BEIRUT: Mothers and wives of prisoners staged a sit-in at the Justice Ministry Monday calling for the issuance of a general pardon for offenders.
The 100-strong crowd of female relatives presented their demands to caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar and general prosecutor Saeed Mirza in a letter, which also called for judicial reform and the fast-tracking of legal proceedings.
“It has been 30 years since Lebanon [last issued] a general pardon,” said Ali Akil Khalil, Lebanon ambassador of the International Organization for Human Rights, who presented the request to the ministry.
“[The politicians] should show compassion to the citizens that are in pain,” he said in a media statement.
Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria have all recently issued prisoner amnesties, either as a direct result of political upheaval or in bids to quell growing unrest.
However, the majority of those released were political prisoners, in contrast to Lebanon which has significantly fewer prisoners of conscience.
Regardless, protesters deem that there are many prisoners fit for release.
“There are people who have been in prison for two to three years but have not yet seen a judge,” Khalil told The Daily Star.
In addition, many prisoners, especially refugees, remain incarcerated even after serving their sentence, Khalil added.
It is thought that rectifying these oversights could help alleviate the harsh conditions in Lebanon’s jails, which witness mass overcrowding, poor hygiene and a lack of access to medical services. Physical abuse against prisoners is also commonly reported.
“The prison population of Roumieh prison could be halved from 2,000 to 1,000,” Khalil added.
Internal Security Forces largely attribute the delays in processing releases to manpower shortages or non-compliance from foreign embassies, although rights groups dispute these claims.
Special circumstances, such as terminal health conditions, should also be taken into account when considering early release, the protesters said.
Moves should also be taken to halt abuses stemming from “rampant corruption” of all kinds, from drug use to homosexuality, the statement added.
Demonstrators held talks with caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud last week and have reportedly won the support of the ministry, but stress that they remain skeptical about the pace of pledged reform. “[Baroud] is trying his best but you can’t simply leave all these people living in conditions like this indefinitely,” Khalil said.
The sit-in follows similar demonstrations, held outside Parliament last week, which asked sentence reductions for good behavior. –The Daily Star
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