By Van Meguerditchian

BEIRUT: The conditions in the Roumieh prison and the violation of basic human rights by security forces can no longer be tolerated, a human rights activist reiterated Thursday.
“We cannot keep watching the ministries blame each other, [shifting] responsible for the matter [prison reform] … while the Parliament keeps discussing and discussing without any tangible answers to the response to prisoners’ demands,” said the secretary-general of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, Wadih al-Asmar.

Speaking at a news conference, Asmar announced CLDH’s solidarity with the detainees and inmates in Lebanese prisons, a month after members of the Internal Security Force and the Lebanese Army put down violent riots at the Roumieh prison in a raid that left four dead and dozens injured.
A demonstration by the prisoners in Roumieh turned into a three-day riot, and they were joined by relatives who protested at the prison gates.
Most of the demands concern expediting trials and ending delays in trying suspects who have been detained as a precautionary measure.
“Today it is clear to us that the primary problem in administering prisons is overcrowding, which has made it impossible to respect the most basic human standards,” Asmar noted.

A hunger strike that began last week has attracted the support of more than 1,500 inmates at Roumieh. Many prisoners hung posters at the entrances of different prison blocs, asking their neighboring inmates to join the strike in protest at their demands going ignored by authorities.
According to Asmar, reducing the number of prisoners in Roumieh would significantly reduce the prison problem in the country. “As a result of overcrowding, we find in most of cases that detainees are jammed together with six other inmates in an 8-meter- square room,” Asmar added.

However, a recent initiative by the ISF and the Interior Ministry saw the numbers of inmates at Roumieh fall from 3,700 to 3,100, as most foreign prisoners were transferred to other detention centers in the country, while others were extradited.
But Asmar said that politicians show little interest in reforming the administration of prisons because there are no electoral gains from the issue. “Prison reform is not a popular electoral issue so it won’t top their [politicians’] priorities.”

Administration of prisons has been carried out by the Interior Ministry since an official decree in 1949, but the Justice Ministry is set to take over toward the end of next year.
But before that switch is made, Asmar said, several reforms should be passed, including the amendment of Article 108 and shortening the length of “a prison year” to be equal to nine instead of 12 months.
Lebanon’s controversial Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows for precautionary detention, whereby security forces may detain, without a defined time limit, suspects accused of certain crimes, especially those pertaining to state security.
Asmar also called for closing down several detention centers in the country including the jail at the Defense Ministry in Yarze and the detention center at the Directorate General of the ISF in Beirut.

A non-governmental organization, CLDH is a local human rights watchdog which focuses mainly on fighting arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and impunity for individuals who commit gross human rights violations.
Asmar encouraged an increased awareness of the issue, to help rid the country of all violations in prisons, “so that depriving people of freedom would be the only punishment,” he added.