The Director General of the ISF, General Raed Abdallah, delivering a speech during the inauguration ceremony of Lebanon's first rehabilitation center for minors, in Baabda, on May 28, 2025. Photo: Mohammad Yassine / L'OLJ
BEIRUT — More than 25 years after it was first launched, Lebanon’s first rehabilitation center for minors is set to open in Baabda, in Beirut's suburbs.
The facility was inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar. It will accommodate more than 100 minors who were previously held in Roumieh prison, in the Metn district, Lebanon’s largest and most overcrowded detention facility.
A transfer of 90 minors, aged between 16 and 18, is expected to take place “within two or three weeks,” according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to L’Orient-Le Jour.
Project launched in 1999
The project to establish a center dedicated to minors in conflict with the law dates back to 1999. It was launched by then-Justice Minister Bahij Tabbara and implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The initial plan, which envisioned a facility in Baasir, in the Chouf district, ultimately fell through — despite a personal investment proposal from then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
After years of searching public land registries for a building that met international standards, progress resumed in 2020 with the intervention of the head of the Internal Security Forces' (ISF) prison service. Authorities identified a suitable site in Baabda, where an old ISF barracks was located.
“The existing building has been expanded with several annexes and can now accommodate up to 150 places,” said the same source. “There is a separation between those undergoing rehabilitation — with classrooms available for attending online courses in partnership with the Lebanese Alternative Learning association — and those at earlier stages of the process, who are granted fewer freedoms.”
The four years between the acquisition of the land and Wednesday’s inauguration were marked by repeated delays — initially due to COVID-19 restrictions and more recently because of the 13-month attrition war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The project was ultimately completed with financial support from the European Union, which contributed 4 million euros (around $4.5 million).
“We reaffirm the EU's strong commitment to human rights and justice reform in Lebanon,” said EU Ambassador Sandra De Waele, who attended the inauguration. “This center, compliant with international standards, provides a protective environment for children, promoting their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. This is a benefit not only for them but for the entire Lebanese society.”
'Every young person deserves a second chance'
Minister Hajjar said it was crucial to adopt a rehabilitative rather than punitive approach, grounded in the principles of restorative justice and offering psychological, educational and social support to minors. Several ISF members have received specialized training to supervise juvenile detainees. “We believe every young person deserves a second chance,” Hajjar said.
Until now, minors charged with criminal offenses were held in a separate wing within Roumieh prison, isolated from adult inmates but still inside the facility. “These children were affected by the overall context of the prison: when there were security issues, they suffered from restrictions on freedom and visitation rights like the other detainees. This situation meant that Lebanon was below the United Nations standards on the detention of minors,” said the above-mentioned source. Lebanon ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993.
“We do not hide the fact that the situation in Roumieh prison has become very difficult due to overcrowding and detention conditions unsuitable for minors, and we hope that this project will serve as a starting point for a model to be replicated for all detainees in Lebanese prisons,” stated General Raed Abdallah, ISF Director General, during the inauguration.
The announcement of the new facility’s opening comes shortly after Roumieh prison’s courtroom was officially reopened last week, part of a broader effort to ease overcrowding and accelerate the trials of detainees awaiting judgment.
