State Department: Torture and Extralegal Intimidation of Journalists
The Lebanese government has continued to deny the use of torture, although authorities acknowledged violent abuse sometimes occurred during preliminary investigations at police stations or military installations, the State Department said.
"Such abuse occurred despite national laws preventing judges from accepting confessions extracted under duress," the annual report by the State Department on human rights practices said.
In 2008, several journalists "reported receiving threats from political parties, politicians, fellow journalists, and opposition militia figures who generally threatened violence against them and their families if they did not cease writing articles on sensitive political issues," the report said.
In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department noted that in November 2008 more than 15 supporters of the SSNP attacked Future News TV reporter Omar Harqous with sticks in Beirut's Hamra Street, injuring him in the head, neck, and chest.
The report reiterated that prison conditions were poor and did not meet minimum international standards. "Prisons were overcrowded and sanitary conditions, particularly in women's prisons, were very poor," it said.
In a positive development, the State Department said there were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.
On freedom of movement, the report noted that "government forces were unable to enforce the law in the predominantly Hizbullah-controlled Beirut southern suburbs and did not typically enter Palestinian refugee camps."
