The abysmal conditions of hundreds of women in Lebanese prisons

L’Orient le Jour published yesterday a report in which it shared the result of a study carried out in the Baabda women prisons and which highlights the conditions of women prisoners and their suffering.
According to the Dar Al Amal statistics for 2013, the total number of women incarcerated in the four women prisons in Lebanon (Zahleh, Tripoli, Baabda and Beirut) is around 627 women and that is excluding the number of migrant women workers who are incarcerated for months awaiting deportation.
According to the report, living conditions in all four prisons are not in accordance with international standards.  In Baabda for instance, a 20 square meter cells houses 20 prisoners.  Such room only has one window and poor lighting.  According to the report, there are no specific administrative policies that regulate the situation of women in prisons.  Rather, women prisoners with the longest tenure set the rules.
The report highlights special cases such as pregnant women who deliver in prisons and the fate of their children, those forced to live in insalubrious conditions, the incarceration of minors and adults together as well as “sorting” of inmates according to race rather than according to the type of their offense.
The newspaper spoke with a 42 year old inmate who said that sometimes, the room hosts 22 women and this situation has not changed despite the intervention of many organizations who tried to help.  She added that women are subjected to insults and humiliation all day long and are forced to work hard in sewing, cleaning, cooking, etc… in return for basic hygienic products which explains the poor sanitation conditions within the prison.   Finally, the report also highlights the social isolation of women prisoners as they are abandoned by their families.  According to the newspaper, this also may be partly due to the remote location of prisons which are not well distributed in the country.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 10 June 2014