Tuesday, August 30, 2005
The fall of Lebanon's mukhabarat
Excerpts from a Daily Star editorial on the detention of the security officials and their accomplices in Hariri's murder:
The relief comes from knowing that someone is finally holding the country's security chiefs, whom many suspected of involvement in the Hariri assassination, accountable to the rule of law...
One of the major impediments to democratization in the larger Arab world has been the dreaded mukhabarat - the overbearing military and security apparatuses that figure so prominently in Arab political life. Through exploitation of power, threats and intimidation, this pervasive arm of the Arab state has often limited the ability of citizens to demand reform, political freedoms and civil rights. Through the mukhabarat, opposition can be silenced and political enemies can be either jailed or eliminated. So the fact that Lebanon's security apparatus is being held accountable for its possible crimes can be viewed as a promising sign of democratic progress.
It is at least promising that we no longer feel the need to be subservient to the circumstances of authoritarianism. It may not turn out to be a "glorious day" when the truth is revealed and there may be even more instability in the future, but at least we no longer have to suffer in silence.
Read it in full here.
The relief comes from knowing that someone is finally holding the country's security chiefs, whom many suspected of involvement in the Hariri assassination, accountable to the rule of law...
One of the major impediments to democratization in the larger Arab world has been the dreaded mukhabarat - the overbearing military and security apparatuses that figure so prominently in Arab political life. Through exploitation of power, threats and intimidation, this pervasive arm of the Arab state has often limited the ability of citizens to demand reform, political freedoms and civil rights. Through the mukhabarat, opposition can be silenced and political enemies can be either jailed or eliminated. So the fact that Lebanon's security apparatus is being held accountable for its possible crimes can be viewed as a promising sign of democratic progress.
It is at least promising that we no longer feel the need to be subservient to the circumstances of authoritarianism. It may not turn out to be a "glorious day" when the truth is revealed and there may be even more instability in the future, but at least we no longer have to suffer in silence.
Read it in full here.
