Ethnography of war: perceptions and narratives of former Lebanese civil war combatants about human rights and the law of armed conflict at the time of the Lebanese civil conflict [1975- 1990]

Abstract

At the years of 1975 – 1990 Lebanon experienced one of its longer and deadliest civil conflicts. Militias relating to different domestic sectarian - political parties, international armies, non – international armed organizations and insurgent groups took their clashing interests to the streets of the country. Immense atrocities, international law breaches and human rights violations took place at this period. In this thesis I conversate with Lebanese and Palestinian former combatants with the purpose to exhibit how they perceived human rights and the international humanitarian law at the time of the Lebanese civil war. Using ethnography as the research method, I bring the experiences and opinions of my collocutors in conversation with the laws in force and highlight both the necessity and the limitations of the latter.