BEIRUT: The New York-based Human Rights Watch is calling on Lebanese authorities to investigate allegations of torture made by a well-known actor who was detained and later exonerated of charges of spying for Israel.
The watchdog said Monday the case of Ziad Itani is a test for whether the law criminalizing torture, passed in November, will end impunity for security officials.
Bassam Khawaja, a HRW researcher, said Itani’s case “was extremely disturbing.” Itani alleges he was framed, held incommunicado for days during which he was tortured and threatened with violence against his family. The allegations against Itani were then leaked to the media to further pressure him, Khawaja said.
Itani was exonerated in March, nearly four months after he was detained.
Lebanon’s public prosecutor said he has received no formal complaints.
Lebanon must investigate torture claims by actor Ziad Itani, HRW says
Lebanon must investigate torture claims by actor Ziad Itani, HRW says
- Watchdog said case of Ziad Itani is test for whether the law criminalizing torture will end impunity for security officials
- Lebanon’s public prosecutor said he has received no formal complaints
Ankara city hall says water cuts due to ‘record drought’
- Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 percent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara
ANKARA: Water cuts for the past several weeks in Turkiye’s capital were due to the worst drought in 50 years and an exploding population, a municipal official told AFP, rejecting accusations of mismanagement.
Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 percent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara, forcing many residents to line up at public fountains to fill pitchers.
“2025 was a record year in terms of drought. The amount of water feeding the dams fell to historically low levels, to 182 million cubic meters in 2025, compared with 400 to 600 million cubic meters in previous years. This is the driest period in the last 50 years,” said Memduh Akcay, director general of the Ankara municipal water authority.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Ankara municipal authorities, led by the main opposition party, “incompetent.”
Rejecting this criticism, the city hall says Ankara is suffering from the effects of climate change and a growing population, which has doubled since the 1990s to nearly six million inhabitants.
“In addition to reduced precipitation, the irregularity of rainfall patterns, the decline in snowfall, and the rapid conversion of precipitation into runoff (due to urbanization) prevent the dams from refilling effectively,” Akcay said.
A new pumping system drawing water from below the required level in dams will ensure no water cuts this weekend, Ankara’s city hall said, but added that the problem would persist in the absence of sufficient rainfall.
Much of Turkiye experienced a historic drought in 2025. The municipality of Izmir, the country’s third-largest city on the Aegean coast, has imposed daily water cuts since last summer.
