The Nationality Campaign responds to UNHCHR report while considering it misleading

"My Nationality is a Right for me and my Family Campaign" called in a statement issued yesterday, the United Nations Human Rights Council to exert pressure on Lebanon to commit to women’s citizenship rights and cease maneuvers that aim at excluding women and maintaining them in subordinate positions and in a situation of inequality. This statement was issued in response to the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding ‘Discrimination against women in matters related to nationality’ in Lebanon which quoted a statement made by Lebanon's permanent representative at the Human Rights Council. The campaign pointed out the importance of addressing the issue of women's rights to nationality but considered that the report made by Lebanon's representative included misleading and partial information especially with regards to the ministerial committee that was appointed by the Lebanese Prime Minister in March 2012 presided by Minister Samir Moqbel with the membership of the ministers of interior, foreign affairs, labor, media, justice and social affairs as members, and which did not start working on its assignment until July 2012.
The campaign elaborated in its statement the following points: ‘ the committee met with a delegation of the campaign in December 2012 and committed itself in front of the Campaign delegation to study all available options with the aim of reforming the nationality law in a fair and equitable way; however, the Nationality campaign was surprised and so were Lebanese women afterwards with the issuing of an unprecedented set of recommendations that affirmed that gender equality is not a binding principle if it threatened higher national interests, and this despite the fact that equality between men and women is enshrined in the Lebanese constitution. For the same considerations, the committee also reaffirmed that Lebanon is not bound to implement international conventions and agreements pertaining to human rights’.
The Nationality campaign renewed in its statement ‘its call to the Government of Lebanon to honor its commitments to the International Human Rights Convention and to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and to proceed forward without any hesitation to amend the discriminatory nationality law of 1925 so as to align it with the international women and human rights instruments.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Safir 6 June 2013