Contact Us | Mailing List | Forums | En Français

[This report reveals the conditions under which detainees at the Lebanese Ministry of Defense Jail try to survive.  It details the methods of torture employed against the detainees and the stages they undergo during interrogation and incarceration.

This report was gathered from the testimonies of ex-prisoners who have endured this treatment and wish to expose the truth in the hopes they could help those who are still imprisoned.  Their crime is opposing the Syrian occupation of Lebanon and their punishment is torture to death or sign confessions of crimes and pledges of no future involvement in political activities

We give you the truth about the Lebanese Defense ministry’s detention cells.]

Introduction

  The Lebanese Ministry of Defense is located in Yarzeh, an eastern suburb of Beirut.  It became an interrogation center in 1990 for civilians charged with political crimes. However, many civilians were illegally detained and tortured, by Syrian and Lebanese Security Agents for an unlimited period of time and prior to their appearance before the Military Tribunal for judgment.  It is to note that no warrants of arrest preceded the detention.
In 1994 and two months following the arrest and detention of Dr. Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces Party, the Lebanese Government issued a decree officiating the prison at the Ministry of Defense.

Prisoners:
 
·           The majority of the detainees in the Ministry of Defense are members of groups who oppose the Pro-Syrian Lebanese regime such as members of the Lebanese forces Party, supporters of General Michel Aoun, anti Syrian Sunnites from Tripoli, and juveniles who distributed anti-government leaflets. Included also few Human Rights defenders and activists.
·           The cells are always crowded and the extra numbers are kept in the hallways handcuffed and blindfolded for long periods, which may extend to several months. At one time there were 230 prisoners, all members of the Lebanese forces.
·           Most of the prisoners undergo torture till today.
·           Some detainees are driven to sign confessions incriminating others and those confessions are submitted before Beirut Military Tribunal.
 
 
Prison conditions:
 
·        A medical visit is due every 15 days by the military doctor (Dr. Kahwaji) who assist sometimes in torture sessions, for medical intervention when needed. This doctor exercises pressure and blackmails the prisoners when needed.
·        Prisoners pay for the medication they take and in the event they cannot afford it, they are denied medicine.
·        A change of the cell is due every 15 days followed by an inspection of the cell.
·        Except when in the cell, the prisoner is always blindfolded and handcuffed behind the back, sometimes for a very long period of time. The guards lead the prisoners by the neck.
·        Prior to any family or legal visit, the prisoner is briefed on the topics he is allowed to discuss.  At the end of each visit, he is required to report what went on even though all visits are monitored without the prisoner’s knowledge or his lawyer’s approval and any lie will cause him more torture.
·        All reading materials are subject to political censorship.
·        When the prisoner hears the cell’s door open, he is required to stand up, face the wall and put his hands behind his back ready to be handcuffed. He will be blindfolded in order not to recognize the guards. Any violation of these rules will result in physical punishment.
·        All medicines, drugs, soap and shampoo are purchased by the prisoner’s family but kept with the guards who make use of them as well.
·        The lights are kept on in the cell 24 hours and since prisoners cannot have watches, they never know neither the date nor the hour or could distinguish daytime from nighttime.
·        Coffee, cigarettes… are forbidden in the cells, even for prisoners sentenced to life.
·        During the allowed daily half an hour walk (for sentenced prisoners only) the prisoner is always handcuffed and is forbidden to talk.
·        The family is responsible for cleaning the prisoner’s clothes.
·        Cells are ventilated by airshafts, which turn the cell scorching in the summer and freezing during wintertime.
·        Showers are allowed once a week and under the supervision of the guards.  Prisoners are hurried and sometimes are not given enough time to finish their baths.
 
Torture and after:
 
·        A specialist conducts torture sessions and usually leaves no marks or traces.  However, if the prisoner reaches a state where hospitalization is needed, elements from the “Moukafaha” (the hit team of the 2nd bureau) escort the prisoner in an ambulance to the Military Hospital where he is admitted under the name “prisoner”.  Prescriptions are also filled for a “prisoner” in the fear that lawyers could use the hospital documents as an evidence of torture.  After receiving the necessary treatment, the prisoner is brought back to his cell.
·        Not one single medical test done at the military hospital will ever be mentioned.
·        Even after torture sessions, prisoners continue to be subjected to humiliation by the guards and the brainwash continues to glorify Syria.
·        Moral pressure is exercised on the prisoner, which leads him, eventually, to believe that members of his family are arrested and are being tortured as well.
·        Not always torture sessions aim at extracting confession from prisoners, sometimes they serve to entertain a drunken guard or to test a new torture technique.
 
The prisoner’s rights:
 
·        All the trips from and to the tribunal are done while the prisoner is blindfolded and handcuffed even when he appears before the judge.
·        Neither the prisoner nor his lawyer is notified in advance of hearing sessions and sometimes they come to court unprepared. 
·        Prisoners are not allowed to choose their lawyers, one is appointed to them by Security Agents.
·       In high profile cases, the passage before the examining magistrate is done in the absence of a lawyer. If the prisoner insists on having one, he is submitted to all kinds of physical and moral pressure until he agrees to be interrogated without one.
·        Not all the prisoner take the polygraph test, only selected few.

The interrogations:
 
1st Stage:
On arrival, an interrogation group, which is called the “active group”, gives the prisoner a piece of paper and a pen and asks him to write his history.
Later he will be beaten and humiliated even if he is telling the truth. Then he will be kept standing blindfolded and handcuffed behind his back, for a period going up to 5 days.
 
2nd Stage
Later, a second interrogation group, which is called the  “passive group”, takes charge of the prisoner and tries to convince him, without any brutality, to confess all the crimes that he is charged with. If he accepts, he will be taken to a hall where he will sign all the necessary documents with his eyes covered. If he refuses, the “active group” takes charge of him again. Then he will be passed back and forth until he signs all the requested documents. Finally he will be brought before the official interrogator who is usually Lt. Edmond Abbass, where he signs the final confession written with juridical terminology.
 
Nutrition.
During the interrogation: no food, no water.
After the interrogation: rice and bread for lunch, 1 boiled potato for dinner, water.

Visits.
No visits during the interrogation period.
After the interrogation period, two 15 minutes visit a week, (close family only).

Hygiene
During the interrogation period: No shower, no shaving and no toilet.
After the interrogation period: one shower a week, one toilet visit a day, one shave a week and one head shaving a month.

Distractions
During the interrogation period: no reading materials, radio, watch, walk, and it             is forbidden to sleep for several days.
After the interrogation period: one book a week, no paper or pens, no radio, no watch, half an hour daily walk while handcuffed (for the life sentenced prisoners only)
           
Effect on the prisoner’s health.
 
·        Prisoners suffer from numerous nervous breakdowns due to torture, disorientation and great fatigue.  The screams of other prisoners undergoing torture resonate in the cells spreading fear and causing anxiety. A large number of prisoners become addicted to tranquilizers and drugs.
·        If a prisoner is wounded during his torture session, the wound becomes infected due to lack of hygiene and medical care.
·        Prisoners suffer from diseases and ailments, due to torture and lack of medical care, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, and renal and respiratory problems.
·        Prisoners also start suffering from Hemorrhoids in their first month of incarceration due to the enforced diet excluded from vegetables and fruits.
 
  
OBSERVATION
 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
 
Based on the above, we request the following:
 
·        The immediate termination of all arbitrary arrests and political prosecution of individuals belonging to opposition groups
·        A revision of all verdicts delivered by the military tribunal against civilians.
·        A revision of confessions signed under torture.
·        The immediate termination of torture and vicious treatment committed against detainees until today in the dungeons of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense.
·        A complete investigation and trials of those involved in ordering and practicing torture against the detainees in the Ministry of Defense Jail.
 
 

The Prison:

The individual cell
      
 
·        The cell’s dimensions are 6.5 ft x 9.8 ft with 9.8 ft height. It is illuminated 24 hours a day by a fluorecent tube with the switch on the outside of the cell, unaccessible to the prisoner.
·        The floor of the cell is paved with 2237 white ceramic flagstone.
·        The cell has two doors, the outside one is made of iron with two bolts, one with a sliding handle, the other is equipped with a padlock. The second door is made of wood and covered with a metal sheet and equiped with a slinding window.  Each door is pierced with 25 hole, distributed in a way to prevent all outside vue.  These doors have two small sliding windows. The inner one is always open while the other one is always locked from the outside.
·        The cell is completely unfurnished. No chair, table or bed.
·        The prisinor has only a blanket (3) which is used as matress and cover at the same time.
·        To drink, one plastic bottle without cover (4), filled with less than a half of a gallon once every 24 hours. Another bottle (5) is used for urination, it is emptied once every 24h, when the prisoner is taken to the toilets.
 
 LEVEL  -3  (under ground)

Cell (1) Dr.Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces Party.
Cell (2-3-4-5-6-7) prisoners cell.
Cell (8) Used for barber, toilets and showers.
Cell (9) temporary or transitory.
Cell (10-11-12-14-15) prisoners cell.
Room (16) interrogation and torture.
Room (17) interrogation.
Room (18) photograph and video.
Room (19) interrogation, equipped with telephone and a computer.
Room (20) place where the “hoisting gear” for torture is mounted.
Room (21) Kitchenette for the interrogators and the guards.
(22- 23) iron gates under guard 24 hours a day.
Room (24) bureau of chief of the guards.
(25- 33) beds for the guards.
(26) Entrance and exit to the prison. 30% slope upward level -2
(27- 28) Gates always closed without any guards.
(29) Partition made of dark glass with curtains separating rooms (16) and (18) 
(30) Two heavy iron-sliding gates never open.
(31-32) Two guarded gates.

Level –2  (under ground)                                                                                 

LEVEL -2
 
1) 30% slope coming from (26) of level –3 and heading to gate 21 of level –2
2) Restrooms for visitors and for guards.
3) Stairs toward level –1, rear entrance to the “Intelligence department” G2
4) Waiting room for the visitors.
5) Bureau of the ex prison commander.
6) Gate guarded 24h/ 24h.
7) Car parking for the intelligence director and his assistant
8) Room where the guards observe, through the glass window, rooms 9 and 10 during the visits.
9) Room made of glass for family and lawyer visits.
10) Room where the prisoner wait the visitors.
11) Perforated double glass window
12) Room of the assistants to the ex chief of the interrogation department.
13) Room for the Polygraph mark “Lafayette-Bissel Diplomate”
14) One way mirrors to monitor the Polygraph room.
15) Technical room to film and tape-record the visits and the Polygraph sessions.
16) One way mirror to monitor the family visits.
17) Major entrance of the intelligence department facilities.
18) Stairs going to the departments bureau on level –1
19) Inner yard, between the Defense Ministry’s buildings, used for the prisoners daily walk.
20) Road circling the Lebanese Defense ministry’s buildings.