Last Friday, the Minister of Interior in Lebanon’s caretaker government Bassam Mawlawi shared extremely troubling numbers about Lebanon’s prisons, revealing that the various prisons around the country are 300% overcapacity, with approximately 75% of inmates not having been convicted as of yet. Left awaiting trials for years on end, prisoners often spend more time behind bars than what their sentencing eventually doles out.
According to Mawlawi, the government is currently “studying the proposal from a legal point of view with the Minister of Justice and with the presidency of the government to find a solution to overcrowding.”
Roumieh prison: Mahmoud Farah, 52, who slept in toilets and suffered from illness, paralysis and neglect.
He ended up in the mortuary yesterday, two months before the end of his sentence. His brother said with grief: “Shall we pay th fees to deliver us the body of my brother?” pic.twitter.com/iJCDHFnCoo
Last Saturday it was revealed that the Roumieh prison in the Matn district had a ‘mysterious virus’ that resulted in the death of three inmates, with the viruses presumed to have been made worse due to the hygiene conditions in the overcrowded prisons.
The largest prison in the country, Roumieh currently holds 3,700 inmates despite having an official maximum capacity of 1,500. This has resulted in many being left without basic facilities such as beds and personal spaces. Despite prisons being historically ill-managed in Lebanon, the economic crisis only further deteriorated conditions in the facilities.
Possibly the most horrifying fact about this prison is that it contains a “Blue Building” where mentally ill prisoners are held until they are ‘cured’. An archaic law and complete governmental inaction has left so many mentally ill individuals behind bars for decades on end, and with no parole opportunities. You can learn more about the notorious Blue Building by giving our podcast below a listen.
A prisoner using the pseudonym Youssef Abdel Karim shared with Asharq Al-Awsat the harsh conditions that he and his fellow inmates have experienced, such as sharing a cell that holds up to 5 people with 18 people.
He also mentioned the lack of cleanliness and hygiene due to Lebanon’s water shortage, food rations, and being denied family visitations. “Most of the prisoners are now sentenced to death,” said Abel Karim. “Not as a result of court rulings, but because of viruses and the loss of medicine and food.”
