By Wassim Mroueh
BEIRUT: A report on prison conditions is recommending the establishment of an emergency board composed of representatives from seven ministries to take steps to ameliorate conditions in prisons throughout the country.
The board would carry out tasks such as maintaining electrical wiring, water pipes and improving sanitation in prisons, and the Health Ministry will temporarily provide medical care for prisoners.
Installing cameras for monitoring and recording, continuing to provide pre-paid card phones [for inmates], supplying physical exercise equipment in outdoor yards and setting up a complaints bureau in prisons should also be on the board’s agenda, according to the report.
The board will be formed of the Interior, Justice, Social Affairs, Transport and Public Porks, Health, Energy and Telecommunications Ministries.
The completion of the first part of “The Comprehensive National Report on Prison Conditions in Lebanon, Conclusions and Recommendations” was announced by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel during a news conference at the Interior Ministry Friday.
The preparation of the report was financed by a 400,000 Euros grant financed by Italy, which will also be used to equip and modernize the central kitchen and buying a new generator for the Roumieh prison. The project to improve prisons began in 2010.
Also speaking at the news conference were Omar Nashabe, a criminal justice expert, and Italy’s Ambassador to Lebanon Guiseppe Morabito.
The report suggested short-term recommendations like completing work on the new kitchen in the Roumieh prison and training some prisoners to staff it, along with opening the Bint Jbeil prison for women, which would be the only women’s prison in the south governorate.
It also called for enacting a new law to regulate prisons to replace the old decree of 1949.
As for the medium-term recommendations, the report called for the construction of two central prisons in the south and north, in line with standards specified in Oct. 2010.
Closing down prisons in Baalbek, Jub Jennin, Jbeil and Zghorta and transferring their inmates to a building in Roumieh was also recommended by the report.
There was also a recommendation that officers and guards be trained on prison management under the supervision of the Justice Ministry at the “National School for Prison Administration” in France.
In the long run, the report called for constructing a central prison in every governorate to replace prisons that currently fall short of international standards and for transferring the control of prisons from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry.
It also called for separating the prisoners of special security status from other inmates and for the complete segregation of juveniles and adults.
Roumieh prison saw deadly riots in April which claimed the lives of three, as inmates protested chronic overcrowding and called for hastening their trials.
Charbel noted that the report was prepared after a specialized research team, headed by Nashabe and supervised by former Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, conducted a “scientific, comprehensive and in-depth” study that thoroughlysurveyed 23 prisons across Lebanon.
“A handbook was formed for every prison outlining its architectural details, its infrastructure, along with the legal, social and psychological state of prisoners and guards,” Charbel said.
For his part, Nashabe noted that a team of specialized professionals, including lawyers, engineers and researchers in sociology and psychology, visited the 23 prisons and met with guards, prisoners and inspected places of detention.
“The two-dimensional plans of every prison were drawn and three-dimensional maps were also made for some cells to figure out the living space allocated for every prisoner,” Nashabe said.
Prisoners were asked to identify problems they had with their living conditional and psychological issues in a survey, said Nashabe.
The report also touched on whether prison laws and regulations were being respected in prisons.
Nashabe also pointed out that part of the report’s findings would not be publicized due to their highly sensitive nature, but added that the conclusions and recommendations would be posted on the Interior Ministry’s website, www.moim.gov.lb.
A book that included these conclusions and recommendations, along with a briefing on prison conditions in Lebanon, was distributed to reporters.
For his part, Morabito said that the Italian Embassy “has approved the decision to be part of the prison improvement process in Lebanon.”
BEIRUT: A report on prison conditions is recommending the establishment of an emergency board composed of representatives from seven ministries to take steps to ameliorate conditions in prisons throughout the country.
The board would carry out tasks such as maintaining electrical wiring, water pipes and improving sanitation in prisons, and the Health Ministry will temporarily provide medical care for prisoners.
Installing cameras for monitoring and recording, continuing to provide pre-paid card phones [for inmates], supplying physical exercise equipment in outdoor yards and setting up a complaints bureau in prisons should also be on the board’s agenda, according to the report.
The board will be formed of the Interior, Justice, Social Affairs, Transport and Public Porks, Health, Energy and Telecommunications Ministries.
The completion of the first part of “The Comprehensive National Report on Prison Conditions in Lebanon, Conclusions and Recommendations” was announced by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel during a news conference at the Interior Ministry Friday.
The preparation of the report was financed by a 400,000 Euros grant financed by Italy, which will also be used to equip and modernize the central kitchen and buying a new generator for the Roumieh prison. The project to improve prisons began in 2010.
Also speaking at the news conference were Omar Nashabe, a criminal justice expert, and Italy’s Ambassador to Lebanon Guiseppe Morabito.
The report suggested short-term recommendations like completing work on the new kitchen in the Roumieh prison and training some prisoners to staff it, along with opening the Bint Jbeil prison for women, which would be the only women’s prison in the south governorate.
It also called for enacting a new law to regulate prisons to replace the old decree of 1949.
As for the medium-term recommendations, the report called for the construction of two central prisons in the south and north, in line with standards specified in Oct. 2010.
Closing down prisons in Baalbek, Jub Jennin, Jbeil and Zghorta and transferring their inmates to a building in Roumieh was also recommended by the report.
There was also a recommendation that officers and guards be trained on prison management under the supervision of the Justice Ministry at the “National School for Prison Administration” in France.
In the long run, the report called for constructing a central prison in every governorate to replace prisons that currently fall short of international standards and for transferring the control of prisons from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry.
It also called for separating the prisoners of special security status from other inmates and for the complete segregation of juveniles and adults.
Roumieh prison saw deadly riots in April which claimed the lives of three, as inmates protested chronic overcrowding and called for hastening their trials.
Charbel noted that the report was prepared after a specialized research team, headed by Nashabe and supervised by former Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, conducted a “scientific, comprehensive and in-depth” study that thoroughlysurveyed 23 prisons across Lebanon.
“A handbook was formed for every prison outlining its architectural details, its infrastructure, along with the legal, social and psychological state of prisoners and guards,” Charbel said.
For his part, Nashabe noted that a team of specialized professionals, including lawyers, engineers and researchers in sociology and psychology, visited the 23 prisons and met with guards, prisoners and inspected places of detention.
“The two-dimensional plans of every prison were drawn and three-dimensional maps were also made for some cells to figure out the living space allocated for every prisoner,” Nashabe said.
Prisoners were asked to identify problems they had with their living conditional and psychological issues in a survey, said Nashabe.
The report also touched on whether prison laws and regulations were being respected in prisons.
Nashabe also pointed out that part of the report’s findings would not be publicized due to their highly sensitive nature, but added that the conclusions and recommendations would be posted on the Interior Ministry’s website, www.moim.gov.lb.
A book that included these conclusions and recommendations, along with a briefing on prison conditions in Lebanon, was distributed to reporters.
For his part, Morabito said that the Italian Embassy “has approved the decision to be part of the prison improvement process in Lebanon.”
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