The Daily Star - Debate on Lebanon’s prison situation still rages - April 20, 2011

By Annie Slemrod

The Daily Star BEIRUT: The fires set by protesters earlier this month at Roumieh prison may have been extinguished, but the debate about how to avoid any future uprisings still rages. A group of activists, government representatives, and family members of Roumieh inmates met Thursday to discuss this issue, but seemed only to agree on the fact that there is a problem in Lebanon’s prison system. On April 2, Roumieh prisoners and their families began several days of protests and riots that resulted in the death of four inmates, dozens of injuries, and one attempted self-immolation in front of Beirut’s Justice Palace. The Khiam Rehabilitation Center for the Victims of Torture (KRC), held a workshop Tuesday at Hamra’s Commodore Hotel entitled “The Roumieh prison uprising: the needed solutions.” Mohammad Safa, KRC’s secretary general, blamed the uprising on a number of factors, including small cells, a lack of medical services, prisoners’ social isolation, and poor management at Roumieh. “The uprising,” he said, “shows the deteriorating health, psychological and social situation of the prisoners.” The uprising came to an end April 8, several days after the ISF entered the prison, a move that Safa questioned, saying that “the formal solution by the government [of storming the prison] was far from any real solution for [an event that had] a humanitarian cause.” Antoinette, whose son Jamil Abu Anni died during the uprising, described the medical problems he faced in Roumieh. Before the protests, Antoinette said she asked an ISF officer to move her son, “away from the prisoners who smoke, because my son has an allergy against smoke, but he was not moved.” Abu Anni had diabetes, and he died from a lack of insulin during the uprising. “My son asked the guard to give [him] an insulin injection ; but he didn’t get it,” Antoinette added. A representative of the Ministry of the Interior and the ISF, Col. Ziad Kaybe, spoke of the challenges involved in changing the prison system: “when things are not under control [in a prison], it’s hard to work on reform.” Shortly after the riots, the ISF did manage to deliver 4,000 mattresses, 1,000 gallons of drinking water and seven water tanks to the Roumieh complex, according to an ISF statement. Kaybe noted that [the problem of Lebanon’s prisons] is a difficult issue … [for which] everyone should be responsible … [but] the ISF is one of the best in the world in dealing with all security matters.” The ISF, which is under the control of the Interior Ministry, will not be in charge of Lebanon’s prisons for much longer. A 2006 agreement signed by the Justice and Interior Ministries is set to transfer control of the prison systems to the Ministry of Justice in 2012. Nizar Saghieh, a human rights lawyer, questioned Lebanon’s widespread policy of precautionary detention. Caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar recently stated that less than one third of Lebanon’s inmates have been convicted of a crime. Of the 3,700 detainees in Roumieh, 721 have convictions. There are an additional 222 foreign inmates in Roumieh who have finished their sentences. “No one is considered innocent until proven guilty in Lebanon,” said Saghieh. Safa, KRC’ s secretary general, also said that “one of the main problems is the delay in trials.” When a new draft law by the Justice Ministry [about precautionary detention] was sent to the Parliament, the legislative chamber vetoed it and said the problem is with the judges and not the law,” said Saghieh. “Is there oppression in prisons? Yes there is,” he said. “I hope that the uprising that happened in Roumieh will pressure the authorities to review these laws.”