Middle East – Africa

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Catholic leader outlines vision for Lebanon as the ‘Switzerland of the East’

August 18, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

Rome Newsroom, Aug 18, 2020 / 09:30 am (CNA).- Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch issued a memorandum Monday outlining his vision for the restoration of the country’s neutral status as the “Switzerland of the East.”

The future of Lebanon is currently being decided — as French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter Aug. 9 following the explosion in Beirut’s port — and the leader of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholics, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, is adamant that the only way forward for the country in crisis is a foundation of “active neutrality” that will lead to economic stability and security. 

“Lebanon’s neutrality is the guarantee of its unity and its historical position, especially in this phase full of geographic and constitutional changes. It is its strength and guarantee of its stability,” Cardinal Rai wrote in the memorandum posted on the website of the Maronite Patriarchate Aug. 17.

“A neutral Lebanon is able to contribute to the stability of the region as well, defend the rights of the Arab peoples and the cause of peace, and play a role in weaving healthy and secure relations between the countries of the Middle East and Europe, by virtue of its location on the shore of the Mediterranean,” he said.

One pillar of Rai’s vision of Lebanon’s  “active neutrality” is a commitment to human rights and freedom, which entails Lebanon’s continued support for the Palestinian cause. 

Another dimension is strengthening Lebanon’s institutions, rule of law, and military to guarantee internal security and defense from aggression, he said.

Rai argued that a commitment to neutrality would enhance Lebanon’s economic recovery by creating an environment that is stable and secure, which he said would lead to economic confidence, investment, and tourism.

Rai’s statements came at a time when Hezbollah — the Shiite Muslim political and militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government — has strong alliances with Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and with Iran in its conflicts with Sunni-majority Gulf states.

Hezbollah has held significant political sway in Lebanon for the past 30 years. A mass protest movement in the country, which began in October 2019, included calls for Hezbollah to give up power after years of government mismanagement and corruption.

The cardinal pointed to examples in Lebanon’s history of when the country thrived due to its commitment to neutrality and to difficult times when that neutrality was violated.

Though Lebanon endured a 15-year civil war starting in 1975, in recent years it has stood out as a relatively peaceful and pluralistic society in the Middle East. An estimated 60% of Lebanon’s people are Muslim, evenly split among Sunni and Shia, and nearly 35% of the country’s population is Christian, most of whom are Maronite Catholic Christians. 

The Maronite Church, which has deep historical roots connected to the fourth-century monk St. Maron, is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See.

“Lebanon’s relative neutrality from the region’s conflicts between 1943 and 1975 led to prosperity, increased growth, increased per capita income, and a decline in unemployment, until Lebanon was called the ‘Switzerland of the East,’” Rai said.

“Lebanon arose and followed the line of neutrality and impartiality from its founding until 1969 when the ‘Cairo Agreement,’ which allowed Palestinian refugees to possess heavy weapons and fight Israel from Lebanese lands, and the subsequent emergence of Lebanese and non-Lebanese military forces outside the state,” he said.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his resignation last week, the day after Cardinal Rai delivered a homily echoing protesters’ calls for the Lebanese government to resign due to corruption and economic mismanagement. Diab’s government had been formed in January with backing from Hezbollah. 

The Maronite patriarch had been outspoken in his call for Lebanon to return to its commitment of regional neutrality before the devastating blast, with a series of homilies calling for neutrality beginning July 5.

Prior to the damage and loss caused by the explosion in Beirut, the country was already facing a severe economic crisis. Unemployment in Lebanon had risen and the country’s national currency had lost at least 80% of its value against the U.S. dollar since last year, according to AP. Lebanon has one of the world’s highest public debt burdens, which is 150% of its gross domestic product.

“There is no matter that can lift us from the situation in which we are today, including the economic crisis … other than neutrality,” Cardinal Rai said July 14.

“The system of neutrality is the source of Lebanon’s independence and stability,” he stated in his memorandum.

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Togolese bishop, supportive of political reform, targeted by spyware

August 5, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

CNA Staff, Aug 5, 2020 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Researchers based at the University of Toronto announced Monday that Bishop Benoît Alowonou of Kpalimé was among six targets of spyware in Togo last year. The country’s bishops have supported political reform and denounced the government’s injustice.

The spyware, known as Pegasus and which targets WhatsApp users, was made by NSO Group, an Israeli technology firm. It gives its operator access to the target’s mobile device.

Since 2005, Faure Gnassingbé has been president of Togo. His father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, had ruled the country after a 1967 coup until his death in 2005.

Bishop Alowonou is president of the Togolese bishops’ conference, which in 2017 urged constitutional reform, and earlier this year decried the violent arrest of an opposition leader.

In May 2019 WhatsApp found that spyware from NSO Group could be injected on mobiles phones with a missed video call on the app. Some 1,400 of its users were targeted.

Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary lab based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, said Aug. 3 that it “volunteered to assist WhatsApp to investigate the 2019 Incident as part of the Citizen Lab’s mandate to study digital threats against civil society.”

“During our investigation we identified multiple targets in Togo. These individuals were targeted between April and May, 2019 … We believe the infection attempts would have led to the infection of most targeted devices with NSO’s spyware,” Citizen Lab wrote.

In addition to Bishop Alowonou, Togolese targets of the spyware included Fr. Pierre Affognon, chaplain of the Association of Catholic Leaders of Togo; Elliott Ohin, a former government minister and an opposition leader; and Raymond Houndjo, a prominent member of the National Alliance for Change, an opposition party.

Fr. Affognon’s group had in late 2018 called for democratic reforms and organized protest marches that were barred by the government.

Bishop Alowonou told The Guardian that Pegasus’ use against dissidents in Togo is “dangerous for our freedoms and for democracy”, while Fr. Affognon said, “it’s a violation of the liberty of the citizens.”

According to Citizen Lab, the sole operator of Pegasus in Togo “appeared to be spying only in Togo,” and so it suspects it “was operated by an agency of the Togolese Government.”

Nevertheless, John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, told The Guardian that “Citizen Lab is not conclusively stating which government is responsible for this attack. But the fact that these individuals are all either opposition party members or otherwise critical of the government is troubling.”

In October 2019 WhatsApp filed a lawsuit in the US against NSO Group , claiming it enabled the Pegasus attacks on its 1,400 users.

Pegasus is marketed to governments for crime fighting, but according to Citizen Lab “there are over 130 cases in which NSO Group’s hacking technology has been used to conduct abusive surveillance against civil society around the globe,” including journalists and human rights advocates.

NSO Group dispute’s WhatsApp’s claims.

In an Oct. 29, 2019 statement, it said that “the sole purpose of NSO is to provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime. Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists … We consider any other use of our products than to prevent serious crime and terrorism a misuse, which is contractually prohibited. We take action if we detect any misuse.”

There are allegations that Pegasus was used by Saudi officials to monitor Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

Togo has seen political instability and widespread poverty in recent years. Protests in 2017 called for Gnassingbé’s resignation, and resulted in harsh crackdowns.

Gnassingbé won re-election for his fourth term in a February 2020 election, with more than 70% of the vote.

Opposition leaders asserted there was widespread fraud on the part of the authorities.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Lomé, Philippe Kpodzro, was briefly placed under house arrest in March for encouraging protests following the election.

In 2019 Gnassingbé secured constitutional changes to term limits that allow him to be able to remain in office until 2030.

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