Writer and political activist, Jumana Haddad, set up the Jumana Haddad Centre for Freedoms, itself a part of the Jumana Haddad Freedoms Monitor. The latter is a secular and independent organization created recently with the aim of educating and raising the awareness of youth as well as mobilizing youth to adopt the values of secularism, equality, accepting differences, as well as individual freedoms. In a statement issued today, the organization highlights that Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy as well as a founding member of the United Nations and is a signatory to various conventions including the International Human Rights Charter. However, and according to the same statement, the powers in Lebanon are practicing various forms of discrimination as well as violations of human rights notably the rights of women and minorities such as LGBTQI. The statement further adds that narrow religious and political interests contribute to undermining civil and public rights including the current constraints on the fundamental right to free expression especially when this is in contradiction with political and religious interests and when they address corruption. (An Nahar, September 27th, 2019)