Nelson Mandella once said, ‘To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity’. On a simple level, these rights are numerous: the right to play, the right to eat etc… On a more sophisticated level, human rights are infinite and endless. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights within its 30 articles, defines these rights and is considered a ‘common standard’ for everyone living on this planet. Sadly, violations are happening in many parts of the world. Many individuals are deprived from numerous rights, and examples on this are countless. To put things into perspective, we will target the issue of detainees and their situation in Lebanon.
First of all, the difference between a ‘detainee’ and a ‘prisoner’ must be clarified. A detainee (المعتقل) is an individual ‘who is kept in jail even though s/he has not yet been convicted of a crime…’ On the other hand, a ‘prisoner’ (السجين) is anyone ‘who is deprived of personal liberty against his/her will following conviction of a crime…’ In Lebanon for example, the situation prisoners are put in is terrifying and many studies lead to alarming conclusions. However, the following article will target the issue of detainees in Lebanon.
When we say ‘detainee’, the term ‘arbitrary detention’ comes with it. What is an arbitrary detention? According to a report published in 2013 by CLDH (The Lebanese Center for Human Rights) entitled ‘Arbitrary detention and torture in Lebanon’, an arbitrary detention takes place ‘when it does not comply with national legislation, other relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international instruments ratified by Lebanon.’ The report states and explains that this method spread fast in the country. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention defined three categories of this: detention without a legal basis for the deprivation of liberty, detention of a person for exercising his/her rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and detention of a person after a trial which did not comply with the standards for a fair trial set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international instruments. Many examples on people being arbitrary detained can be given,
Protests and activists
On Thursday October 8, a protest took place near Al Nahar Building in Beirut. The protest was part of the overall movement that has been happening in the country after the garbage crisis in early July 2015. During this protest, many activists were arrested without a logical reason for doing so. Two of the protesters/activists, Pierre Hachach and Waref Sleiman, were detained on October 8, and released on Monday October 19. The civil society expressed its anger with what happened and demanded the release of the peaceful protesters. According to the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights – Article 19, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and that includes protests. Therefore, it is unacceptable to detain protesters without a legal reason for it.
The situation in prisons
As many reports and studies have shown, the situation of prisons in the country is critical. Some prisoners are deprived of their rights, and prisons are often overcrowded and lack the minimal standards. In an LBCI report (The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International) discussing the situation of the prisoners in Al Qobbeh prison for women, some cases revealed showed that detainees were subject to many human rights violations. If we put aside the terrible situation of the prison itself, some prisoners are currently facing many legal problems. Women explained that, since they can’t afford to pay the bail, they are still detained. Moreover, some shared their problem of not being able to consult their lawyer regarding their case. Is this not considered an arbitrary detention in the prison? This should be a clear problem that forces concerned authorities to seriously evaluate the prisons’ situations, as well as the prisoners’ and/or detainees’.
Legal aid in Lebanon
CLDH, in a report entitled ‘Legal aid in Lebanon’ published in 2013, explains that legal aid, as a means of ensuring a justice system that is accessible and available to all, should be available for everyone who cannot afford the costs of justice. It enables citizens to ‘bring the lawsuit, proceed in it and achieve the necessary investigation procedures until the judgment is delivered, notified…’ In a separate study, CLDH concluded that there are four main reasons why detainees did not benefit from the legal aid, two of which are the lack of information and the lack of clear understanding of the role of the lawyers. Both are considered serious problems that need to be solve immediately. Every detainee should have the right for a legal aid, or at least should know this right, as well as the right to consult a lawyer regarding his/her case.
In 2012, CLDH initiated a program called ‘legal assistance to vulnerable inmates in the Lebanese prisons’. It aims to reduce the number of inmates in prisons and assure a better access to justice for vulnerable people by giving them access to an appropriate legal aid. CLDH’s legal assistance program have worked with Syrian refugees, domestic workers and inmates in prisons across Lebanon.
Challenges inside the prisons
According to the same report mentioned above, many challenges are faced when working inside the prisons to provide legal aids for detainees. For example, the case of torture. Since the situation of detainees is very interrelated with torture, torture continues to increase with more judges covering for it. The source acknowledges that nearly 60% of men and women are tortured during investigations, which is considered a human right violation itself. In addition, the LGBT community continues to be exposed to torture. For example, many people are ‘detained’ simply because they are accused of being homosexuals, or caught in ‘gay places, not to forget the case of ‘anal tests’ or ‘tests of shame’. Moreover, many detainees don’t know that they have a right ‘to have a lawyer free of charge’. Others also complain about their lawyer not giving them any updates regarding their case, which is proved by the report of the women in Al Qobbeh prison mentioned above.
Conclusion
The ‘Informative Brochure on the rights of detainees and pre-trial detainees’, published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, discusses the many rights detainees and pre-trial detainees have. For example, the right to personally contact a lawyer and have the necessary time for it, being in an adequate room, the right to be treated with dignity and humanity, and many more. These are all accurate and must-be-obtained rights. But, is this the current situation in our numerous prisons? The answer to that questions is a definite ‘no’. Every human being has rights, and s/he should have access to these rights in a suitable environment. When it comes to detainees, it is important for them to understand their situation: their rights and their duties. In Lebanon, the issue of prisons, detainees and/or prisoners is one of the many subjects that needs rethinking to set new objectives. Humanity doesn’t and shouldn’t end when a human being enters a prison, for one reason or another.