The Truth on Lebanese Female Prisons: A Political, Administrative and Social Afterthought

Opinion Policy Analysis by Sara Ghanem, Contributor

March 23rd, 2021

Gendered societal norms as well as issues of representation are two factors that influence policy in Lebanon. Today, if I were to bring forward the issue of “Lebanese prisons” the first image that any citizen would picture in their heads would be that of an overcrowded Roumieh prison populated by men. While that is an understandably expressive and accurate image, why did they for example not think of Lebanese women behind bars instead? The answer is simple, our society is extremely male-oriented, a reality that naturally drives people to think of men before women which is resulting in the ultimate marginalization of incarcerated females in our country.

When it comes to Lebanese society, it’s almost as if incarcerated women don’t even exist. The subject is rarely talked about, and the media’s coverage of their stories is minimal. Furthermore, government intervention or focus is seldom provided to the subject, thus leading to the question; how are these women able to influence policy and consequently improve their living conditions inside prisons when they don’t even have a platform or an audience that acknowledges and listens to them? The truth is, their struggles don’t get the same attention as those of men, which is one of the main reasons why they seem to always have it ten times worse.

 Another factor affecting the formulation and implementation of prison policies in Lebanon is representation. According to a 2015 report on gender equality, prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, for public institutions to be considered as legitimate and capable of delivering just and inclusive policies their composition must reflect that of society (OECD, 2017), thus highlighting the necessity of equal and fair representation in public life. In Lebanon however, up until 2019, the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for running and managing all Lebanese prisons, had never been run by a female. This indicates that for a very long time in our history, decisions pertaining to the treatment of women inside prisons were being taken mostly by men, who showcase little knowledge and understanding of the needs of women.  Understandably, the Ministry of Interior failed to provide women inmates with the most basic services such as hygiene products, further highlighting its failure in creating an environment of security and non-discrimination. All of which are essential conditions for incarcerated women to survive and live a dignified life behind bars that meets international human rights standards.

The Lebanese Prison Regulations of 1949 is the official legal and administrative document that lays out the proper frameworks for managing prisons in Lebanon. The document specifies matters related to the distribution of responsibilities within prisons, detention conditions, as well as protection measures (The Lebanese prison regulations of 1949, Decree 14310). This document however, has not been amended since 2002 and many argue that it has become too outdated and hasn’t been properly implemented, resulting in the inhuman conditions inside Lebanon’s four female prisons located in Baabda, Beirut (at Barbar Al-Khazen), Tripoli and Zahleh (Khalaf, 2002). 

Within these prisons, concerns regarding health conditions are high, more specifically when it comes to matters of personal hygiene and nutrition. Women inmates in Lebanon have long complained about the lack of basic hygienic products such as sanitary pads, towels, deodorants, and undergarments which contradicts rules 15 and 17 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRPT, 1977). This reality is the result of Lebanon’s outdated and discriminatory policies, that refrain from acknowledging gender-specific hygienic needs. Instead, they grant local administrative staff the authority to purchase as well as decide what products are and aren’t deemed necessary, opening the door for lack of knowledge to affect the process of acquiring these products. When it comes to the issue of nutrition, provisions on meals are extremely precise, in which they detail the doses (in grams), the composition, and the number of meals to be served each day. However, women often speak up about the bad quality of food which frequently lacks both proteins and variety. This issue is very critical, especially in the case of individuals with certain illnesses as well as pregnant women. Although government policies clearly state that if the previous two cases were present, then the individuals must be given special diets based on their health condition, reports prepared by Attorney Manar Zaayter of RDFL show that the implementation of said policies is non-existent and that pregnant women are not being provided with special food during pregnancy and breastfeeding (Al Kantar, 2014). There also seems to be disparities between men and women when it comes to the distribution of meals, in which men are being served three meals per day in accordance with the amount specified for them by prison regulations, while many women are being provided with only one meal per day.

Another policy area of concern that touches on the issue of intersectionality, is the treatment of incarcerated or detained female migrants, who are mostly black female migrant workers. These females face a lot of discrimination by staff as well as serious obstacles within the justice system. In an article by The Daily Star Nadim Houry, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, described their situation perfectly when he said "the sort of stratification that you see in Lebanese society also exists within these prisons” (2008). Moreover, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, while collecting data for their project titled “Prisons in Lebanon”, noticed that prison staff members were generally uninformed when it comes to important information regarding the special status of foreigners. They also noticed that they lacked the proper skills and knowledge on how to coordinate with foreign authorities such as embassies that are responsible for said migrants (Rights Observer, 2010). While prison internal rules don’t seem to have any provisions regarding the detention of foreigners, which is in itself a problem, Lebanon has signed the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which lays out the steps that must be taken in the case of a foreigner’s detention. Yet, the staff seem to be clueless about these obligations, resulting in a large number of migrants being forced to stay in detention for a longer period of time. Also, due to the absence of proper provisions regarding communication, migrant detainees who do not understand the Arabic language find it hard to communicate in general, because no translator is made available to them by the prison, which violates rule 51 of SMRPT.

It’s also important to point out that most of the women inside prisons today, although not innocent of course, can in some way be considered as victims. The reason for this being is that a high number of cases of domestic abuse, child abuse, and other forms of gender based violence result in a criminal response from the female often for self-defense against their aggressor.  Seeing that they have a shared history of either child abuse or domestic violence which are circumstances that can be directly linked to the crimes they’ve committed, it is critical to consider treatment to ensure that the aggressive instincts and behaviors do not excel to a point where the individual may turn into a criminal post-prison. In this case, the process of psychic rehabilitation can greatly impact their lives inside prison as well as outside of it, by preparing them for a successful integration into society after they’ve been released. 

During a short film produced by Rein Hassoun, as part of the project “Reinforcing policies and the practices of human rights in women prisons in Lebanon”, the need for such services is highlighted when one of the female prisoners is recorded while expressing aggressive intentions towards the woman who has hurt her. She says “I’m not leaving to kill her, I want to burn her and hurt her like she hurt me, and what if my seven years become ten I really don’t care, I have nothing to lose” (Hassoun, 2014). Women must never leave prison with that much hate in their hearts, they must be able to move on and start over which can only happen through psychic rehabilitation. Unfortunately, existing government policies do not extensively recognize the importance of mental health, thus leading to disparities regarding the provision of psychiatric care within different prisons. For example, psychiatrists are made available for male prisoners in Roumieh and not so for female prisoners in Baabda, Beirut, Tripoli, and Zahleh.

Another problem facing incarcerated women in Lebanon relates to the separation of convicted and un-convicted inmates, which can sometimes lead to a lack of safety and security. It is well known that women who are detained for minor offenses such as burglary, illegal entry, or minor assaults, must never be put in the same space as individuals guilty of murder, seeing that such situations can put the lives of the detained individuals at risk both physically and mentally. Regardless of the existing policies recognizing the need for the two groups of convicted individuals to be separated from one another, they in fact are not, and the reason for that is the over crowdedness and lack of space within prisons.

No matter how many times we write about this issue, no words can truly come close to expressing what sort of pain and suffering these women face. Thus, we must never stop talking or writing about them, because even if we do not experience a certain form of injustice, we must never remain silent when others are. Thus, work and effort must be put into raising this issue further into the limelight, pushing and vouching for the creation of an environment within prisons that adheres to international human rights standards. This can be achieved through the amendment of present policies, the proper implementation of new and already existing ones, and finally the adoption of new and up-to-date laws protecting the rights and wellbeing of inmates. With such focus and dedication, the situation of women in prisons is bound to be alleviated.

References: 

AlKantar, Bassam. “Lebanon: Women's Prisons Are Worse.” The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering. The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering, September 28, 2014. https://www.rdflwomen.org/eng/lebanon-womens-prisons-are-worse/

Decree number 14310, “The Lebanese prison regulations of 1949,” http://lebanonprisons.org/stream/2017/03/09/مرسوم%2014310.pdf 

Khalaf, Mona Chemali. “Women in Lebanese Prisons: Facts and Perspectives.” Al-Raida Journal, 2002. http://alraidajournal.com/index.php/ALRJ/article/view/503/501

Lebanese Center for Human Rights. “Prisons in Lebanon: Humanitarian and Legal Concerns.” Rights Observer, 2010. http://www.rightsobserver.org/files/cldh_prisons_2010_en.pdf

Mahdawi, Dalila. “Migrant Workers Face Special Hardships in Lebanese Jails.” The Daily Star Lebanon, (June 2008): https://www.dailystar.com.lb/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=50495&mode=print

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). “Better Governance for Gender Equality,” 2017. https://www.oecd.org/gov/gender-public-life-flyer.pdf.

Hassoun, Rein. “Women Prisons in Lebanon.” WEEPortal. Women Economic Empowerment Portal, November 28, 2014. https://www.weeportal-lb.org/audio-visuals/women-prisons-lebanon.

(1958). Standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners and related recommendations. New York: United Nations, Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/treatmentofprisoners.aspx