Lebanon's new government should prioritize protecting and promoting human rights, accountability, transparency, and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to new prime minister-designate, Nawaf Salam. The incoming government should enact reforms that guarantee everyone's rights in Lebanon and ensure accountability for past abuses and violations, judicial independence, and improvement of public services.
On January 13, 2025, Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, designated Salam, the former president of the International Court of Justice and Lebanon's former ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2017, to lead the new government, following consultations with parliament. The appointment followed parliament's election of Aoun as president on January 9. Salam is tasked with appointing ministers and forming the government, which can begin exercising its powers once it receives a vote of confidence by parliament.
"After a devasting war, a political impasse lasting more than two years, and more than five years since the collapse of Lebanon's economy, there is a glimmer of hope that Lebanon can address the mountain of challenges facing the country's government, judiciary, institutions, and people," said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. "But the new government's record will ultimately be judged by its ability to bring about long-lasting changes to break away from decades of impunity, corruption, and mismanagement."
In Salam's first speech as prime minister-designate, he said: "It is now time to start a new phase [in Lebanon], rooted in justice, security, progress, and opportunities so that Lebanon can be the country of free citizens, equal in their rights and obligations."
Salam stressed the urgency of reconstructing villages and buildings damaged across Lebanon, including the south, the Bekaa region, and Beirut, and the need to build "a new, modern, and productive economy based on a capable and just state [with] a transparent and effective administration." He highlighted the need for a state that embodies "in all fields and aspects, without exception, the universal principles of human rights, as noted in Lebanon's constitution" and emphasized the need for a truly independent judiciary.
Salam promised to work to provide justice to the victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion and their families and to depositors who lost their life savings during Lebanon's economic collapse.
President Aoun asserted in his speech before parliament that "a new phase in Lebanon has begun" and vowed to "protect the sanctity of individual and collective freedoms." Aoun said there would be no interference with the work of the judiciary under his term and "no immunities given to criminals or corrupt individuals." He promised to reform Lebanon's prison system; strengthen Lebanon's social security system, health infrastructure, and public education; and to respect media freedom and the right to freedom of expression "within [Lebanon's] constitutional and legal frameworks."
Aoun also pledged to work with the new government to adopt a new law on judicial independence, to professionalize the work of Lebanon's public prosecution offices, and to appoint judges based on integrity and merit.
In its letter, Human Rights Watch set out recommendations in ten key areas that should guide the incoming government's policies and actions on human rights, reconstruction, the judiciary, and social and economic reforms.
The recommendations included concrete commitments to accountability for war crimes committed on Lebanese territory, the August 2020 Beirut blast, and the country's economic collapse. The government should work with parliament to establish a truly independent judiciary to enact rights-aligned social and economic reforms. It should increase protections for free expression, address gender-based violence and other discrimination against women, and protect everyone's rights, including migrants, refugees, prisoners, and detainees.
In its letter, Human Rights Watch said that the incoming government should ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and file a declaration with the court's registrar to give it retroactive jurisdiction over serious crimes committed on Lebanese territory.
Human Rights Watch also said that the incoming government should continue working with donors to support post-war reconstruction and ensure that any reconstruction efforts are transparent, accountable, and corruption-free. The government should put in place necessary measures to prevent the mismanagement of donor funds and ensure that people impacted by the war are able to realize their rights to reparations, housing, education, and healthcare, among other rights, Human Rights Watch said. Israeli strikes across Lebanon have damaged more than 100,000 housing units in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa region, and Beirut's southern suburbs, with economic losses reaching nearly US$8.5 billion, according to the World Bank. Dozens of healthcare facilities, hospitals, schools, and water facilities were also damaged.
Human Rights Watch said that the government should work with parliament to adopt a law on judicial independence in line with international standards and to remove political barriers that have obstructed the domestic investigation into the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The government should ensure that all public institutions-including those related to education, public health, social security, electricity, and the environment-are governed by policies that strengthen their proper functioning, transparency, and accountability.
"The challenges are significant, but people in Lebanon are desperately waiting for long-needed change that can ensure that their rights will be respected and protected," Kaiss said. "The incoming government should ensure that human rights are at the heart of its agenda."
