Presentation to the Mashrek Delegation of the European Parliament
Brussels, November 4, 2003
By Dr. Muhamad Mugraby

Last August I was arrested in Beirut, Lebanon. I was later indicted. The regime had plenty of reasons for my arrest and indictment. Over the past twelve years, men of the regime sought my criminal prosecution ten times. During the same period, my law firm initiated or defended over one hundred and fifty cases involving gross violations of human rights or abuse of power. About four years ago my colleagues and I started a coalition of lawyers and non-lawyers with the express goal of restoring integrity to the judicial system, which we called "Campaign for Judicial Integrity". I wrote many articles and gave many speeches and seminars that irritated or embarrassed the regime and/or its figures. I tried, as best as I can, to teach the people their rights so that they can uphold and defend what is lawfully theirs. This is why they ordered my arrest. Three weeks later, I was released thanks to the international pressure generated by the support I received from many brave persons and organizations. Many courageous leaders from the European Union were at the forefront of these efforts and I wish to thank them all. In particular, I wish to thank your delegation for having taken very serious interest in my case and invited me to appear before you today. Special words of appreciation must also go to Emma Bonino, who played a leading role in the world wide campaign for my release, who very closely kept in touch with my family during the difficult days when I was in jail, and who, after my release, traveled to Beirut to investigate the situation on the ground. Your support, including Emma's, and every one else's support, will be dearly needed for as long as Lebanon continues to suffer from oppression.

My purpose from traveling to Brussels is not only to thank you all and seek your continued support for my case, but also, and more importantly, to discuss why and how oppressive regimes make such arrests through the judicial branch of government to serve political ends, and how to prevent that. These regimes survive by the elimination of all forms of opposition and dissent and keeping full control of the media. To maintain an atmosphere of fear they must commit highly visible acts of repression every so often, in order to remind the people that they expose themselves to grave danger if they think or attempt to defy or to displease the rulers.

In the early nineties, the military courts of Lebanon, consisting of military officers with no legal training, were assigned the role of convicting dissenters. Persons who dared to circulate little pieces of paper with simple messages of protest were routinely arrested and received prison sentences in those courts. Persons who criticized the Lebanese or the Syrian regimes outside Lebanon were also charged before military courts. The civilian suspects were routinely tortured to induce them to sign false confessions. One such civilian prisoner told me in writing that he would have confessed under torture to raping his own mother. In spite of international protests and condemnation, the military courts are still in business. Some civilian judges are seconded to the military justice system in several capacities. Many of these judges serve as assistant military prosecutors and simultaneously sit on regular civil courts.

When I first brought the suffering of the defendants before military courts to the attention of international human rights groups, the commander of the army wrote a letter to the minister of defense requesting my prosecution for damaging the moral of the armed forces. Part of the problem arose from the fact that the minister of justice at the time, who, incidentally, is the minister of justice today, denied any knowledge of the existence of torture chambers at the ministry of defense, when the officer in charge of such chambers was married to his own niece.

Today the regime is using the regular judiciary to do part of the work that was the exclusive domain of military courts. Therefore, repression is taking place through military and civilian courts at the same time. Here is an example. One civilian court of appeals decided over a year ago to close down a popular television station, MTV, that was becoming increasingly vocal. The police promptly, and without advance warning, shut the station down. The court's decision was not based on any legal action or formal indictment. The station owners were not notified of the action or summoned to a hearing. They were not allowed to exercise the right of defense or appeal. All their appeals were struck down on technical grounds. The station's facilities remain under seal and petitions by the owners to allow them to make routine maintenance work were ignored.

As a lawyer, I always believed in the power of the articles of the law to set things straight, provided they are duly, promptly and fully enforced. I believed in the full implementation of the rights enshrined in the Lebanese constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This presupposes the existence of judges with integrity, independence and wisdom based on legal scholarship. I thought such judges would be able to uphold a number of simple principles and safeguards provided by the constitution and the Declaration, such as:

1. Equality before the law and equal protection of the law.
2. The presumption of innocence.
3. The right to defense and the rights of defense, including the defense of the defense.
4. The right to appeal and to hold the state liable for the mistakes of judges.
5. The right to have a case heard before judges who are independent and impartial, including the right to request the recusal of judges who have conflicts of interest.

My faith in the articles of the law and insistence on the full implementation of all rights protected under such articles, and my organizing lawyer and civilian groups to call for integrity in the judiciary were perceived by the regime as incitement for rebellion. I was considered a very dangerous man for trying to undermine the very foundations of the regime, i. e. flagrant violation of the law, full impunity and total lack of accountability. Judges, with high qualifications and integrity such as the ones I have been calling for, would threaten, and can not be accepted by, the regime.

I continue now to believe in all that I believed in before. I will continue to teach people their rights and help them hold on to, and defend, all such rights as they may be entitled to under the law. I will not hesitate from personally exercising all my rights that are protected by the Lebanese constitution and the Universal Declaration. What I ask you to do is to make the protection of these rights an indivisible part of European policy and to hold all tyrannical regimes fully accountable for rights violations in such a way as not to limit your role to making representations in individual cases but to prevent the occurrence of the violations altogether.

I remain at your disposal to discuss ways and mechanisms to achieve this goal. Thank you.