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Lebanon: Mikati Rejects Accusations of Interfering in Judiciary

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
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Lebanon: Mikati Rejects Accusations of Interfering in Judiciary

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated that his calls on the outgoing Interior Minister to block judicial “violations” taken by FPM Judge Ghada Aoun against local banks are not considered an interference in the judiciary.

He emphasized that some decisions must be taken for the good of the country.

“We have already emphasized respect for the judiciary in our ministerial statement and emphasized non interference in its affairs, but some matters are strongly linked to Lebanon’s high interest and to the path of the judiciary which truly affects the course of justice,” said Mikati at the opening of Monday’s Cabinet meeting.

He said there would be no need for a similar decision “when the judiciary purifies itself from impurities and addresses exaggerations". He assured that it was discussed beforehand with the related judges.

He added that “exceptional circumstances require exceptional decisions”, noting that the move was not taken to protect anyone.

The decision was initially taken to protect the banking sector, “the major pillar of the country’s economy", he stated.

On Wednesday, Mikati and caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi moved to block the work of Judge Ghada Aoun, who has been investigating Lebanon's financial sector since it collapsed in 2019 following decades of corrupt government, profligate spending and financial mismanagement.

Mikati sent a letter to Mawlawi on Wednesday asking that security forces "not carry out decisions issued by" Aoun as they were "an overstepping of authority."

The banks have been on strike since Feb. 7, following a meeting to discuss the snowballing legal measures they have been facing since Lebanon's economy began to unravel more than three years ago.

Lebanon's banks suspended the strike for one week at the request of Mikati, the Association of the Banks of Lebanon announced on Friday, days after the prime minister moved against judge Aoun.

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Amnesty International Denounces Crackdown on Political Opponents in Libya

Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
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Amnesty International Denounces Crackdown on Political Opponents in Libya

Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Libya’s eastern-based forces of enabling a crackdown on dissidents and of entrenched impunity for deaths in custody and other serious human rights abuses, according to AFP.

Since the 2011 overthrow of ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising, the energy-rich North African country has been wracked by unrest.

It is split between a Tripoli-based government, headed by Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east backed by Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) controls the east and much of the south.

“Since January 2024, heavily armed Internal Security Agency (ISA) agents have arrested without a warrant dozens of people, including women and men in their 70s, from their homes, streets or other public places in areas of eastern and southern Libya,” Amnesty said.

Based on interviews with former detainees, the families of detainees, as well as lawyers, human rights defenders and political activists, the rights group said the detainees were then transferred to ISA-controlled facilities, where they remained arbitrarily detained for months without being allowed to contact their families or lawyers; some were subjected to enforced disappearances for periods reaching 10 months.

It noted that none were brought before civilian judicial authorities, allowed to challenge the legality of their detention, or were formally charged with any offences.

“Two people died in custody in suspicious circumstances in April and July while in ISA-controlled detention centers in Benghazi and Ajdabiya,” Amnesty said, adding that no independent and impartial criminal investigations have been carried out into their deaths and no one has been held accountable.

“The spike in arbitrary detentions and deaths in custody in recent months highlights how the existing culture of impunity has empowered armed groups to violate detainees’ right to life without fearing any consequences,” said Bassam Al Kantar, Amnesty International’s Libya Researcher.

“These deaths in custody add to the catalogue of horrors committed by the ISA against those who dare to express views critical of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces,” he added.

Amnesty called on the GNU and LAAF, as the de facto authorities in eastern and southern Libya, to ensure the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

“The LAAF must also suspend from positions of power ISA commanders and members reasonably suspected of crimes under international law and serious human rights violations, pending independent and impartial criminal investigations, including into the causes and circumstances of the deaths in custody, and, where sufficient evidence exists, prosecute them in fair proceedings in front of civilian courts,” it added.