmad Ismail, and Nabil el Halabi, the latter of whom was released only after signing a pledge that he would refrain from writing about the minister of interior or his advisor.
The authorities have been resorting to these severe violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in a systematic fashion, deterring individuals from speaking out and creating a feeling of insecurity and self-censorship.
Our organizations, individually and jointly, have reported numerous times about these cases, and have submitted joint reports to the Human Rights Committee as part of Lebanon’s review of its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We believe that the right to freedom of expression is a sine qua non condition for the realization of the principles of transparency and accountability that are, in turn, essential for the promotion and protection of human rights. Although we recognize the duty of the state to also ensure the respect of the rights or reputation of others, as well as ensure the protection of national security, and morals; these restrictions, as per the wording of Article 19 ICCPR, “shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary”. They should not put the right itself in jeopardy by resorting to intimidating measures which infringe these individuals’ right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Mr High Commissioner, Mr Special Rapporteur, as we currently have a new parliament and are awaiting the formation of a new government, the Lebanese authorities must be reminded of their commitment, and obligation, to ensure “freedom of speech and belief”. Such freedoms have been deemed the “highest aspiration of the common people” by the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. The abovementioned practices can only remind the Lebanese society of a dark – yet recent – past of violations and restrictions which challenged democratic practices and undermined the rule of law and accountability.
Mr High Commissioner, even though your tenure is almost ending, we still regard your office as a source of authority and a reference to engage in a dialogue with all governments to secure respect for all human rights. We believe your support is crucial to ensure that the people of Lebanon enjoy the rights and freedoms articulated in the UDHR and the ICCPR.
Given the extreme gravity of these human rights violations and their recent escalation, we urge you to publicly and strongly condemn these violations of the rights to freedoms of opinion, expression, association, and peaceful assembly in Lebanon. We kindly request that you call upon the Lebanese authorities to put an end to these violations and establish the necessary prevention and accountability mechanisms to avoid their repetition.
The letter is open for endorsements.
Organisations or individuals wishing to sign, kindly email: director@alefliban.org
SIGNATORIES:
Al Amal Association (Iraq), ALEF act for human rights (ALEF), Alkarama Foundation (ALK), Arab Network for Democratic Elections (ANDE), Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), Association for Freedom and Equality in the Middle East and North Africa (AFE-MENA), EuroMed Rights, Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights - Lebanon (FHHR-L), Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (LIFE), Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disability (LUPD), Lebanon Support, Media Association for Peace (MAP), PAX for Peace (Netherlands), Phenix Center for Economics & Informatics Studies, SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedoms (SKeyes), Umam for Documentation and Research,

Iran: Sanction as you wish, but lay off carpets
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/August 18/18
The first phase of US sanctions against Iran were rolled out on August 6 and it includes sanctions on Iran buying or acquiring US dollars, trading gold and other precious metals, sale, supply or trade of metals such as aluminium and steel, as well as graphite, coal and certain software for "integrating industrial processes."These also included sanctions on "significant" sales or purchases of Iranian rials, or the maintenance of significant funds or accounts outside the country using Iranian rials, sanctions on issuing Iranian debt and, for good measure, Iranian auto sanctions.
The US also revoked certain permissions, granted to Iran under the JCPOA deal. These include halting Iran's ability to export its carpets and foods into the US, as well as ending certain licensing-related transactions. The energy markets are also nervously awaiting the second phase on November 4, which aims to cut back on all Iran oil exports to zero. The likelihood that energy dependent countries like China, India and Turkey will fully comply on this is uncertain, given the current state of trade tariff spats and open animosity between some of them and the USA.
The Trump administration’s immediate objectives is to ensure maximum economic pressure and pain on the Iranian regime and starve it of much needed foreign currencies which the United States believes Iran has been using to sponsor its “malign activities” in the region and reign in its ballistic missile program.
However, the issue of sanctions on Iranian carpets has greater and far longer-term significance than energy sanctions. This involves art and culture and putting at risk the skills of ordinary weavers, passed down over generations to make Iranian carpets one of the most sought out possessions of the rich and the discerning buyers of hand weaved carpets all over the world. In homes and offices, whether in the Gulf, Europe, Asia and the USA, one of the most prized possessions is one or more Persian carpet. The most discerning collectors are spoilt with choice from amongst the many varieties such as Afshar, Heriz, Kerman, Shiraz, Isfahan, Hamadan, Bidjar and Mashad to name but a few.
Heritage and culture
The country's carpet making industry employs hundreds of thousands of skilled weavers and earns hundreds of millions of dollars in export revenue with funds mostly going to private individuals and companies, unlike oil revenues, which are state controlled. President Donald Trump's decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions threatens to kill that carpet market. If no resolution on the nuclear deal is found, these weavers will have to find other means of earning a living, whether it's other handicraft or something entirely different, putting at risk the acquired and unique skills and knowledge of generations. The consequences will be felt across the Iranian economy and further afield. The Iranian carpet economy is important as historically it has been very strong and has a quite a large degree of local employment, whether in the cities or by nomadic women in rural areas. Putting pressure on governments and sanctioning state operations is one thing, but putting heritage and culture at risk is another. The Iranian weavers and their families had gone through sanctions before and had hoped for a brighter future after the JCOPA nuclear agreement was signed. Following the lifting of sanctions on Iran by the Obama administration in 2016, carpet exports rose sharply. Between March 2017 and January 2018, carpets worth $336 million were sold for export — according to the Iran National Carpet Centre — with the United States being the leading destination. All this is now at risk.
For lovers of Persian carpets, irrespective of nationalities and political differences, the loss of this unique heritage would be a sad loss to the world, for as a saying by Rumer Godden goes, “If books were Persian carpets, one would not look only at the outer side, because it is the stitch that makes a carpet wear, gives it its life and bloom.”
In the short term, as every freshman economics student knows, the law of supply and demand will kick in and the price of existing Persian carpets will sky rocket whether in the official or black market, putting many carpets out of reach to those that want to own one, but making it a possession of the very rich and art connoisseurs. The exquisite Persian carpet has seen many different rulers and governments come and go over the centuries in its homeland, and let us hope it continues to thrive and not go the way of others, as we have seen by the decimation of skilled Syrian copper and silver metal workers livelihood in the bazaars of Damascus in the on-going civil strife. It will be a pity if we end up with artificially manufactured mass-produced copycat Persian carpets.

The icon of Gulf art: His projects and battles
Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/August 18/18
These days, people are recalling the achievements of the late Abdulhussain Abdulredha. Al Arabiya television channel broadcast a documentary entitled ‘This is Hasininoh’ in two parts. The documentary recounted the history of the artist in line with the history of his country (Kuwait) which he did not leave and remained loyal to until the days of its invasion. MBC did the same as it dedicated three hours to recall the glory of Kuwaiti art. The issue was not meant to just lament the late artist, but to remember the role he played and the battles he fought. For example, after the liberation of Kuwait, Abdulredha decided to stage a play about Saddam Hussein. He gathered a group of Kuwaiti theater figures and wrote ‘Saif al-Arab’, which was staged in 1992.
An artist who fought terror
Moments before his arrival to the theater, his car was peppered with a hail of bullets. He survived the assassination attempt, but kept defending his country till the last moment. In this sense, German poet Hölderlin has aptly said: “I have publicly pledged my heart to the great afflicted land, and I have often promised, in the darkness of the holy night, to love it to death, without any contempt to any of its mysteries, with all the burdens of fate, as such, I am linked to it with a fatal connection.” Life is really peculiar. Man escapes from inevitable death, and then he slowly dies.
Abdulhussain Abdulredha, also known as Abu Adnan, was known to be an artist with a vision, and this is rarely the case with comedy artists, since comedy becomes the purpose. However, Abu Adnan was not like that. He was an intellectual with clear perceptions and a vision.
He had his feuds with the House of Representatives, and he was what can be described as a conservative liberal on the political level. He chose security and stability above revolutionary struggle theories which led him to be different in some of his works than his contemporaries, many of whom were swayed by nationalist or leftist movements. Nevertheless, the late artist maintained a distance and did not involve himself in conflicts that would not have reflected well on his talent.
Very early on, the late artist took a position against terrorism. He is in the Gulf like Adel Imam is in Egypt. Both men have shown exemplary courage in discussing intellectual extremism and in shedding light on terrorism, takfir and accusing others of treachery. His plays, especially the ones he wrote, covered important issues that conveyed a message. Despite his conviction that art should be for the sake of art, in the sense that art should be the ultimate end, including a message didn’t inhibit the artistic function.
An enduring legacy
Art can be an end in itself without being the bearer of a message for societies that have transcended greater issues, such as Western societies. However, in a region riddled with chaos and intellectual confusion, art must bear a message that enlightens the minds of generations on dangerous moral, intellectual and social phenomena. When Abdulhussain passed away he left an eternal artistic legacy. Artists are among the most capable of being immortalized in history. They etch on our souls impressions that are impossible to erase and that will not be forgotten unless the British forget Charlie Chaplin. The late artist turned his art into a legacy for the Gulf and Arabs, and his famous works are a testimony to the generations. German philosopher Heidegger has delved into the subject of the immortality of art when he said that preserving the work of art does not make people relate to their own experiences but it calls on them to merge into a reality employed in the work of art, since the relationship between the artist and the audience does not negate the fact that the work of art is independent in itself and doesn’t need to be proven as truth establishes for itself. He added that the artist proves this truth for the viewer and the latter preserves it and concluded that art is the origin of work of art. The late artist was keen on bringing new elements to humor. He fought to strengthen the theater as a daily feature of Kuwaiti society, against opponents who considered the theatre to be outside the scope of ‘Islamic art’. He fought, alongside Khaled Nafisi, Saad Faraj and others, to win over the haters of the art movement. While it is true that the Kuwaiti theater is not the same as it was before the invasion, but the mere victory over the fundamentalist view of the theater was in itself an important achievement, since art has its own ways and weapons to fight hatred and darkness.

Iraq’s long and winding road to stability
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/August 18/18
It can be difficult to recall, in chronological order, the social and political developments in Iraq since the government’s success in pushing back Daesh, quelling Kurdish secession and consolidating its security and military forces. Iraq’s recent parliamentary election was comprehensively won by the popular cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, who immediately met Prime Minister Haider Abadi to form a government after years of war, internal turmoil, insurgency and calls for Kurdish independence as well as mounting foreign influence. Post-election optimism conceals the extremely shaky foundations of Iraq’s transition from wartime insurgency and turmoil to a peaceful, hopefully democratic, state. There is much work to be done, but for the Iraqi government to earn legitimacy, authority and the necessary influence to effect and enact post-war laws and policies, several key issues must be resolved immediately.
Six months before the election, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum in which 93 percent favored independence from Iraq. But the Iraqi government quickly imposed restrictions on Kurdistan, seizing border posts and territories. It was evident that the dream of an independent Kurdistan would meet great resistance from Baghdad and an international refusal to allow anything that could lead to a divided Iraq. Eventually, the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments met and resolved the crisis by having the Kurdistan government annul the referendum’s results. For now, Iraq’s territorial integrity was secure. The only remaining stumbling block was Daesh.
The elections had originally been set for September 2017 but had to be delayed for six months while the government waged an intense campaign to regain territory lost to Daesh and liberate settlements, towns, cities and infrastructure. Despite a few skirmishes and attacks launched by remnants of the routed Daesh forces, the elections were successfully held on May 12 without attacks on voting locations or efforts to derail the process. As the Trump administration mounts pressure on Iran, it is likely that Tehran will seek to extend its influence in Iraq as a proxy in its confrontation with the US and threaten the already volatile situation in the country and the region as a whole.Al-Sadr’s Saairun Alliance won the largest number of seats, 54, while Abadi’s Victory Coalition gained 42. The following month, Al-Sadr’s party signed an agreement with Eyad Allawi’s National Coalition, which had won 21 seats, to form a coalition and seek more partners to constitute the parliamentary majority necessary to form a government.
Eventually, Al-Sadr and Abadi will join in what they call a “cross-sectarian, cross-ethnic alliance.”
In effect, the central figures that have emerged in Iraq’s first foray into post-war democracy reflect the divisions in this embattled country. Experts and pundits may have hailed the Iraqi government’s defeating Daesh and rooting out any last remnants, but many have cautioned that sectarianism in Iraq simply will not vanish.The campaign against a common enemy held the country together. Now, with Daesh largely defeated and the threat of Kurdish secession thwarted, will the alliances, coalitions, mutual interests and few leftover uniting influences be sufficient to govern Iraq effectively? That’s not to mention Iran’s deep, expanding influence.
This question is difficult to answer. As work begins to deliver on election promises, it is unlikely that those uneasy truces and desperate alliances will hold. Al-Sadr’s alliance was initially composed of the Shiite Islamist Sadrist Integrity Party, Iraqi Communist Party, Youth Movement for Change Party, Party of Progress & Reform, Iraqi Republican Group and State of Justice Party. They campaigned on economic reform, anti-poverty issues, fostering Iraqi nationalism, anti-corruption, social justice, anti-sectarianism and combating foreign influence. In Western terms, the Saairun Alliance is a left-leaning political party, but it incorporates right-wing ideologies. Abadi’s Victory Alliance, a splinter from disgraced former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s Dawa party, campaigned on a centrist platform. Also notable is Abadi’s distaste for corruption and sectarianism in favor of pragmatism and moderation.
No faction has yet gathered the 165 seats required to form a government. Meanwhile, Abadi leads a caretaker government. For the average Iraqi, maneuvering by politicians does not deliver much-needed relief and hope after years of economic despair leading to widespread demonstrations demanding economic reforms. These protests reflect the growing exasperation and despair that Iraqis face daily. Oil prices are favorable, holding at or near $70 per barrel, but poor infrastructure, disrupted electricity, poverty, unemployment, and prolonged political gridlock mean the situation will only grow more difficult — and so will the urgency of addressing Iraq’s social, economic and political troubles. As the Trump administration mounts pressure on Iran, it is likely that Tehran will seek to extend its influence in Iraq as a proxy in its confrontation with the US and threaten the already volatile situation in the country and the region as a whole.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a non-resident senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He is also senior adviser at the international economic consultancy Maxwell Stamp and at the geopolitical risk advisory firm Oxford Analytica, a member of the Strategic Advisory Solutions International Group in Washington DC and a former adviser to the board of the World Bank Group.