UALM Asks Amnesty and HRW to Investigate Abuse in Lebanon's Prisons; Calls for Prompt Government Formation

Australia: The United Australian Lebanese Movement (UALM) is concerned with the state of human rights conditions in Lebanese prisons. The current rioting and subsequent deaths in custody in the Roumieh Prison in Lebanon is a result of two decades of negligence and malpractice in the field of correctional services.� Prisoners are held in cells with up to 15 fellow inmates with no medical treatment.� The politicised justice system has been crippled, and many in the overcrowded jail have been waiting up to 5 years for their case to be heard over common law issues, such as theft.Many have died in prison before and during the riots.� One prisoner did not live to face his trial over a mere traffic incident because he was repeatedly refused treatment for his diabetes. The problems stem from three main issues. Firstly, the lack of funding from the Finance Ministry which was under the control of the late Rafic Hariri who was the five time Prime Minister from 1992 to 2005.� In this period Lebanon witnessed institutionalised corruption, and saw its public debt grow by $50 billion.The Finance Ministry is currently controlled by Hariri's son, Saadedine Hariri, and his Future Movement political party, and has been since 2005. An estimated $11 billion is currently unaccounted for under his government.� Such funding could have been diverted to pay for the construction of jails in both North and South Lebanon as proposed by the Change and Reform Bloc in Lebanon's parliament.The second issue is the politicised judiciary and the political appointment of Said Mirza (an ally of Hariri) as Lebanon's Chief Prosecutor.� His involvement in the highly politicised Special Tribunal for Lebanon, investigating the killing of Rafic Hariri;� saw arbitrary arrests, constantly shifting accusations and propaganda being leaked to the media that have placed doubt in the integrity of the UN backed court.� This involvement has diverted attention away from reforming Lebanon's highly politicised judiciary that is struggling to deal with the backlog of court cases and the subversion of justice in the court and prison systems of Lebanon.The third issue is the conduct of Lebanon Internal Security Forces (ISF) and its leader, Brigadier Ashraf Rifi, another close ally of Lebanon's "care taker" Prime Minister Saadedine Hariri.� The ISF was responsible for arbitrary arrests and human rights abuse during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon under Rafic Hariri and continues to operate in the same manner today.� The treatment in Roumieh prison of Al Qaeda inspired terrorist groups such as Fateh Islam (that waged a brutal war with the Lebanese Army in 2007) is deemed luxurious compared to other inmates as these groups are believed to have links to Future Movement political figures.The "care taker" Interior Minister Ziad Baroud being a consensus appointment among Lebanon's different factions has been unable to implement any reforms and has struggled to reign in the actions of his subordinate, Brigadier Ashraf Rifi.����������� The UALM calls for the government in Lebanon to be formed quickly and initiate a state of change. Urgent reform must be enacted to include basic human rights.� The UALM also supports Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other humanitarian groups that shed light on the state of affairs in Lebanese prisons.The United Australian Lebanese MovementMedia Office

Source: http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/roumieh-prison-ualm-statement-zek-533.htm

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