(Beirut) – Lebanese authorities in 2025 made tentative progress toward reforms promised by Lebanon’s new president and prime minister, but rights violations continued and authorities failed to deliver justice for victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion and victims of war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2026.
After a ceasefire went into effect in November 2024, Israeli forces killed more than 330 people in Lebanon, including at least 127 civilians, as of October 2025, with at least 64,000 people still displaced.
In the 529-page World Report 2026, its 36th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion writes that breaking the authoritarian wave sweeping the world is the challenge of a generation. With the human rights system under unprecedented threat from the Trump administration and other global powers, Bolopion calls on rights-respecting democracies and civil society to build a strategic alliance to defend fundamental freedoms.
“As people in Lebanon still face impeded access to justice, socioeconomic rights, and the right to freedom of expression, authorities should act to make promised reforms a reality,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “While Lebanese authorities are finally discussing accountability for Israeli forces’ violations of the laws of war, they have yet to take concrete steps to hold Israel accountable.”
- Despite the resumption of the investigation into the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanese authorities have yet to deliver justice for the victims and their families.
- Lebanese security agencies and prosecutors continued to harass activists, journalists, and government critics by summoning them for questioning in response to their critical work.
- Lebanon’s Parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee began discussions on a new media law, submitted to the Committee on May 27, 2025. Although the draft included significant steps toward protecting freedom of expression, proposed amendments included reintroducing pretrial detention for peaceful expression.
- On October 9, Lebanon’s government tasked the Justice Ministry with assessing the legal measures that may be taken following Israeli attacks on journalists during the last war but had yet to take concrete steps to advance accountability.
