The Daily Star - Re-engineering prison management in Lebanon: a call for handling crises - April 14, 2011

 By Gilbert Doumit
The Daily Star

In the midst of political aggravation and rising discourse on the riots in Roumieh prison, Lebanese citizens find themselves once again in the face of a confusing crisis.
For over two weeks now, reports on violence and chaos in the prisons have led politicians to speak up against the current management system. What is needed now more than ever is a holistic rethinking of the way in which our prisons are managed. Only real structural change with true will to transform the current system can remedy to the current crisis. Any piecemeal attempts will remain short-lived with recurrent chaos and violence remaining inevitable.
Lebanese prisons are overcrowded and mismanaged at many levels. Caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar disclosed that of the 5,511 individuals spread across Lebanon’s 23 prisons, just 1,655 (30 percent) have been convicted of a crime. Of Roumieh’s estimated 3,700 detainees, 721 have been convicted. In addition, there are 222 foreign inmates in the prison who have served their sentences but remain incarcerated. Various legal, social and cultural factors add to the problem. Often blamed, the Internal Security Forces are also victims of this system. In a 2010 study by Beyond Reform & Development, we were able to identify the self-governance system in which inmates and ISF members are living under in 11 peripheral prisons. ISF members and inmates are both incarcerated by the cruelty of Lebanese laws and the archaic infrastructural in prisons. The absence of law enforcement by central government leads to inmates and ISF members suffering from unbearable living conditions.
Both sides; ISF and inmates, fall into the trap of feeling “detained” and losing their freedom unjustly because of a larger system that protects neither their rights nor their interests. They both feel their lives are on hold, waiting for the time when the system would end their shared misery and bring back their hope and trust in its ability to regain balance. Much like society at large, prisons became a place housing divisions, lacking opportunity, and basic rights.
In our study with over 70 members of the ISF in 11 prisons, we noted that both ISF and inmates suffer from huge bureaucratic inefficiencies controlling their destiny and the future of their families. Both sides lack opportunities to develop their capacities, improve their livelihoods, and secure income for their families. Both sides fear society’s judgment of their parts and yearn for society to reshape their image and become more accepting of their role. Both sides seek to be reintegrated in a social system that provides them with justice, equity and protects their human rights.
The Interior and Municipalities Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry are in dire need to rethink the overall way in which Lebanese prisons are managed. It is crucial to consider the restructuring of the Internal Security Forces, redistributing roles, and supporting them with expertise in prisons management, rehabilitation, and legal aid. The Lebanese government should plan for the development of a team of civilian professionals dedicated to prisons management.
Next steps should also seek to design a Competency Framework for Prisons Management. The framework should be designed around respecting human rights and international conventions. It should include joint responsibility between civilian experts and the ISF.
Moreover there is a need to enhance communication mechanisms between security authorities, judicial bodies, relevant ministries, and civil society organizations working on serving prisons.
Also, government and civil society should collaborate on improving the types and levels of services in prisons through a hybrid system of a central security apparatus and socio-economic benefits. Finally the re-engineering of prisons and separation of inmates based on the type of crimes, duration of sentences is a crucial at this stage
A show of serious concern and responsiveness to the current situation would incorporate these empirical findings into the long-term solution for Lebanese prisons. There is a danger that, while the situation deteriorates, Lebanese policy-makers enter into a futile public debate on who’s to blame. The longer the situation persists in the prisons, the higher the risk of it turning into a larger social issue. Families of inmates and ISF members should not have to suffer for the carelessness and inequity of the system as their children are.
I believe that there is sufficient evidence to instigate a true reform process. There is a need for government efforts to go beyond responding to the crisis towards pursuing real change in the policies and systems that led to this crisis. Roumieh, like all peripheral prisons, is a ticking time-bomb. Our hope is that Lebanese statesmen can rise to the occasion and act responsibly toward the detained men and women, both as inmates and as ISF members.
Gilbert Doumit is the managing partner of Beyond Reform & Development, a social business offering policy and public administration consulting across the Middle East. BRD visited local prisons last year conducting over 70 interviews with ISF staff, as part of the Cinemarena project led by the Social Affairs Ministry, and in collaboration with the Interior & Municipalities Ministry, supported by the Italian Development Cooperation.