Conditions of detention have been severely affected by the unprecedented socio-economic crisis the country is experiencing.

The water provided by the prison administration is not drinkable. The food provided is insufficient in quantity and of poor quality. In 2021, The National Human Rights Commission (Commission nationale des droits de l’homme, CNDH) declared that the food in Roumieh prison (Beirut) was “inedible“ and insufficient.

Six companies have threatened to stop providing supplies for various prisons starting on 31 December 2023. The Internal Security Forces (Forces de sécurité intérieure) governing the prisons have not honoured payments since 2020 to these companies due to inflation. The ultimatum concerns the Roumieh (Beirut), Zahle and Tripoli prisons and the Baabda women’s prison. It was re-issued in January 2024. Most people in prison cannot afford to buy food from the prison commissary. They rely on their loved ones to bring them food. This is not possible in Roumieh prison (Beirut), where visitors are prohibited from bringing food.

Prisons are highly overcrowded. In 2023, 8,502 people were held for a total capacity of 4,760 people according to the Internal Security Forces (Forces de sécurité intérieure). At the time, around 4,000 people were held in the 1,000 places of the Roumieh prison (Beirut), the largest facility in the country.

The national regulations do not set a minimum standard for living space. People in prison do not benefit from sufficient living space. In many facilities, they have to take turns to lay down. In 2022, the media Medfeminiswiya reported that the four women’s prisons were so overcrowded “that a large number of prisoners were squeezed into tiny cells that lack any means of heating or cooling”.

In Roumieh (Beirut) and Qobbeh (Tripoli) prisons, some cells hold about ten persons while other cells consist of large dormitories of over 100 people.

Prison regulations do not require beds to be installed in prison cells. Incarcerated people are provided with a sponge, cotton, or straw mattress (Article 86, Decree No. 14310 and Article 59, Decree No. 6236). An expert reported that mattresses are provided by civil society organisations.

Premises are in poor condition. In 2022, the organisation Arci Culture Solidali (ARCS) observed “high humidity, lack of heating or cooling systems, insufficient sunlight, and lack of hygiene” in Roumieh (Beirut) and Qobbeh (Tripoli) prisons.

Sanitary facilities are insufficient, dirty and often lack hot water. In 2022, the NHRC reported that in Roumieh prison (Beirut), the water used for cleaning purposes was not filtered, and that worms were found in the storing tanks.

The prison administration is required to provide each person twenty grams of soap daily (Article 111, Decree No. 14310). In practice, people in prison are not provided with any personal hygiene products or clothing by the administration. In 2022, women in prison lacked daily essential supplies such as drying racks, food, sanitary pads and cleaning tools. People in prison rely on their loved ones or donations from civil society organisations.

People in prison have the right to meet with the lawyer of their choice. Those who cannot afford a private lawyer are entitled to legal aid provided by the state (Article 78, Code of Criminal Procedure amended). In practice, such legal assistance is insufficient . People in prison rarely seek legal advice because of its prohibitive cost and their distrust of the judicial system. In 2022, bar associations and civil society organisations were the only ones providing legal assistance free of charge in Roumieh (Beirut), Barbar el Khazen (Beirut) and Qobbeh (Tripoli) prisons.

The prison administration records the information of each person admitted in prison within a computerised system called “Bassem”. An expert reported that these files are not confidential.

People in prison are not informed of their rights and of the internal regulations of the facility they are held in.

The list of disciplinary offenses is set by Article 102 of Decree No. 14310. Experts reported that it is incomplete. Body searches do not follow specific guidelines.

Men and women are held in different prisons. Incarcerated children and adults are kept separated, but experts reported that they meet in common areas in Roumieh prison (Beirut). People awaiting trial and people serving a sentence are held in the same cells. This situation is notably due to the important overcrowding observed in the largest facilities like Roumieh (Beirut). In August 2023, 87% of people in prison were awaiting trial.

Prison officers are members of the Internal Security Forces (Forces de sécurité intérieure), the national police force. They do not receive a specific training to operate as prison staff. Officers face low wages, further reduced since 2019, and frequent delays in salary payments.

Some people are designated as cell leaders by the administration. They are in charge of the daily discipline.

People in prison with greater financial means delegate cleaning tasks to poorer ones. They work in exchange for food and protection from the others.

Experts reported numerous cases of violence between people in prison and from prison staff. In 2022, 11 civil society organisations addressed a letter to the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture of the United Nations (SPT) pointing out “regular reports of death in detention due to torture, ill-treatment and denial of appropriate care and nutrition”. People from the LGBTQI+ community face higher risks of torture and abuse. Foreign women face poorer conditions of detention as well as isolation and discrimination.

Lebanon ratified the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture in 2008. The National Human Rights Commission (Commission nationale des droits de l’homme, CNDH) is the standing National Preventive Mechanism. To this day, the CNDH has no dedicated funding and does not appear to be operational. The Prison Department of the Ministry of Justice carries out internal monitoring visits.

In its 2021-2022 monitoring report, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (Centre Libanais des droits de l’homme, CLDH) concluded that “rare are the authorities that conduct prison visits even though this is part of the legal duties and obligations of many State entities including the Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judges, the National Preventive Mechanism, etc.”.

A person can be sentenced to a prison term that includes compulsory work (hard labour). Hard labour may be imposed for a fixed term or for life. Hard labour is adapted to the person’s age and gender (Article 37 and Article 45, Penal Code). This criminal punishment is not currently being enforced, primarily due to a lack of human and material resources. Access to work is scarce in prison.

Prison regulations allow for teachers employed by the Ministry of Education to visit prisons (Article 67, Decree No.14310). In practice, few of them are present in detention.

In its 2022 report, the organisation Arci Culture Solidali (ARCS) described that in most prisons “the necessary funds, equipment, and teaching staff are unavailable to enable educational and vocational programs”.

People in prison are entitled to three hours per day in the open air. (Article 50, Decree No. 14310). In practice, this varies highly across the country. In the biggest prisons such as Qobbeh (Tripoli) or Roumieh (Beirut), “prisoners rarely experience sunlight and fresh air”. The size of the yards or outside areas is insufficient for the number of people in the facilities. In some prisons, there is no yard nor open area available.

People have access to a library in some facilities. The prison administration is required to provide books and magazines for people in prison. Libraries are supplied by civil society organisations.

The prison administration does not provide any recreational and sporting activities. A few activities are organised and run by civil society organisations: language courses, IT courses, sports (yoga, walking, gymnastics), and vocational training. The frequency, type, and access to these activities vary between different prisons, as well as within the same prison. Some women and children have access to activities organised by local associations or civil society organisations. Prisons are rarely equipped with any sporting infrastructure.

People in prison have the right to practice their religion (Article 56, Decree No.14310). In most prisons, people can only pray in their own cells.

Representatives from the major religions present in the country can organise religious services.

People in prison are allowed to send two letters per week. Their letters must be “clear and concise” (Article 63, Decree No. 14310). The prison administration does not provide the means for people in prison to write and send letters. In practice, the national postal service is effective neither in prison nor outside.

People in prison have the right to receive visitors at times determined by the director of each facility (Article 69, Decree No.14310). Visitors are required to obtain a visit permit in advance (Article 68, Decree No.14310). Visits can last up to 15 minutes. Visiting rooms generally lack privacy. People in prison and their loved ones are separated by a glass and talk through phones, which are often broken.

People in prison cannot benefit from temporary leave for family reasons.

Children of an incarcerated mother are allowed to stay with her in detention. The law does not detail until what age the child can do so. The prison administration does not provide mothers with the necessary means to cater for the basic needs of their children. There is reportedly no adapted living space or unit for children in prison with their mothers.

People in prison have access to information through television. They can purchase their own television set, which is often shared within a cell and controlled by the prisoner in charge of the discipline. Daily newspapers are prohibited in prison facilities (Article 60, Decree No.14310).

People serving a sentence in prison lose their right to vote (Article 65, Penal Code).