Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda demanded Monday up to three years in prison for two members of the Internal Security Forces on charges of brutally beating inmates at Lebanon’s notorious Roumieh prison in April, a judicial source told The Daily Star.
The source said Abu Ghayda recommended that the two ISF corporals receive sentences ranging from two months to three years in prison for beating inmates at the Roumieh facility, insulting them, harming them, and treating them in an inhumane way.
He recommended the same sentence for a third corporal accused of filming the torture.
Abu Ghayda’s indictment said that “the suspects individually carried out the torturing act without the prior knowledge of the ISF and officers in charge of them.”
“They violated the given military instructions, beat up prisoners with a plastic and a wooden baton, which are not used by the ISF, and filmed their act,” the indictment said.
Another corporal and a sergeant who knew about the torture but failed to inform authorities were set free after paying a fine.
The defendants were referred to the military court to stand trial, the source added.
In June, leaked videos surfaced on social media showing ISF members brutally beating Islamist prisoners, drawing the ire of several officials and sparking nationwide protests.
Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr had charged the five suspects, referring them to Judge Abu Ghayda, who in turn issued arrest warrants against them and summoned four others, whose names appeared in the investigation.
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said the videos were filmed when security forces quelled riots by Islamist inmates in April.
A U.S. State Department report on global human rights released last month said torture and abuse were widely practiced by Lebanese security forces in 2014.
Also in June, Human Rights Watch urged Lebanese authorities to adopt wide-ranging measures to combat torture, calling on the government to bring national laws and practices in compliance with its international obligations.
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