Lebanon

 

During the past four decades, Lebanon has been marked by a succession of armed international and domestic conflict, terrorism, explosions, and a generally increasingly failing political and security environment,

 

Exploring the impact of potentially traumatic cumulative events related to quasi-permanently living in a failing or war-torn state, as well as the impact of the absence of justice on the mental health of Lebanese people, was at the center of Human Rights Research League's latest research project, conducted in partnership with the University of Montreal and a group of Lebanese psychologists and researchers based in Canada, Lebanon, and France. 

 

The research looked in particular into what living in a long-term, quasi permanent situation of war and/or crisis, including forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, occupation, lack of security and justice, and service provision on the part of a state, does to a population forced to live under such conditions.

 

While this research project takes the situation in Lebanon from the civil war in the 1970s till today as a point of departure, the main results and findings are likely equally relevant to similar situations of long-term conflict in other regions and countries, including, e.g., in Afghanistan, Congo (DRC), Gaza, Sudan, Syria, or Ukraine. 

 

A preliminary selection of some key findings was presented ahead of the 5th commemoration of the Beirut Port Explosion of August 4, 2020, which in many ways triggered this project.

 

The complete research report has been launched in connection with a side event at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 22 September 2025. 

 

The Research Report (in French) has subsequently been made available on our website.