By Lebanese photographer Haitham Moussawi

Prisons in Lebanon Are Worse Than Prisoners

Prison conditions in Lebanon do not match international standards, in terms of justice, punishment, social and correctional aspects.

Lebanon’s two central prisons in Roumieh and Zahle are the only structures designed to be official jails. The 27 other prisons across the country are designed to be either police stations or warehouses.

Officially and according to International standards prisons should accommodate 1,500 inmates. But penitentiaries are currently overcrowded and the number exceeds 6,000.

Most of the prisons are located in basements of military barracks and centers of the security forces or in old Serails dating back to the Ottoman era.

They do not have the sufficient, light and ventilation such as the prisons of Nabatiyeh, Jab Jenin, Rashaya, Halba, Zgharta, Jbeil and Jezzine. The prisons of Baalbek, Tibnin, Aley, Zahle are dedicated for women.

Because of the overcrowded prisons sewerage is considered to be the most prominent problem. Most of the buildings’ pipelines are designed to serve less than half of the sewage than the current rate.

Prisons also suffer from acute shortage of fresh drinking water, or water used for bathing and washing clothes.

Medical services in prisons are inadequate, prisoners suffer from lack of sleeping, eating, leisure areas and meeting places. Prisoners also complain from quality of food provided by the administration.

Some claim that food contains dirt and insects. More over the food is served without trays, plates, and does not reach them in the appropriate containers.

Prisoners also criticize the prison authorities and guards in tackling there day to day affairs without a clear legal or administrative standards.

The prisons suffer from a lack of educational activities, sports, and mental treatment programs.

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