[JURIST] Military courts in Lebanon are trying civilians, including children, in matters regarding political activism and protest against the government, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] reported [HRW report] Thursday. HRW said that 14 individuals who protested the 2015 waste management crisis are facing up to three years when their case goes before a military court on Monday. HRW argues this use of military courts [backgrounder] violates Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text], which states, “trials of civilians by military or special courts should be exceptional, i.e. limited to cases where the State party can show that resorting to such trials is necessary and justified by objective and serious reasons, and where … regular civilian courts are unable to undertake the trials.” According to HRW, these military courts have previously used torture tactics to extract confessions from both adult and child defendants, interrogated defendants in the absence of a lawyer and handed down decisions without providing explanations. According to the Union for Protection of Juveniles in Lebanon [official website], military courts tried 355 Lebanese children in 2016.

The Lebanese military court system has a broad range of jurisdiction over civilians, including matters that relate to weapon possession, espionage, treason, and any conflicts arising between military personnel or employees of the Ministry of Defense [official website, in Arabic] and civilians. Many of the judges appointed to military courts by the Ministry of Defense do not require a law degree. According to HRW, this structure undermines the Lebanese people’s right to a fair trail. In 2006 military courts began prosecuting [HRW report] prominent human rights lawyers on slander charges for having challenged the use of military courts on civilians. In 2008, HRW began documenting instances of torture [HRW report] of defendants by military personnel. Although the Lebanese Parliament established [HRW report] a National Human Rights Institute to curtail the use of torture in October, such practices are still in use.