| The Daily Star |
BEIRUT: Parliament’s Human Rights Committee called on the authorities to speed up reforms at Roumieh prison Thursday, putting forth several recommendations to accelerate the process.
Following their meeting at Nijmeh Square, committee chairman and Zahrani MP Michel Musa urged the legislature to unify the administrative bodies operating in Roumieh prison and end the presence of the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch in the complex.
“The committee agreed to three recommendations that will be transferred to the Parliament’s general assembly through Speaker Nabih Berri,” Moussa told reporters.
“The government should end the illegal case of Information Branch’s administration that operates in an independent building in Roumieh.”
Metn MP Ghassan Moukheiber, who also took part in Thursday’s meeting, told The Daily Star that it was unacceptable to have three administrations for the Roumieh prison.
According to Moukheiber, personnel from the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry-affiliated Gendarmerie, and the ISF’s Information Branch are currently stationed at the prison.
“What we want to do is to unite the administration and end the current illegal presence of the Information Branch,” said Moukheiber.
The committee also asked the Higher Relief Committee to specify how it will spend the funds allocated for rehabilitating Roumieh and building new detention centers.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s caretaker Cabinet allocated an emergency fund of LL7 billion when violent riots broke out in the Roumieh prison in April, following calls by human rights activists to improve living standards for inmates of Lebanon’s most notorious prison complex.
Although there have been no further riots since a joint ISF-Army raid to end the rioting, problems with the living standards of inmates and the delay in trials for prisoners who are not yet convicted continue to plague prison reform efforts.
“We want to know the fate of the LL7 billion … has there been any spending of the money since the riots started?” asked Moukheiber.
The three-day riot in the Roumieh prison in April turned violent when the ISF and the Army raided the complex to restore order. Several inmates were killed and dozens of others injured as a result of the confrontation with the security personnel.
The committee also requested to be given an update on the ongoing investigation of April’s riots. “We want to know about the steps the investigation took in recent months to uncover the truth and determine who was responsible for it,” said Musa.
The faceoff between the ISF and those calling for prisoner rights escalated recently when senior human rights activist Ali Akil Khalil accused the ISF Gendarmerie of covering up facts related to the prison inmates’ living standards.
“They [ISF] filed a lawsuit against me for trying to advocate for the rights of the inmates and since then I have not been allowed to visit the Roumieh prison and meet prisoners who have been kept in solitude,” Khalil told The Daily Star Thursday.
Khalil also said that the ISF was carrying out its investigation of the April riots without the involvement of human rights watch groups.
Following their meeting at Nijmeh Square, committee chairman and Zahrani MP Michel Musa urged the legislature to unify the administrative bodies operating in Roumieh prison and end the presence of the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch in the complex.
“The committee agreed to three recommendations that will be transferred to the Parliament’s general assembly through Speaker Nabih Berri,” Moussa told reporters.
“The government should end the illegal case of Information Branch’s administration that operates in an independent building in Roumieh.”
Metn MP Ghassan Moukheiber, who also took part in Thursday’s meeting, told The Daily Star that it was unacceptable to have three administrations for the Roumieh prison.
According to Moukheiber, personnel from the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry-affiliated Gendarmerie, and the ISF’s Information Branch are currently stationed at the prison.
“What we want to do is to unite the administration and end the current illegal presence of the Information Branch,” said Moukheiber.
The committee also asked the Higher Relief Committee to specify how it will spend the funds allocated for rehabilitating Roumieh and building new detention centers.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s caretaker Cabinet allocated an emergency fund of LL7 billion when violent riots broke out in the Roumieh prison in April, following calls by human rights activists to improve living standards for inmates of Lebanon’s most notorious prison complex.
Although there have been no further riots since a joint ISF-Army raid to end the rioting, problems with the living standards of inmates and the delay in trials for prisoners who are not yet convicted continue to plague prison reform efforts.
“We want to know the fate of the LL7 billion … has there been any spending of the money since the riots started?” asked Moukheiber.
The three-day riot in the Roumieh prison in April turned violent when the ISF and the Army raided the complex to restore order. Several inmates were killed and dozens of others injured as a result of the confrontation with the security personnel.
The committee also requested to be given an update on the ongoing investigation of April’s riots. “We want to know about the steps the investigation took in recent months to uncover the truth and determine who was responsible for it,” said Musa.
The faceoff between the ISF and those calling for prisoner rights escalated recently when senior human rights activist Ali Akil Khalil accused the ISF Gendarmerie of covering up facts related to the prison inmates’ living standards.
“They [ISF] filed a lawsuit against me for trying to advocate for the rights of the inmates and since then I have not been allowed to visit the Roumieh prison and meet prisoners who have been kept in solitude,” Khalil told The Daily Star Thursday.
Khalil also said that the ISF was carrying out its investigation of the April riots without the involvement of human rights watch groups.
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