Lebanon: The date when the law abolishing compulsory military service came into effect
The Lebanese government and media sources indicate that compulsory military service in Lebanon officially ended on 10 February 2007 (Lebanon n.d.a; AFP 12 Feb. 2007; The Daily Star 13 Feb. 2007; Lebanese National News Agency 12 Feb. 2007; Ya Libnan 12 Feb. 2007). According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the Guidance Directorate of the Army Command issued a statement that "Military Service shall be completely cancelled as of 10 February 2007 in accordance with Law No. 665/2005" (12 Feb. 2007).
Media sources report that in January 2005, the Lebanese parliament had voted to abolish compulsory military service within two years and to reduce the period of military service to six months for the remaining time of compulsory service (The Daily Star 27 Jan. 2005; AFP 26 Jan. 2005); prior to the new law, military service was for one year (ibid.; Ya Libnan 12 Feb. 2007). The Lebanese army website provides information in English on Law 665 (Lebanon n.d.b). According to the website, Clause 1 of Law 665 states, "Contrary to any other stipulation, the military service provided for in the decree law number 102 issued in 16/9/1983 is to be conclusively invalidated in two years after the publication of this law in the official newspaper (Law number 665 issued in 4 February 2005)" (ibid.). Clause 2 of Law 665 states an amendment to the previous law number 102 as follows: "Reduction of the period of military service to six months until the conclusive cancellation stipulated in the first clause of this law" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France-Presse (AFP). 12 February 2007. "Lebanon Scraps Military Service." (Factiva)
_____. 26 January 2005. "Lebanese Parliament Votes to Scrap Military Service." (Factiva)
The Daily Star [Beirut]. 13 February 2007. Hani M. Bathish. "Lebanese Army Looks Ahead to New Challenges as Conscription Ends." (Factiva)
_____. 27 January 2005. Rita Boustani. "Parliament Approves Draft Law to Phase out Military Service Within 2 Years." (Factiva)
Lebanese National News Agency [Beirut, in Arabic]. 12 February 2007. "Lebanon Cancels Military Service." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring Middle East 13 Feb. 2007)
Lebanon. N.d.a. Embassy of Lebanon in Ottawa. "Military Draft." <http://lebanonembassy.ca/eng/index.html> [Accessed 5 Jan. 2010]
_____. N.d.b. Lebanese Army. "Military Service. Law Number 665 Issued in 4 February 2005." <http://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/English/FlagService.asp> [Accessed 6 Jan. 2010]
Ya Libnan. 12 February 2007. Omar Raad. "No More Mandatory Military Service in Lebanon." <http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/02/no_more_mandato.php> [Accessed 4 Jan. 2010]
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: Alkarama, Amnesty International (AI), Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, European Country of Origin Network (ecoi.net), Human Rights First (HRF), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Crisis Group, Legislationline, Middle East Forum, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), The Mideast Monitor, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Refworld, War Resisters' International (WRI), Washington Institute for Near East Policy.