7.2.1. Anti-government demonstrators

7.2.1. Anti-government demonstrators

According to Freedom House, the constitutional guarantee of the right to peaceful assembly was largely upheld in 2024, permitting demonstrations addressing government mismanagement and the financial crisis to proceed.576 At the same time, it was reported that security forces, as well as supporters of political parties, perpetrated assaults against journalists covering such gatherings577 and, in certain instances, on protesters themselves. Reference was made to a 2023 protest on human rights where such incidents occurred.578 In addition, security personnel were reported to have infiltrated online platforms used by demonstrators.579 A report published by the civil society organisation HuMENA in August 2024 documented occasions when anti-government protests were met with violence and arrests, citing examples from 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2023.580 According to HuMENA, repression against peaceful assemblies had intensified.581 Security and military forces had increasingly employed measures contravening Article 37 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, with violence and impunity escalating since 2015.582 The use of disproportionate force, including rubber bullets, birdshot, and tear gas in confined areas, as well as arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, lengthy judicial proceedings, and torture in detention, had been reported.583

In February 2025, Hezbollah supporters staged protests in the vicinity of Beirut International Airport following the government’s decision to ban an Iranian flight.584 Security forces reportedly deployed tear gas585 and fired shots into the air in order to disperse demonstrators, some of whom attempted to advance towards the airport.586 During the unrest, a UNIFIL convoy was attacked, resulting in injuries to two UN peacekeepers. Subsequently, more than 25 individuals were arrested, who – according to Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar, where not necessarily responsible for the attack.587 Lebanon’s military court later charged 20 men in relation to the incident.588

Further demonstrations by supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement took place in Beirut, as well as in southern and eastern regions of the country in August 2025, in response to a Cabinet decision mandating the disarmament of Hezbollah.589 No reports of violence in response to these protests could be found.