Invited Experts

Habib Battah is a freelance journalist based in Beirut. He is the founder and editor ­in­ chief of the Beirut Report. Habib has been covering Lebanon and the Middle East for 15 years as an investigative journalist, filmmaker and media critic and is a two­ time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Habib has worked for Al Jazeera, The Daily Star newspaper, Future Television and other regional media organizations. He was also the managing editor of the Beirut­ based Journal of Middle East Broadcasters, and has appeared as a blogger and media analyst on BBC, CNN, and Euronews. Habib supported More Than A Talkshop as an expert on Freedom of the Press and Journalistic Self-Censorship. As journalist, he told the students about his personal experience as a journalist in Lebanon.

Kareema Chebbo is Project Officer of the Gender Equality Team (GET) at the Collective for Research and Training on Development. She is one of the main organizers of the Women’s Right to Nationality Campaign. Moreover, Kareema is responsible for the legal unit of the campaign and has extensive knowledge of the judicial questions related to the subject. During our expert session, she talked about Womens Rights to Pass on Nationality. 

Wadih al-Asmar is Secretary General of Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH). CLDH is a human rights organization which has been active in the struggle against arbitrary detention.The organization pursues the following objectives: fighting the practice of enforced disappearance of Lebanese citizens (and persons otherwise residing in Lebanon),­ fighting arbitrary detention, fighting the impunity of those perpetrating serious human rights violations, improving the capacities of the Lebanese civil society ­and rehabilitating the victims of torture. Wadih al-Asmar was invited as an expert on the issue of Enhancing Human Rights Awareness among the ISF in Lebanon. Wadih pointed out the main problem of human rights violations by internal security forces by explaining the difference between private and public torture: ISF are a main part of the executive state power and a violation of human rights executed by ISF proves arbitrariness by the state itself. 

Ziad Abi Chaker, chief executive officer at Cedar Environmental, is Lebanon’s firm believer in and fighter for a no-waste-society. Ziad is a multi­-disciplinary engineer specialized in building Municipal Recycling Facilities on the communal level going against the trend of a central Mega recycling Plant. Ziad gave the young parliamentarians insight into the issue of Enhancing Waste Management Systems in Lebanon and presented recycling projects in Beirut. He showed them in what way a no-waste-society is possible. His main point was to raise awareness towards waste management problems in Beirut among the students. Professionally, Habib Battah worked as a freelance journalist based in Beirut. He has done work for Al Jazeera, The Daily Star newspaper, Future Television and other regional media organizations. He was also the managing editor of the Beirut­ based Journal of Middle East Broadcasters, and has appeared as a blogger and media analyst on BBC, CNN, and Euronews.