Elias Bejjani/Text and Video: Why the Disgraceful Silence on Hezbollah’s Prisons After the Horrors of Assad’s Human Slaughterhouses and Human Presses? From the Archives: Enclosed Reports, Videos, & commentaries Exposing Hezbollah’s Prisons December 17, 2024
Despite all the disgraceful, inhumane, and unprecedented crimes in modern history that were revealed regarding prisons and detention centers in Syria after the fall of the tyrant Assad regime, and despite exposing the bloody practices suffered by both the Lebanese and Syrian people for 61 years under Baathist rule, 54 of which were under the reign of Assad’s father and son… Despite these resounding scandals that shook the world and shocked the consciences of decent human beings, silence still dominates regarding Hezbollah’s Persian, Jihadist, terrorist, and criminal prisons in Lebanon.
These are terrifying and illegal detention centers and prisons that many journalists and politicians have written about, covered by local, Arab, and international media, with some of their secrets revealed by detainees who managed to escape after enduring the most horrific types of torture (many such reports are attached below).
Among those who bravely exposed the reality of Hezbollah’s prisons are Arab, international, and local television stations, as well as many Lebanese sovereign journalists and activists, most notably researcher Lokman Slim, whom Hezbollah assassinated and continues to prevent investigations into his murder.
In previous articles, most dating back to 2015 (attached below), we focused on the file of Hezbollah’s prisons and the testimonies of those lucky enough to have escaped without being killed. It is worth noting that most of these individuals were from the Shiite community, rejecting Hezbollah’s terrorism, Persian influence, and the fundamentalist lifestyle it imposed on their areas and families.
Hezbollah, the terrorist group that has assassinated hundreds of Lebanese opposed to its occupation, continues to fraudulently market what it falsely calls the “suffering of the detainees of Khiam Prison,” which, before 2000, operated in the Southern border strip area under the supervision of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Israeli security forces. This prison adhered to all international prison standards; the International Red Cross regularly inspected it, and detainees’ families visited them. Compared to Assad’s prisons, most Lebanese prisons, and Hezbollah’s detention centers, it was practically a paradise—a hotel with hundreds of stars. Nevertheless, Hezbollah attacked, assassinated, and fabricated charges against many Lebanese, creating false judicial files to persecute those who worked in that prison, among them, the USA/Lebanese Victim, Amer Fakhoury
Today, after the fall of Assad’s regime and the exposure of the atrocities in its prisons, and after Hezbollah’s terrorist group was defeated and caused its reckless and senseless war on Israel, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,000 Lebanese, injuries and disabilities to over 30,000 others, and the destruction of most towns and villages in the South, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut—what is required, without fear or hesitation and in accordance with local and international law, is to uncover Hezbollah’s prisons, do justice to those imprisoned, and reveal the identities of those who killed and tortured them.
Furthermore, the international community and human rights organizations, particularly the International Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, must act immediately to conduct transparent investigations, uncover the locations of Hezbollah’s prisons, and document the crimes committed within them. The Lebanese government also bears responsibility for launching a serious investigation to reveal the full facts about these illegal and secret detention centers and to hold those responsible accountable before justice.
Hezbollah, which has forcibly imposed itself as an Iranian occupying authority in Lebanon since 2005 through its weapons, bears full responsibility for all the criminal practices inside and outside its prisons in Lebanon, as well as in Syria, where it fought alongside the Assad regime against the Syrian people.
In fairness and in accordance with the rule of law, the current media blackout and prevailing fear surrounding the exposure of Hezbollah’s prisons and detention centers must come to an end. Accordingly, anyone who overlooks or justifies Hezbollah’s prisons, detention centers, or crimes under the pretexts of “resistance” or “liberation” is complicit in cementing Iran’s occupation of Lebanon and displacing its people.
History will not forgive the collaborators and cowards, and the time has come to raise the voice of truth, expose the atrocities of this terrorist group, prosecute its leaders, dissolve it, and prevent it from playing any role in Lebanon under any name or justification.
