Roumieh prison. (Credit: Marwan Assaf)
One of the collateral effects of the ongoing war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah has been the worsening of prison overcrowding, now exceeding 300 percent of capacity.
This surge is due in part to the transfer of around 600 inmates from Baalbeck and southern Lebanon prisons to more secure facilities, as well as security challenges in transporting detainees to interrogation hearings, preventing them from submitting release requests.
In response, Acting Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, issued a directive on Tuesday to all courts and judicial services across the country, instructing them to facilitate the release requests of prisoners held in pretrial detention.
“The detainees are permitted to sign release requests within their prison facilities,” the directive stated, assigning the National Human Rights Commission the task of collecting these requests and forwarding them to the appropriate courts in coordination with the Internal Security Forces (ISF). The courts are expected to address these requests with the “desired expediency,” the document continued.
Established by a 2016 law, the National Human Rights Commission is government-funded yet operates independently. Comprising 10 members selected from the fields of law, psychology, and medicine, its mandate includes monitoring Lebanon’s adherence to human rights and international humanitarian law. The commission also handles complaints and reports concerning violations of these rights.
The decision to assign the task of collecting detainee release requests to the commission has raised concerns among some members of the bar association.
One lawyer interviewed by L’Orient-Le Jour questioned whether this responsibility would be carried out in coordination with the attorneys managing their clients’ cases. “The commission’s actions should not override those of the lawyers involved,” he said.
In his directive, Hajjar referenced Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP), which stipulates that pretrial detention for misdemeanors cannot exceed two months, with one possible extension in cases of “extreme necessity.”
For felonies, the same article limits pretrial detention to six months, also renewable only once, with exceptions for crimes such as homicide, drug-related offenses, state security violations, terrorism and crimes posing “serious danger.” The law also excludes repeat offenders from benefiting from these detention limits.
Seventy percent of inmates in pretrial detention
According to official figures provided to L’Orient-Le Jour, nearly 6,000 of Lebanon’s approximately 8,500 prisoners — 70 percent of the prison population — are in pretrial detention. Article 108 does not apply to all 6,000 detainees awaiting trial, as many are repeat offenders or charged with crimes excluded from this provision.
Joseph Eid, head of the Prison Commission at the Beirut Bar Association, said that “some detainees, who should benefit from time-limited pretrial detention, have served longer than the maximum sentences for the charges they face.” Eid welcomed the prosecutor’s directive, which “encourages” judges to expedite legal procedures.
Judges interviewed by the paper confirm that, since the escalation of the war last September, many release requests have been processed “remotely,” with some decisions made from judges’ homes, as security concerns prevent access to courthouses.
In addition to enforcing Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits pretrial detention beyond legal time limits, Eid advocated for the application of Article 137, which grants compensation to detainees in cases where charges are dismissed. “It’s about protecting liberties and the public rights of those facing trial,” Eid said.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour, translated by Sahar Ghossoub.
