By constitutional law, Lebanon is still one of the very few democracies in the entire Middle East with a constitution agreed upon in 1926. Today, being occupied by the Syrian regime for the past 27 years, Lebanon lost its major features of democracy and human right. Amnesty International, the Red Cross and many other human rights organizations as well as the United States administration has well documented cases of shocking & severe human rights violation against the Lebanese people.
Lebanon is a small country at the Eastern cost of the Mediterranean Sea. The Nature of Lebanon, being distinguished from mostly desert-countries around, along with the impact of the civilizations that inhabited Lebanon through thousands of years reached its peak in the second half of the 2Oth century. Prosperity, Free-Economy and the “Most Civilized and Democratic” country of the region were titles of Lebanon then.
However, this did not last. The major Arab-Israeli conflict has found in Lebanon a landing which to move the fight. Syrian, Palestinian and Israeli forces overtook the Lebanese territory moving their fight, since the 1970’s to the neutral country that was too small to defend herself. Arms and funding were being funneled into Lebanon while several countries, Syria, Iran, Israel, Lybia and Palestinians were sponsoring guerillas trying to take place in a battle that is not on their own land. Great destruction and hundreds of thousands of casualties (mostly Lebanese civilians) transpired in Lebanon. All the while, relatively minor events were going on the neighboring countries: Syria, Jordan Egypt, Israel and Palestinian territories. The UN Security Council issued several resolutions regarding Lebanon which were issued, but never enforced.
Lebanon Now:
1.The Syrian army occupies most of Lebanon, including the main airport. It harbors and all vital agencies with 30,000 troops and about 20,000 intelligence agents (that is equivalent to sending 5 million troops to occupy the US). Syria detains hundreds of Lebanese in its prisons without charges, and refuses to implement UN Security Council resolution No. 52O that calls for pullout of non-Lebanese troops from Lebanon.
2.Palestinians-There are approximately 400,000+ ungoverned Palestinians still living in camps in Lebanon and harboring armed guerrillas and without any regard for the Lebanese people or country (This is equivalent to placing 50 million refugees in the United States at one time).
3.Israeli troops withdrew from the area of south Lebanon on May, 2000, which they had occupied for 22 years. Israel holds about twenty Lebanese in its prisons without charges. .
4.The Lebanese Authorities are paralyzed by the Syrian régime who control a proxy government in Lebanon terrorizing and brutalizing the Lebanese people.
5.The Lebanese people are being forced to leave their country due to economical disaster caused by the political crisis and Syrian illegal labor-force in Lebanon. Approximately 35% of the Lebanese population left the country since 1990, when Syrian troops completely captured the capital Beirut..
Lebanon, the country that used to be called “Switzerland of the East”, experiences now Ruined Economy, Pro-Syrian Totalitarian Regime and major Violations of Human Rights (for Details)
2la.org/syria/index.php