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Written by Pascal Sawma and Hayat Al-Zein - This investigation is published in cooperation with "Daraj Media"
The four women’s prisons in Lebanon are yet another space for harassing women and depriving them of their most basic rights. Lebanese prisons in general are a far cry from rehabilitation centers that aim to reintegrate prisoners in society as better people, and this only gets worse when it comes to prisons for women, who are already a vulnerable group in society.
This investigation addresses the main problems that women suffer from in those locked-away, forgotten cells, and highlights the issues in which they are implicated, many of which they have to deal with because of the general state of violence against women. This is based on the testimonies of a number of prisoners, human rights defenders, and experts in the field. We have changed the names of these women at their request and out of fear for their safety.
It must be noted that there are lines of suffering common across different prisons (those of women and men), imposed by the economic crisis in Lebanon. These include the decline of services and the quality of meals provided, as well as the delays in trials – first due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now due to the judges’ strike – which means that a large number of female and male prisoners, who may have already served the entirety of their sentences, according to the respective charges against them, could still be in prison. Not to mention the innocent people who have not even had the chance to prove their innocence because the judges have been on strike and not attending trial sessions.
The suffering began from the very first moment
In 2021, the 20-year-old Ruya was arrested on charges of stealing a security official’s weapon and giving it to another person who then fled to an unknown destination. She stayed in prison for about six months, four of which she spent in the Palace of Justice detention center in Tripoli. She spent the remaining period in the al-Qubba Prison, also in Tripoli.
The suffering began from the moment she was held at the detention center. The injustice there is evident, with a large number of woman prisoners being held in one single cell, awaiting their fate. “They would only give us one meal a day, and even that was most often stale and smelled bad,” Ruya tells us.
Life was not easy for these women inside the detention center. They often had to suffer in silence because they were unable to get their hands on any kind of medication. Medical care is virtually nonexistent in these places, and women are treated very strictly, very firmly. Ruya adds that even sanitary pads and painkillers, basic necessities for women, were not provided during menstruation. “We used to get them at our own expense, and some of us could not afford to buy them. Some of the prisoners would take pity and offer the other whatever they had. We even had to buy our own food and drink sometimes. Keep in mind that some prisoners don’t have any money or even anyone coming to visit them – their fate was inevitably humiliation.”
In the al-Qubba Prison, Ruya tells us, things aren't very different from the detention center in the Palace of Justice. Prisoners there also have to secure everything they need at their own expense. Nine or ten women are held in each cell, and they are responsible for the cleanliness of the prison and its entrances. Ruya faced and witnessed a great deal of injustice during her imprisonment, as prisoners who are financially unable to hire a lawyer were often left without trial for long periods of time, sometimes up to five or ten years. Even women who were breastfeeding in prison were not given any of the necessary medical attention: no medication, no nutrients, nothing that the infant might need. They had to buy these things themselves, and the state did not provide any financial relief, Ruya tells us.
“They would only give us one meal a day, and even that was most often stale and smelled bad”
Why do women commit crimes?
Lebanon has four prisons for women, distributed across the following regions: Barbar el-Khazen prison in Beirut, al-Qubba prison in Tripoli, Baabda Women’s Prison, and Zahle Women’s Prison, in addition to a prison for minors located in Dahr el-Bachek in Mount Lebanon. A security source tells us that there are about 240 women held in these prisons, a relatively low number, which means that addressing the problems rampant in women’s prisons would only require a modest budget and simple planning. With some effort and attention, woman prisoners could obtain some of their rights and necessary care.
In this context, the lawyer Manar Zaiter, who conducted research on women’s prisons, tells Medfeminiswiya that there are several factors that push women to commit a certain type of crime – and these crimes are often triggered by criminal acts committed against the women themselves. “For example, women rarely give out uncovered cheques or trust bonds because they do not engage in commercial work like men. This means that most of them do not have bank accounts or large commercial companies to be able to carry out this type of crime.” Zaiter also explains that these women do not own real estate, as their share of inheritance is usually money, not real estate, which means that they may become caught up in real estate-related cases because of men.
Zaiter adds that many women do not have much of a presence outside their homes, which reduces their risk of becoming embroiled in conflict that leads to arrest. Most women also do not own weapons with which to commit a crime, unlike men, who may go to prison because of arms-related crimes.
“Gathering the data about what these women do, the places in which they exist, and the amount of space given to them makes it possible to determine the type and nature of crimes committed,” Zaiter elaborates, “as a woman could become involved in crime because her partner made her complicit, as is the case with drug trafficking.” Zaiter does acknowledge, however, that this does not justify criminal behavior but provides a description of the reality of some situations.
Zaiter adds that “crime is not instinctive, and people are not born with a criminal drive; it is actually intimately related to social roles. And because these roles are divided by gender, we see that women do not commit the same types of crimes as men: for instance, a woman suffering from domestic violence could be pushed to kill her partner to save herself from the violence and inhumane acts he committed against her.” The lawyer Diala Chehade confirms this, noting that “statistics have shown that most women who are convicted of crimes are accused in relation to an initial crime committed by men. The women often only get involved because they have close familial ties with these men.”
Chehade also specifies to Medfeminiswiya that “the percentage of crimes committed by women is relatively low in Lebanon when compared to other countries, and most of these crimes are either due to women being accessories to crimes planned and carried out by men that these women are related to, or are reactions to criminal offenses committed against them by men.”
“Statistics have shown that most women who are convicted of crimes
are accused in relation to an initial crime committed by men”
On double discrimination: “a former prisoner and divorced, too”
“A dark grave that I don’t wish on my worst enemy…” These are the words used by Etab to describe the living conditions of woman prisoners, who are treated very harshly. Etab tells us how they had to eat the disgusting food served to them, “food even dogs wouldn’t eat, food that often stank and had swarms of flies buzzing around it.”
“They wouldn’t answer our calls, not until the day was almost over,” Etab continues. And despite the fact that she suffered from migraines and needed specific medication, she was forced to endure her bouts on her own with no painkillers. “Even in prison, money is very important,” she explains, “because if a prisoner is rich, well off, she can pay off everyone in there. But if she doesn’t have any money, she has no choice but to keep her mouth shut and her head down.” Describing the harshness of living conditions in prison, Etab lists how “there is no electricity, no water – not even to shower, tea is forbidden, anise tea too; we aren't even guaranteed a cup of coffee! It’s up to them.”
Etab also confirms that prisoners had to pay out of their own pockets to obtain basic needs during their menstrual cycles, which meant that many women had to use rags instead of sanitary pads, and those who couldn’t get their hands on either would bleed into their clothes, which is what happened to her.
But now that Etab is out of prison, not only does she have to deal with her trauma and the social stigma of having been imprisoned but also has to suffer reproaches for being a divorced woman. “My daughters suffered a lot and didn’t have any place to live when I was in prison. My ex-husband didn’t make much of an effort to help them, and when I got out the stigma stuck to me and my daughters, too. People have no mercy.” Etab had to live through social exclusion and gossip, and she to this day is stigmatized as a former prisoner and divorcee. She adds, “Many female prisoners, once they’re released, have to change their lives and move to areas where no one knows who they are, especially if they’re divorced, so that they’re not glared at in contempt wherever they go.”
Etab was imprisoned in 2021 for six months, on charges of false allegations. Her ex-husband was a major reason she got implicated and went to prison, according to her testimony.
I went to prison because of him
After Hind (a current prisoner in the Baabda Women’s Prison) separated from her husband, she encountered someone she may have considered a safe haven in the aftermath of her difficult first relationship. So it came as a shock to her when he first implicated her in a crime she had nothing to do with. She found out that her current husband is a drug dealer, which led to both of them getting arrested and going to prison after the Information Division raided their house and found a sizable amount of drugs.
Hind knew that her husband was involved in drug smuggling, but she couldn’t tell the relevant authorities; he had scared her into submission. Her argument, however, did not convince the judge who ultimately ruled against her.
According to Hind’s lawyer, the court had initially ruled that Hind’s act was in the same category as her husband’s: drug trafficking and promotion, to which her lawyer objected on the grounds that what Hind did does not amount to these charges. She claims that Hind is now in the process of being released from prison, but the judges’ strike is the reason it’s taking so long.
Overcrowded cells and a lack of health services
In a document published by the Khiam Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, which addresses the conditions woman prisoners have to endure, the following problems are listed as the main issues women suffer from:
- Overcrowded cells, such that a large number of prisoners are squeezed into tiny cells that lack any means of heating or cooling, knowing that some prisons do have means to cool the cells. There is also a large number of non-Lebanese prisoners who are awaiting deportation to their countries, which leads to even more overcrowding inside the prison.
- A lack of health services from medical attention to access to medication, a shortage of basic daily necessities (drying racks, food, woman-specific necessities/ sanitary pads, cleaning tools, a refrigerator, heating and cooling methods…), and the absence of basic sanitary and health standards such as ventilation and sunlight, which leads to the spread of germs and epidemics.
- The social isolation suffered by most woman prisoners, since many of them do not get family visits.
- Not separating prisoners according to the type and magnitude of the crime, thus mixing in a same cell women accused of minor crimes and others accused of major ones – which could lead to some prisoners learning new criminal skills.
- Some associations limiting their services to foreign prisoners, or to those who committed specific types of crime (prostitution, for example, since sex workers are unfortunately still criminalized), but even these services are insufficient.
- The absence of rehabilitation and reform in prisons.
Security officers threaten their wives to force them to confess…
Lebanese security forces detained a woman who was found guilty because of her association to her Syrian husband who was accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. According to interviews we conducted with refugees and lawyers, Lebanese security forces make a practice of detaining women to pressure their husbands or male relatives during interrogation, or for them to turn themselves in. Syrian refugees have attested to the fact that having these women present during interrogation pushes the detainees to confess to anything the interrogators ask them to, in an effort to secure the women’s release. Some male refugees witnessed women getting beaten. In the two cases documented by Amnesty International, the interrogators used gender-related insults and threats to exert pressure on the women when they were being questioned.
According to data gathered by Amnesty International, the arrest and detention of women – from a few hours to multiple hours or even weeks – is used as a method to put pressure on their husbands or male relatives.
The testimonies gathered during this investigation intersected and cumulated into a horrific account of reality, starting with the fact that many women’s crimes are simply the result of the general state of violence in laws and societies that are used against them and the stereotypical distribution of gender roles. This all leads to even more torture in terms of the lack of services, delayed trials, and indefinitely denying women access to their most basic rights, as if they are just another unimportant issue on a long list of unimportant issues.
Very interesting and moving reportage.