Iloubnan - June 26 is the International Day Against Torture - June 26,2010

June 26 is the International Day Against Torture. In the past weeks, several international NGO’s took advantage of the June 7 parliamentary elections in Lebanon to call on local political leaders to eliminate the practice of torture,
On the occasion of the International Day Against Torture on June 26 , the Khiam Center announced its intention to « pay tribute to all victims of detention and torture all over the world, particularly millions of Arab and Palestinians prisoners detained in Israeli prisons, those detained for their opinions waiting in Arab prisons against international laws , not to forget these millions of prisoners held in the prisons of American occupation in Irak ».

Different events such as a sit-in of the mothers of those who disappeared, an exhibition of photographs and letters from victims of torture, artistic activities, a forum on Human Rights and torture and non-violence, and even a recital by Lola Hatti at the Gibran Khalil Gibran Park, are planned for this particular day.

The Khiam Rehabilitation Center for the Victims of Torture is with Nassim Center and Restart, one of the three organizations, which supports in Lebanon those who have been victims of torture. According to the Khiam Center, the establishment of a national preventive mechanism against Torture (e.g. the permission for visits in prisons) is one of the four priority issues in Lebanon ; other than the deplorable living conditions in prisons, the issue of missing persons either in both Syrian and Israeli prisons or during the civil war, and finally the situation of individuals that were released from Israeli prisons to which the State pays a low compensation.

Outlawing torture
The Parliamentary elections in Lebanon have shed the light over the issue of Human Rights in the country, particularly in regards to torture. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch took advantage of this term to draw up an assessment of the situation of Human Rights in Lebanon and asked to place Human Rights at the heart of these elections. Each of these organizations had issued a report mentioning the remaining continuous practice of torture in Lebanon. However, Lebanon has ratified the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, adopted by the General Assembly on December 10 of 1984. Like the other 145 countries that have sanctioned it, Lebanon committed to outlawing torture. Moreover, the Convention explicitly prohibits invoking of "orders from superiors" or "exceptional circumstances" to justify torture.

This Convention was completed in April 2002 by a non-compulsory protocol that establishes a preventive mechanism, including visiting locations to examine how detainees are being treated, which has recently been ratified in Lebanon (December 2008).

Confessions” obtained following abuse
In its report, "Elections in Lebanon: Amnesty International's recommendations concerning Human Rights" established a few weeks before the elections, the international organization said that in Lebanon, "people are still being detained for long periods without charges and most of the time in secret, without any contact with the outside world. " The report states that despite the talks initiated by the Lebanese authorities on the possibility of setting up an independent national mechanism that aims at visiting detention centers in the country in order to prevent the use of torture and mistreatment "Torture and abuse remain widespread in Lebanon". "Among the methods of torture and abuse reported in the last two years comes the ballanco (suspension by the wrists previously tied behind the back), the farrouj or "roast chicken" (the victim is suspended by the feet and hands tied together to an iron bar passed under the knees), electric shocks, inserting a glass bottle into the anus, hitting ....” Amnesty International also deplores that "the allegations of torture are not the subject of any investigation even when a detained alleges in court that he was obliged to confess after being physically abused : such "confessions" are still being used as evidence during the trial.

Elected officials reluctant to investigate.
As for Human Rights Watch, it shed the light over the efforts made by the Lebanese authorities since 2005, in order to improve the situation of human rights. For example, in February 2007, the government allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to have access to detention centers. In December 2008, it ratified the non-compulsory Protocol related to the Convention against Torture. However, knowing that they must comply with the provisions of the Convention against Torture, signed by Lebanon in 2000, elected officials are reluctant to investigate and prosecute those accused of being responsible for torture. Furthermore, the National Unity Government formed after the Doha agreement in May 2008, pledged in a ministerial statement on August 4 of 2008, to take measures to shed light on the fate of thousands of people who disappeared during the civil war. Despite this official promise and the messages of support from the Lebanese political parties, the government didn’t take any concrete steps to discover what happened to the "disappeared". HRW had also established in its report, a list of practical recommendations for the country:

• The publication by the Interior Ministry of the results of the investigation launched last August following allegations of corruption and torture in Lebanese prisons.

• Encouraging the Syrian-Lebanese committee established in order to investigate the disappearances involving Syrian security forces aiming at making public its information.

• Insisting on the government to give the UN Committee against Torture the report that was originally supposed to be handed in 2001.