Now Lebanon - Protests rage in Roumieh - April 7, 2011

Shane Farrell, April 7, 2011




“Where are our children? What have you done to them?” screamed one angry protester before hurling a rock at a group of security personnel blocking the entrance to the Roumieh Prison complex. Security guards, clad head-to-toe in riot gear and supporting batons and see-through shields, blocked the propelled stone, just like they had many before.
The situation was tense, and when a convoy of vehicles left the compound, protesters hit them with stones and their fists, shattering the window of a passing truck.
Over the course of Wednesday afternoon, the demonstrators continued periodic bouts of stone throwing, and some told NOW Lebanon that they were planning to spend the night and continue the following day.
“We have been demonstrating outside the prison for two days now,” said 21-year-old Sara Sabra. “There are other demonstrations on the airport road, and we might even sleep out here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be protesting in front of the Justice Palace, too.”
The protesters – mainly women, some with young children – have family or friends in Roumieh. Many of them have been demonstrating since riots broke out in the prison on Saturday. Both prisoners and their supporters are angry at the desperate living conditions endured by inmates in Roumieh, and the fact that the majority of those being held there have not yet received trial. Many are calling for an amnesty for their relatives.
“They dragged them out to the balconies in the middle of the night while they were sleeping, beat them and stepped on their heads with boots,” screamed Fatma Allaw, whose son has been inside the prison for over two years without trial.
“My cousin has been in there for four years now, with no trial,” said another protester. “They keep postponing it; he doesn’t know anything, what’s happening or why. The judges are sleeping, the president doesn’t want to issue amnesty, and there is no government to convene.”
Currently, some 4,000 inmates are reportedly being held in Roumieh, Lebanon’s largest prison and home to around 65 percent of prisoners in the country. Yet the capacity of the detention center is just 1,500.
The protests outside the prison are a reflection of what’s happening on the inside. Following a brief respite on Sunday evening, when prisoner riots appeared to have been resolved, the violence flared up again on Monday.
In response, Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Army Special Forces combined on Tuesday to subdue the protests. But while the ISF claimed that the situation was under control by midday Wednesday, the violence had left two casualties. Two inmates died - one when a sound bomb exploded in his hand, another from a heart attack – and 14 were reported injured, according to human rights activist Ali Akil Khalil, who was mediating between prisoners and security forces.
As a result of the increasing violence within the prison walls, friends and relatives on the outside became more aggressive. Some attacked security officers with stones and other objects, while others blocked the airport road over the weekend.
Omar Nashabi, a lecturer in Sociology at Lebanese American University who specializes in prisons and correctional associations, stressed that “The prisoners and their families need to be convinced that the government is taking their demands seriously,” and warned that “If demands are not met, violence will continue.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud acknowledged inmates’ grievances as legitimate and stated that there is a plan to allocate 500 million LL ($333,333) in funding to improve prison conditions across the country.
Moreover, Lebanon First Bloc MP Robert Ghanem told NOW Lebanon that a draft bill has already been sent to parliament to reduce a prison year from 12 to nine months, one of the demands made by inmates, and to increase the opportunity for them to be given a reduced sentence for good behavior.
However, the delay in the formation of the cabinet, due in part to disputes over who will take the next Interior Ministry portfolio, has prevented parliament from voting on these bills.
Some, such as Lebanon First Bloc MP Mohammad Hajjar, believe that the protests may have become politicized. “Are there those who want to show that Interior Minister [Baroud] is incapable?” he asked rhetorically in an interview on MTV. “Are there those who want to show that security in the country is not good?” This view has since been echoed by others, including Kataeb MP Elie Marouni. Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch said that the protests within the prison began organically, but have since become politicized. “It seems it is intended to attack Minister Baroud directly or an attempt to speed up the process of cabinet formation through the exposure of the security situation,” he told NOW Lebanon, adding, “The prisoners are demanding their rights but blocking the roads in Baalbek and on the way to the airport road. Who does this usually, and who allows it?
Nadine Elali contributed reporting to this article.