Panel Discussion on the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon

The Human Rights Center at Beirut Arab University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law and Political Science and Seeds for Legal Initiatives, organized a panel discussion entitled “The Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon: Exploring the Intersections of Human Rights, Gender, and Collective Healing”. This event is part of an ongoing initiative to sensitize university students to the issue of the missing and forcibly disappeared through a multidisciplinary lens that connects human rights, gender, political accountability, and psychosocial well-being.

The panel offered students a deeper understanding of Lebanon’s historical and political context, collective memory, and the enduring impact of unresolved disappearances, particularly on women and families. Through academic, legal, psychological, and institutional perspectives, the discussion highlighted the importance of truth, accountability, and gender-sensitive approaches as foundations for social justice and collective healing.

The panel featured contributions by Dr. Carmen Abou Jaoude - Political scientist, lecturer, researcher and member of the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared, Dr. Ali Mourad - Assistant professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Dr. Helga Alaeddine - Assistant dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences, and Mrs. Reina Sfeir - Lecturer and member of the National Commission for the Enforced Disappeared, and was moderated by Dr. Sanaa Hammoudi - Associate professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Law and Political Science.