How has the Lebanese legislator organized prisons in Lebanon, and is there any provision for holding detainees in facilities operated by security forces outside the General Directorate of Internal Security? Does overcrowding in prisons prevent the transfer of detainees to them?
It was notable the day before yesterday to see the content of the letter sent by the Chief Prosecutor, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, to the Director General of State Security, Major General Tony Saliba, which tasked him with the prompt transfer of all detainees in the facilities operated by State Security to the prisons managed by the Internal Security Forces and to inform him of the results.
The Lebanese legislator structured prisons by a decree issued in 1949, with amendments made to some of its articles multiple times, including in 1995 and 2005. There are 25 prisons distributed across the governorates, with a capacity of around 2,600 inmates, which can be increased to about 4,000. The number of detention facilities is 260, distributed among various security agencies, courts of justice, and facilities (border crossings).
The crisis lies in the rising numbers of prisoners and detainees, which have reached two-thirds of the prison population due to slow judicial proceedings and interruptions of sessions for various reasons. The crisis worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the strike of judges and court aides, among other reasons that exacerbated the number of detainees, leading to extreme overcrowding in prisons.
Prisons in Lebanon are under the Ministry of the Interior despite calls for them to be under the Ministry of Justice. In 2013, the government decided to return prisons to the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the law, but this has not been realized despite a five-year period being set to implement the government's decision. There is a General Directorate of Prisons and staff associated with it in the Ministry of Justice. Former Minister of Interior and Municipalities Marwan Charbel confirmed to "An-Nahar" that "the decision was made in 2013, and a ministerial committee was formed to create a project for building modern prisons to be under the Ministry of Justice, and a study for those prisons was completed at that time costing 120 million dollars."
Charbel points out that during President Michel Aoun's term, the foundation stone was laid for a prison in the north, but the project has not been completed to date. Regarding detention facilities, he notes that they are not suitable for keeping detainees for more than 24 hours, as they are intended for temporary detention before a detainee is transferred to prison by judicial order, which does not always happen.
The detention places at some security agencies are not prisons but rather facilities of army intelligence, general security, and state security, with mention that Al-Rihaniyah was added to the list of prisons along with the military court prison. There are many detainees, even those against whom indictments have been issued, who remain in these facilities for various reasons, including decisions from the public prosecution following requests from the detainees’ lawyers. The decision comes after being studied by the Chief Prosecutor and considering the justifications mentioned by the lawyer, which is a recurring issue.
According to constitutional and legal expert Saeed Malek, "public prosecutions commit legal violations by placing detainees in the detention centers of the general security and state security and the judicial police units, which obligates them to keep the detainees there, which is a violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure."
But what about State Security’s detention facilities? The Ministry of Interior does not have the authority to intervene in matters concerning the detainees held by State Security, nor does the Director General of State Security have any relation to requests for transferring a prisoner from one location to another, as it is related to a judicial decision that the Director General implements based on the decisions of the relevant public prosecutions.
Yesterday, the General Directorate of State Security issued a statement regarding the request to transfer prisoners in its custody, justifying its procedures, especially after the recent allegations surrounding the provision of a "five-star prison" for detainee Danny Al-Rashid and his brother, who are close to the Director General, asserting that the former is an advisor to him. In the statement, State Security said: "We have seen several media outlets report on the Chief Public Prosecutor's request to transfer prisoners from the General Directorate of State Security's detention facilities to the detention facilities and prisons of the General Directorate of Internal Security, and various unreal scenarios have emerged around this request, all aimed solely at casting doubt and accusation against the directorate."
The statement added: "The General Directorate of State Security, while refraining from engaging in disputes and arguments, only wishes to clarify the following points: Each detainee brought to the directorate was detained based on a judicial order specifying the detention facility where he will be held. More than six months ago, the directorate requested through written correspondence that the relevant parties transfer prisoners in its facilities to those of the Internal Security Forces because its capacity is limited."
The directorate highlighted that "coordination has been ongoing for a long time between it and the General Directorate of Internal Security, aiming to transfer detainees from State Security to the detention facilities and prisons of the Internal Security Forces based on the latter’s capacity to accommodate, especially given the overcrowding, noting that its facilities are double the authorized number for detaining individuals, particularly since more than 40 percent of them are non-Lebanese, and there is no capacity to accommodate more. We believe that the optimal solution is to encourage media, based on principles of national solidarity, to approach this issue from a humanitarian perspective and to pressure relevant parties, including international organizations, to hasten the establishment of new detention centers and prisons that meet all necessary humanitarian and legal requirements, where everyone is aware of the high costs of their establishment and the capabilities of the Lebanese state at present."
The statement concluded: "In the interest of upholding the highest standards of transparency and cooperation for the public interest, the General Directorate of State Security is fully prepared to respond to any inquiries or clarifications in case of confusion, which contributes to serving this interest and avoiding misunderstandings and misinformation."
