Participants urge the Lebanese Government and the EU to involve them prior to adoption,
in the implementation and monitoring of the human rights provisions in the Lebanese
Action Plan within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). They deplore not being
directly consulted during negotiations, and ask to be recognized as fully fledged partners
in the negotiations, implementation and evaluation of this policy. They demand a
calendar with clear and well-defined objectives to be communicated to all civil society
actors.
These demands were formulated during a seminar on the “ENP: Human Rights in the
Lebanese Action Plan”, organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network
(EMHRN), in partnership with the Rene Moawad Foundation (FRM), the Palestinian
Human Rights Organization (PHRO) and Movement Solida, on 2 and 3 June in Beirut.
The seminar gathered representatives of the civil society in Lebanon, and NGO
representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Moldova, Georgia, in addition to
representatives of the Lebanese Government, the European Commission, and the
embassies of the following countries: United Kingdom, Austria, France, Finland,
Denmark, Germany, Greece, Chez Republic, Sweden, Norway, Palestinian Authority,
Canada, USA and Russia.
The seminar was inaugurated by the Austrian Ambassador in Lebanon, Austria currently
presiding over the EU, and by a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in
charge of the negotiations of the Action Plan, in the presence of representatives of the
Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior Affairs.
The work of the first day focused on the ENP and the Lebanese Action Plan. Speakers
from other countries involved with the ENP also shared their experience of the Action
plans.
The second day focused on the civil society expectations and recommendations regarding
major human rights problems facing Lebanon, namely:
• Respect of International commitments by Lebanon, namely the Human Rights
Covenant to which it has subscribed, and ratification of relevant international
covenants to which it does not yet adhere.
• Reform of Justice, especially the limitation of the competences of military
jurisdiction and the reform of the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code
• Necessity to find an acceptable solution for disappearances in Lebanon
• Rights of Palestinian and Non-Palestinian Refugees
• Women's rights
• Migrants’ rights
• Children’s rights
• Rights of Minorities, especially sexual and religious minorities
• Abolition of ill-treatment and torture
The recommendations of this seminar will be mentioned in a detailed report which will
be submitted to the Lebanese and European authorities in order to guarantee the priority
to be given to human rights issues in the EU-Lebanon Action Plan and to guarantee its
effective implementation, follow-up and regular evaluation based on certain criteria and a
specific calendar.

Contact :
EMHRN : Emilie Dromzée, edr@euromedrights.net , +32 2 503 06 86
SOLIDA: Wadih Al-Asmar, walasmar@solida.org , +961 70 950 780
RMF: Delphine Compain, dcompain@rmf.org.lb , +961 1 613367
PHRO: Rola Badran, info@palhumanrights.org, + 961 1 301549