Lebanon minister vows to punish guards after beating video
Lebanon minister vows to punish guards after beating video
Lebanon's Interior Minister has promised a full investigation after a video emerged showing guards beating detainees at Roumieh, the country's largest, and most infamous prison.
3 min read
A Lebanese minister vowed to bring to justice guards seen in online video clips beating Islamists detained in a notorious prison where imprisoned militants were once suspected of directing attacks.
Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouk told journalists that two guards whose faces are seen in the clips have been arrested and referred to military prosecutors
"I condemn these violations and will not cease to pursue the case for a second," he said.
The clips show a room full of detainees stripped down to their underwear. In one clip, a prisoner lies on a floor covered in water, stripped to his underwear with his hands tied behind his back.
(WARNING: This video contains material which some viewers may find disturbing)
He is asked what he is accused of, and replies "transporting terrorists." A guard then beats him repeatedly with a green pipe, while another man off-camera encourages him and demands that the prisoner kisses his assailant's boot.
Another clip shows detainees held in the Roumieh prison handcuffed behind their back and stripped to their underwear while squatting on a flooded floor.
Mashnouk blamed past governments for the poor conditions at the prison, though he said: "I am responsible for the human rights of all prisoners, regardless of their (ideological) persuasion."
"I have inherited that prison, these conditions and those prisoners," he said.
Earlier this year, the Interior Minister ordered the clearing of Roumieh's Block B after years of warnings that the overcrowded section served as a meeting point for militants to plot attacks and strengthen their networks. Prisoners in that block were known to call into Lebanese television talk shows using smuggled mobile phones.
Mashnouk said at the time that "a big part" of twin suicide bombings in the northern city of Tripoli in January was directed from Block B. The bombing, which targeted a district predominantly inhabited by followers of the Shia Alawite sect, was claimed by al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front. Mashnouk, however, blamed the attack on the extremist Islamic State group (IS).
Lebanon's Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi pledged a full investigation into the incident. Rifi said the behaviour documented in the two videos that began circulating online Saturday was "a crime against the nation and humanity."
IS condemnation and street protests
After the videos were released, IS threatened to torture kidnapped Lebanese soldiers as a response to the beating of detained Islamists on the hands of guards at the Roumieh Prison, according to the brother of one of the kidnapped soldiers.
Nizam Mugheit, the brother of kidnapped Lebanese Army adjutant, Ibrahim Mugheit, told Lebanese television station LBC: “We received a clear threat from the Islamic State [group] that the treatment will be reciprocal and revenge will be taken upon kidnapped soldiers in response for the torture of Roumieh prisoners.”
Also, supporters and sympathisers with Islamist prisoners in Lebanon took to the streets Sunday night to protest the torture exposed. In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, protesters gathered in city centre demanding the resignation of the interior minister and the immediate release of prisoners.
Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouk told journalists that two guards whose faces are seen in the clips have been arrested and referred to military prosecutors
"I condemn these violations and will not cease to pursue the case for a second," he said.
The clips show a room full of detainees stripped down to their underwear. In one clip, a prisoner lies on a floor covered in water, stripped to his underwear with his hands tied behind his back.
(WARNING: This video contains material which some viewers may find disturbing)
He is asked what he is accused of, and replies "transporting terrorists." A guard then beats him repeatedly with a green pipe, while another man off-camera encourages him and demands that the prisoner kisses his assailant's boot.
Another clip shows detainees held in the Roumieh prison handcuffed behind their back and stripped to their underwear while squatting on a flooded floor.
Mashnouk blamed past governments for the poor conditions at the prison, though he said: "I am responsible for the human rights of all prisoners, regardless of their (ideological) persuasion."
"I have inherited that prison, these conditions and those prisoners," he said.
Earlier this year, the Interior Minister ordered the clearing of Roumieh's Block B after years of warnings that the overcrowded section served as a meeting point for militants to plot attacks and strengthen their networks. Prisoners in that block were known to call into Lebanese television talk shows using smuggled mobile phones.
Mashnouk said at the time that "a big part" of twin suicide bombings in the northern city of Tripoli in January was directed from Block B. The bombing, which targeted a district predominantly inhabited by followers of the Shia Alawite sect, was claimed by al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front. Mashnouk, however, blamed the attack on the extremist Islamic State group (IS).
Lebanon's Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi pledged a full investigation into the incident. Rifi said the behaviour documented in the two videos that began circulating online Saturday was "a crime against the nation and humanity."
IS condemnation and street protests
After the videos were released, IS threatened to torture kidnapped Lebanese soldiers as a response to the beating of detained Islamists on the hands of guards at the Roumieh Prison, according to the brother of one of the kidnapped soldiers.
Nizam Mugheit, the brother of kidnapped Lebanese Army adjutant, Ibrahim Mugheit, told Lebanese television station LBC: “We received a clear threat from the Islamic State [group] that the treatment will be reciprocal and revenge will be taken upon kidnapped soldiers in response for the torture of Roumieh prisoners.”
Also, supporters and sympathisers with Islamist prisoners in Lebanon took to the streets Sunday night to protest the torture exposed. In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, protesters gathered in city centre demanding the resignation of the interior minister and the immediate release of prisoners.
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