In this article, we will shed light on the role, functions and capacities of all six military and security apparatuses listed below:

• Lebanese Army
• General Directorate of Internal Security Forces
• General Directorate of General Security
• General Directorate of State Security
• Parliament Police Force
• Customs Police Force

Internal Security Forces

According to Law No. 17, dated September 20, 1990, the Internal Security Forces are public armed forces operating under the Ministry of Interior and Municipality with jurisdictions covering the entire Lebanese territory as well as the territorial waters and air space. Its missions in the fields listed below break down as follows:

Administrative Police

• Keeping order and security
• Ensuring public stability
• Protection of individuals and possessions
• Protection of freedom within the framework of law
• Execution of the legal rules and regulations

Judicial Police

• Fulfilling the functions of the Judicial Police
• Executing letters rogatory
• Carrying out warrants and verdicts

Others

• Supporting public authorities in their duties
• Guarding public administrations and institutions, as decided by the relevant authorities
• Guarding and running prisons when needed
• Guarding the diplomatic missions in Lebanon

General Directorate of General Security

Article 1 of Legislative Decree No. 104, dated November 3, 1983 defines the General Directorate of General Security as a public armed force falling directly under the Minister of Interior and Municipalities. Its powers are stipulated by Article 2 as follows:

• Collecting and examining information related to the state security.
• Fighting and probing into espionage and all other activities endangering the state security.
• Escorting and protecting Lebanese and non-Lebanese officials and statesmen.
• Issuing passports and travel-related documents and delivering transit passports and residence permit cards.
• Regulating the stay of foreigners in Lebanon and monitoring their movements.
• Monitoring media activity and all audiovisual broadcasts.
• Regulating and facilitating the movements of both Lebanese and non-Lebanese travelers to and from Lebanon as well as contributing to the protection of land, aerial and maritime borders.
• Keeping public administrations and institutions in the loop regarding state security matters relating to their civil servants and to applicants to public posts and advising on permits and licenses related to the safety of the state.

General Directorate of State Security

This security service is entrusted with the following responsibilities:

• Collecting information concerning internal state security by the means of special networks covering all Lebanese territories, in order to verify, investigate and analyze them or remit them to the relevant authorities.
• Monitoring foreigners by investigating any action that may jeopardize the state security and overseeing the relationship between Lebanese nationals and foreign entities with regard to the state security.
• Engaging in counter-espionage and fighting hostile activity of any form.
• Opening preliminary investigations into acts that jeopardize internal and external state security. The investigations shall be made by at least one squad delegated by either the Internal Security Forces or the General Security, or even by both of them. The squad, which is affiliated with the General Directorate, shall carry out its duties in the Judicial Police capacity according to the Constitution and the current laws in force.
• Coordinating with other security services, such as the General Directorate of General Security, the Internal Security Forces and the Army Intelligence Directorate, matters concerning inquiries and information exchange.
• Drafting periodic reports to inform the Higher Council of Defense about the security and political situation and making appropriate suggestions regarding internal and external dangers. The Head of the Higher Defense Council and his deputy shall always be informed about the latest political and security developments.

Official authorities are all bound to submit to the General Directorate of State Security the information required regarding whatever jeopardizes the internal and external security of the state.

Article 103: Functions of the Judicial Police Commander

In addition to the joint tasks of the chiefs of corps stipulated in Article 6 of this decree, the Judicial Police Commander retains exclusive control over certain tasks and responsibilities. Those include:

• Receiving information related to major crimes and offences from different ISF units and referring such information to the relevant corps after unifying and arranging them, either automatically or upon instructions.
• Monitoring crime rates by conducting regular studies and statistics and devising special anti-crime plans.
• Keeping up with the latest scientific strategies to fight crime and proposing the steps necessary to adopt them.

Article 107- Functions of the Criminal Investigation Department

This department is responsible for tracking and deterring the following crimes:

• Crimes that tamper with the state security, such as those aimed at instigating terror and unrest and compromising national unity.
• Financial crimes such as counterfeiting, currency forgery, bankruptcy fraud, dummy corporations, illicit speculations and trademark imitations.
• International thefts arranged and executed by international networks or gangs such as vehicle and artifact thefts.
• Crimes deemed important in terms of the methods used or the significant impact they have on the public.

Explosives’ Bureaus

• Meeting the demands of all ISF units in terms of inspecting all the localities and vehicles where the presence of explosives is suspected.
• Transporting, defusing or detonating explosives, if any.
• Drafting detailed reports on every intervention made and submitting them to the relevant authorities.

Tracing Bureaus

• Meeting the demands of all ISF units in terms of tracking criminal movements.
• Collecting and lifting evidence from the crime scene with the means available at their disposal.
• Drafting detailed reports on every intervention made and submitting them to the relevant authorities.

Article 124- Functions of the Embassy Security Regiment

a. Guarding the headquarters of diplomatic missions as well as the facilities associated with them.

b. Protecting all members of the diplomatic missions and their families and guarding their residences.

c. Guarding Arab and foreign institutions.

d. Escorting heads and members of diplomatic missions during their movements.

e. Transporting documents related to the missions.

f. Escorting and protecting foreign figures.

Article 125- The protection and security centers mentioned in Article 124, paragraphs a. and b., are established pursuant to a decision taken by the Director General according to the need and upon the request of the head of the diplomatic mission, after seeking the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the regiment’s commanding officer.

The centers and services pointed out in paragraphs c, d, e and f of the above Article 124 are established by a decision taken by the regiment’s commanding officer, upon the request of the diplomatic mission chief.

Article 126- Functions of the Legislative and Executive Bodies’ Security Regiment

The below corps are responsible for guarding and protecting the legislative and executive bodies:

Parliament’s Guards

• Guarding the surroundings and vicinity of Parliament
• Guarding the Speaker’s residences
• Watching over the Speaker and his family
• Escorting the Speaker during his movements

Premiership Guards

• Guarding the surroundings and vicinity of the Cabinet
• Guarding the Premier’s residences
• Watching over the Premier and his family
• Escorting the Premier during his movements

Reservists

Guarding the executive and legislative entities not mentioned above.

Article 127- Functions of Public Administrations’ Security Regiment

This regiment, excluding the Airport Security, is tasked with:

• Guarding the premises of public administrations
• Guarding museums and tourist and archeological sites
• Protecting the state’s moveable property

The centers of security mentioned under this article are established pursuant to a decision taken by the Director General, upon the request of the relevant minister and after approaching the regiment’s commanding officer. The protection of movable property is carried out pursuant to a decision taken by the Regiment’s commanding officer upon the request of the head of the respective administration.

Article 128- Functions of the Beirut Airport Security Unit

The company commander of the Beirut Airport Security Unity is associated with the Airport Security Commander as far as operational matters are concerned but reports to the Commander of the Public Administrations’ Security Regiment when it comes to administrative and financial matters. The functions of this unit are established by the legal and regulatory provisions relating to Beirut Airport Security.

Article 129- Functions of Investigation Units

The regional scope of the investigation units within the Embassy Security Regiment and the Public Administrations’ Security Regiment includes all of Lebanon. These units are responsible for collecting and investigating security information concerning their respective regiments. They are also required to carry out special tasks dictated by the Director General after seeking the advice of the regiment’s commanding officer.

Article 130: Functions of Reserve Units

Each of the reserve units is required to provide those urgent and internal services stipulated under the functions of the apparatus, which are defined by the ISF regulatory act.

Functions of the Traffic Division

This division is in charge of all the matters related to traffic within the regional scope defined by the regional gendarmerie unit.

Functions of the Prison Division

This division is in charge of all the administrative and financial matters related to prisons and inmates.

Customs Brigade

Decree No. 1802, issued in 179 defines the Customs Brigade as a public armed force within the Lebanese Customs. It falls under the Minister of Finance and its powers are stipulated as follows:

• Monitoring land, aerial and maritime borders as well as all those areas falling under the supervision of the Lebanese Customs so as to implement all the customs regulations and provisions concerning the importation and exportation of goods.
• Investigating and verifying smuggling operations according to the provisions stipulated by the Customs Act and other regulations as well as setting up checkpoints and inspecting suspicious individuals.
• Assisting all the public armed forces and administrations according to the provisions established by the laws in force.

Conflicts and Overlaps

Although the Lebanese Army is tasked with defending the country and protecting its borders, the internal requirements of this mission appear to be overlapping with the work of other security bodies. In the past, the Deuxième Bureau (Army Intelligence) carried out several duties that were beyond its jurisdiction and had nothing to do with the security and safety of the country. The Army Intelligence was a tool manipulated by men of power to weaken their rivals.

One example of the conflicts and overlaps within the armed forces is that the General Security collects and examines information related to the State security while the Directorate General of State Security collects information related to internal security. This is proof that the security bodies are running similar security tasks, yet with different administrative aspects. Each body thus seems to be working to outperform its counterpart, which raises the possibility of merging the said bodies or the establishment of a coordination entity dedicated solely to harmonize work between different bodies.