Presented By Mohammed Safa

Sectarianism is torture.
Sectarianism is a continuous civil war.
Sectarianism is destructive for our country.
Sectarianism is hatred, violence, racism and malignance.
For all those reasons, KRC has chosen “Sectarianism is Torture” as a slogan for 26 June campaign – the United Nations Day in Support of Torture Victims.
Some of you might wonder and ask: what is the relationship between this international occasion and the slogan?
Literally, there is no relationship, but when we suffocate from the chains of sectarianism, when our houses become prisons, when our streets, villages, cities, and buildings become parapets, borderlines, and forests for killing and kidnapping, when the torture and the tortured become neighbors in the same neighborhood and the same building, when the religious and the tribal beliefs become the motive that moves people when they listen to the speeches of the politicians, when the escapade bullets follow us to our bedrooms, and when pens are replaced by knives and sticks, we should shout:
Sectarianism is torture
Sectarianism is civil war
Sectarianism became the impendent danger that threatens Lebanon and its social and national unity.
Some people ask for the rights of the Shiite sect, others for the Sunni sect, others for the Christian sect, others for the Druze sect, and others for the Alawi sect and last but not least some demand to create a civil sect. All of these people use the rights of the sect to protect their own interests and not the interests of their sects because the rights of the sects are the main cause of civil wars and the destruction of Lebanon.
Sectarianism was not delivered by mothers neither did it fall from the sky, but it is the infant of the political and sectarian regime and the foreign domination:
Sectarian parties
Sectarian schools
Sectarian universities
Sectarian media
Sectarian election law
Sectarian parliament
The civil sectarian fights that we witnessed in Lebanon lately are a natural result of the sectarian political regime, sectarian speeches, and sectarian incitation used by the political parties to preserve their interests and privileges.
The poor people fight and the rich people enjoy their life. For all those reasons we used the slogan “Sectarianism is Torture”. We used it because sectarianism, racism, and fascism is destroying our country and not allowing the human rights activists, and violence counter actives to raise their voices. From this perspective, the mission of counteracting sectarianism became a national and humanistic mission.
In this occasion, we invite the NGO’s and all people who are concerned with the unity, freedom, and sovereignty of Lebanon to launch a civil campaign against violence and hatred.
The safety measures are very important but are not enough if they were not a part of political, legal, social and cultural measures to treat the psychological and social outcomes of the last goings-on.

So we propose the following:

- The formation of a juridical committee to investigate all the violations that were committed against people in all areas and to punish the wrongdoers because the breakout from punishment policy is only encouraging the violator and the wrong doer.
- The formation of a committee that consists of lawyers, journalists, and activists in the domain of human rights to monitor the sectarian and racist speeches and statements of politicians, clerks, or media and to accuse and persecute them of causing sedition between people.
- A drawing contest held in official and private schools. The theme of the contest should be about patriotism, love, convergence, and tolerance.
- A financial award for the best poem, short story, play, or literary text about the disadvantages of sectarianism.
- Establishing peace clubs in schools, neighborhoods, villages, and cities.
- Removing all the factionalism flags, and the politicians’ pictures from all the cities and the villages of the country.
- Establishing a division for human rights in the ministry of Education to promote the principles of the International Announcement of the Human Rights and the international agreements.
- Unifying of the Muslim and Christian religious holidays and not to take advantage of it politically.
- Organizing painting murals in all areas.
- Renovating public parks and establishing new ones.
- Forming of a national committee to abolish sectarianism, and to declare a democratic non-sectarian election law.

Khiam Center’s Activities for June 26 Occasion

1- On 22/06/2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 15:00: A medical free and media day for survivors of torture and their families in the village of Aita al-Shaab in the south, in collaboration with “Giving without Limits” Association and the town mayor.

2- On 24/06/2008 at 11:00 a.m.: Sit-in in solidarity with the families of the missing and detainees in Syrian prisons in their tent in front of ESCWA in Beirut. Statements for the mothers will be read and balloons will be launched.

3- On 25/06/2008 at 10:00 a.m.: A get-together meeting with survivors of torture and their families in Qana Municipality – Tyr district.

4- On 26/06/2008 at 15:00: The Opening of the exhibition "Draw Your Rights" and signing the book “My Rights” under the auspices and presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Khaled Qabbani at the UNESCO Palace where 65 schools from all Lebanese regions are participating with the students, their parents, the school administrators. The exhibition will last till 28/06/2008.

5- On 27/06/2008 at 10:00 a.m.: A workshop entitled "Sectarianism is Torture" at the UNESCO Palace. Human Rights Activists, NGOs representatives, and specialists will be participating.

6- On 28/06/2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 15:00: A medical free and media day for survivors of torture and their families in Al-Makased Dispensary in Kfarhamam.

7- On 29/06/2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 15:00: A medical free and media day for survivors of torture and their families in the town of Berkail in Akkar.

8- A TV spot about the occasion, leaflets, posters, and stickers against torture, war and sectarianism will be published and distributed.