Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization that focuses on human rights, urged France to stop selling weapons to Lebanon, mentioning that the French-manufactured rubber bullets, tear gas grenades and launchers had been used against peaceful protesters.
The organization said in a statement that “France has for years been supplying Lebanese security forces with law enforcement equipment that they then used to commit or facilitate serious human rights violations.”
“We call on France to ensure that there are no further sales until the Lebanese authorities have acknowledged past violations,” said Aymeric Elluin, advocacy officer on arms transfers at Amnesty International France.
According to Amnesty International, these French-manufactured weapons have been used against civilians during the Lebanese revolution. which started in October 2019, as well as in 2015 to disperse protests over a waste management crisis.
Amnesty noted that its findings were based on a 100-video analysis of protests in Beirut, coupled with testimonies and medical records conducted by researchers on the ground.
The International organization called the role of French law enforcement equipment in trying to silence peaceful protesters “shameful.”
Elluin stated that there has been “no effective investigation of the unlawful use of weapons, including those made in France, against peaceful protesters, and not a single security officer has been held to account by judicial authorities.”
It is to note that, earlier this year, Amnesty issued a report against ongoing human rights violations that Lebanon is disregarding despite its promise to end them.
