Rifi, Mashnouq Vow to Punish Culprits as Roumieh ‘Torture’ Videos Surface
Naharnet/June 21/15/The ministers of justice and interior pledged accountability Sunday after videos of Internal Security Forces guards abusing and torturing Roumieh prison inmates went viral on social networking websites. In a press conference he held after a meeting with a Muslim Scholars Committee delegation, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi described the conduct as a “crime at the national and humanitarian levels.” “We will continue the investigations until the end and this crime cannot go unpunished,” Rifi vowed, revealing that two of the perpetrators have been detained. “I contacted the state prosecutor and asked him to carry on with the investigations until the end,” the minister added. In a telephone interview with state-run National News Agency, State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud confirmed that “two ISF members who tortured a detainee at the Roumieh prison are currently being interrogated.” Earlier on Sunday, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq’s press office issued a statement saying the videos were filmed “during the latest riot and raid at Roumieh prison’s Block D.” “After the interior minister reviewed the videos, he instructed the relevant security authorities to carry out a transparent and immediate investigation,” the statement added. “The culprits were referred to the relevant judicial authorities to face the severest penalties. As the interior minister condemns this incident, he vows that he will not hesitate to take all the legal measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts,” his office said. It noted that Mashnouq called the justice minister and agreed with him on the need to “coordinate the investigations in such cases” and to “implement the law in Lebanese prisons in a manner that fully preserves the inmates’ humanitarian rights.”The interior minister is scheduled to hold a press conference at 5:00 pm to discuss the issue. Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment. Islamist prisoners who were being held at Roumieh’s Block B transferred to a new ward following increased lawlessness and worsening conditions. In January, security forces took full control of the notorious Block B after storming the building and seizing illegal items from Islamist prisoners.Around 800 to 900 inmates, most of them Islamists, were transferred to the new Block D.
Rifi: Two guards arrested for torturing inmates
The Daily Star/ June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: Two prison guards accused of torturing Roumieh inmates have been arrested, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said Sunday, one day after online footage showed the perpetrators beating prisoners with a plastic rod. Rifi said he was informed of the arrests by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. “The criminals will be punished,” he added during a news conference, asserting that anyone who is proven to have participated or covered the crime will be subject to arrest. “I pledge to pursue the investigation until the last perpetrator is in custody.” State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, who was tasked by Rifi to investigate the incident, said Sunday that he is currently interrogating two officers from the Internal Security Forces who were taped beating prisoners. The videos that surfaced on Youtube Saturday showed over a dozen Roumieh prisoners crouching on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. The men, who were stripped shirtless, were beaten severely with a long green rod. One guard was shown groping a prisoner before hammering his back with repetitive blows. The victim was writhing and wailing in pain as his back turned red from the beating.The guard then made his way to the opposite corner of the room where he began striking another tattooed prisoner. He then proceeds to kick the victim. A follow up video showed another prisoner, wearing only his underwear, crouching in the corner as a guard approached. The guard questioned the inmate on the charges against him, to which prisoner replied he was incarcerated for “transporting terrorists.” The guard then struck him several times with the same green rod on the face, back and legs.The guard then ordered the prisoner to kiss his feet and subsequently kicked him in the face with his boot. The videos were circulated heavily on social media and met with a heavy outcry from critics about the prevalence of torture at Lebanon’s largest prison. The footage that surfaced Saturday was shot when security forces quelled inmate riots that rocked the prison’s Block D in April, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday in a statement released by his news office. Machnouk responded by condemning the torture of inmates, asserting that he would not hesitate to take all legal measures to ensure that such an incident would not be repeated. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt took to Twitter to denounce the torture footage, likening it to “a scene from a Syrian prison.” Syrian prisons are notorious for their torturous practices and their mistreatment of inmates.Pro-Islamist Twitter pages have identified the prisoners as Sheikh Omar Atrash from the northeastern border town of Arsal, Qatibah al-Asaad from the Lebanese border area of Wadi Khaled and Wael al-Samad from the Dinnieh town of Bakhoun in north Lebanon. Machnouk: At least 4 officers accused of inmate torture
The Daily Star/June. 21, 2015/BEIRUT: There are more than just two security officers accused of torturing inmates in Roumieh Prison, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday, after online footage showed two ISF officers beating prisoners with a plastic rod. “These two officers are not alone,” Machnouk said in a news conference held only hours after the arrest of the two men was announced. “At least four others also committed mistakes and I have referred them to the judiciary,” he added. In addition to those who were arrested, the interior minister said that other officers accused of torturing inmates have been kicked out of the ISF. Though only the faces of two prison guards appear in the Youtube video that surfaced Saturday, Machnouk said that “there are more men but their faces don’t appear in the footage.”The interior minister, who noted that the incident took place when security forces raided Roumieh prison to quell inmate riots last April, said that he “assumes full responsibility for the mistake.”He vowed to take all legal measures against those found guilty of misconduct, asserting that the incident has not recurred since it first took place two months ago. After expressing his condemnation of the brutal acts carried out on prisoners, the interior minister said that “it was not strange” that this incident happened. “We must take into consideration that about 100 security forces entered a facility that was housing at least 1000 inmates,” he said. “So it is not strange that four or six officers did this.”
“These incidents happen but I stress: we are the only Arab state that has referred officers who mistreated prisoners to the military court,” he added. Responding to his critics, Machnouk said “I inherited this prison, I inherited the prisoners and I inherited these conditions, I did not impose this.” The videos that surfaced on Youtube Saturday showed over a dozen Roumieh prisoners crouching on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. The men, who were stripped shirtless, were beaten severely with a long green rod. One guard was shown groping a prisoner before hammering his back with repetitive blows. The victim was writhing and wailing in pain as his back turned red from the beating. The guard then made his way to the opposite corner of the room where he began striking another tattooed prisoner. A follow up video showed another prisoner, wearing only his underwear, crouching in the corner as a guard approached. The guard questioned the inmate on the charges against him, to which prisoner replied he was incarcerated for “transporting terrorists.” The guard then struck him several times with the same green rod on the face, back and legs. The guard then ordered the prisoner to kiss his feet and subsequently kicked him in the face with his boot. The videos were circulated heavily on social media and met with a heavy outcry from critics about the prevalence of torture at Lebanon’s largest prison.Pro-Islamist Twitter pages have identified the prisoners as Sheikh Omar Atrash from the northeastern border town of Arsal, Qatibah al-Asaad from the Lebanese border area of Wadi Khaled and Wael al-Samad from the Dinnieh town of Bakhoun in north Lebanon. Machnouk said Sunday he would meet with the three victims in Roumieh Monday to hear their version of the story.
