In an article by Saba Skaria, published in An-Nahar on March 8, 2025, the newspaper sheds light on the dire conditions of temporary detention centers in Lebanon. According to the report, these facilities suffer from severe overcrowding, mistreatment, and trial delays, effectively turning them into de facto prisons rather than short-term detention centers.
A report by the National Human Rights Commission, following visits to 190 detention centers between July and December 2023, concluded that systemic violations of detainees’ rights are widespread.
Key Issues in Detention Centers
Severe Overcrowding
- Many detention centers are being used as prisons, despite failing to meet the required standards.
- Example: A room designed for five people in the Military Court detention center holds 70 detainees.
Lack of Legal Rights
- Some detainees are not informed of their legal rights, such as the right to contact their families or a lawyer.
- Intentional delays in notifying lawyers about their clients’ detention, depriving detainees of legal representation during initial interrogations.
Discrimination and Poor Living Conditions
- Unequal access to food in terms of quality and quantity.
- Lack of female officers to care for female detainees.
- Juveniles are detained with adults without proper legal oversight.
Prolonged Pretrial Detention and Delayed Trials
- Pretrial detention lasts months or even years, violating Article 32 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which sets a maximum limit of four days.
- Court session delays further increase the number of detainees.
Physical Abuse and Torture During Interrogations
- Reports indicate that torture continues, often leaving no physical evidence, with detainees subjected to hours-long forced sitting positions to extract confessions.
- Weak accountability mechanisms, with serious allegations of torture rarely being investigated properly.
Administrative Detention at General Security: A Case of Overcrowding
A delegation from An-Nahar visited the General Security Investigation and Procedures Center, where Lieutenant Colonel Charbel Al-Boustany provided insights into the conditions:
- Capacity: The facility is designed to hold 200 detainees (for both men and women), but in reality, it houses between 300 and 400 men.
- Overcrowding Causes: Security and judicial authorities refuse to accept new detainees due to overcrowded prisons.
- Women’s Conditions: While they don’t face severe overcrowding, the absence of female officers creates additional challenges.
Factors Worsening the Crisis
- Lebanon’s economic and political crisis has made it harder to provide food, medicine, and healthcare for detainees.
- Failure to implement the law requiring audio and video recordings of interrogations, reducing the credibility of investigations.
- Lack of real legal reforms, despite international pressure to improve detainee conditions.
Recommendations to Address the Crisis
✔ Expedite trials and reduce pretrial detention periods.
✔ Improve detention conditions to comply with international standards.
✔ Ensure lawyers’ presence during initial interrogations.
✔ Enforce strict oversight on torture practices inside detention centers.
✔ Equip detention centers with the necessary tools to record interrogations and ensure transparency.
