Despite some positive steps to protect human rights,...

Despite some positive steps to protect human rights, Lebanon is still plagued with violations and abuses by the authorities, according to an annual report by the Lebanon branch of the Nouveau Droits de l'Homme.
The 2001 report focused on arbitrary arrests and lengthy arrests without trial, in addition to the detention of civilians at the Defence Ministry and their prosecution by military tribunals, and expressed apprehension over the independence of the judiciary.
The issue of the disappearance of 17,415 people during the 1975-1990 civil war was also raised by the report, which denounced the authorities' disregard of the issue and the implication of officials in it.
"Many Lebanese political figures that have served in the government since 1990 are implicated in the mass kidnappings, summary executions and illegal transfer of prisoners to Syrian prisons during the war," the report read.
On a more positive note, Elie Abu Aoun, the head of the organization's Lebanon office, highlighted the fact that the capital punishment law was momentarily lifted.
[Ed: in December 2001 Lebanese President Emile Lahoud told Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan that during his term in office he is committed to imposing a moratorium on executions].