Detainees inside Roumieh prison. (Credit: Photo archive DR)
BEIRUT — The Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR), a human rights group that monitors the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in a new report examining the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanese prisons, detailed instances of torture, unjust trials and “inhumane” conditions while in detention under the jurisdiction of Lebanese authorities.
Here’s what we know:
• In 2020 the ACHR registered 25 cases of arbitrary detentions of Syrians in Lebanon and 139 in 2021, defined as the detention of individuals “without a legitimate reason or without legal justification.” According to them, arbitrary detention “poses a critical threat to the judicial system’s credibility in Lebanon,” limiting its effectiveness and strength.
• Syrian detainees are subject to rampant abuses and violations of their legal rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly articles 5 and 10, the report alleged.
• Article 5 under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” while Article 10 states that “everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”
• The number of prisoners in Lebanon reached 6,670 in 2020, exceeding the capacity of 3,500 people, according to the World Prison Brief, ranking Lebanon’s detention system among the most overcrowded in the Middle East. ACHR reported that the sanitary and public health conditions in Lebanese prisons fails to meet international standards, as most prisons “lack the basic needs of doctors and the provision of medicines.”
• Administrative, judicial and legal neglect severely affected Syrian detainees in the country, the report said, while Lebanon’s multifaceted crisis exponentially worsened their already challenging conditions. Many refugees now cannot afford to hire legal representatives.
• In a case documented by ACHR in 2021, a Syrian refugee was detained in Roumieh prison for more than two years without trial or legal team, the report said. The detainee was allegedly tortured during the investigation, which aimed to extract confessions from him, until he was charged.
• “They wanted him to confess to belonging to the Free Syrian Army, that he murdered army members of the Syrian Arab Republic and that he participated in conflict,” said Marielle Hayek, Programs Manager at ACHR. “In military court, he refused these charges and said that he was tortured. He still has not [undergone] sentencing as he cannot afford a lawyer and they won't hire [one] for him.”
• The man was severely injured and required surgery, but the prison’s administration refused to provide necessary treatment, according to the report, which described it as one case out of many. He was arrested in 2018, and until present day, Hayek said that “he still [does not] have legal representation, and is [still] being refused medical treatment while his condition is only worsening.”
• A spokesperson for the Internal Security Forces could not be reached for comment.