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International award to Lebanese Sana Hamza for treatment of victims
14-10-2019
Sana Hamzeh, from Tripoli, North Lebanon, received on October 12 the Barbara Chester Award for the treatment of torture victims in a ceremony in Arizona, US, organized by Hopi Foundation. The award to note, is the highest one in the field, and is first time handed to an Arab national. Recalling, that Hamzeh is a clinical psychologist at Restart Center for the rehabilitation of victims of violence and torture and was involved in the treatment of nearly 27,000 victims. In a related vein, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) launched with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Lebanon, on October 11 , a preliminary study on ‘The situation of torture in Lebanon’. The report coincides with the ratification two years ago of the 65/2017 bill criminalizing torture and other cruel treatment (http://lkdg.org/ar/node/16915), noting that the said law proved that it is still inactive and dysfunctional. The head of the center, Wadih Asmar, said the law needs activation and the amendment of certain clauses, notably the incomplete definition of torture, the absence of exclusivity of jurisdiction and the subjection of torture to the passage of time. The above study published in English covered 96 prisoners (55 men and 37 women inmates) of different nationalities (age group 18 to 61 years) distributed over 7 Lebanese prisons and detentions centers. Around 59 of the respondents (nearly 65% of the total respondents) admitted to being subjected to physical torture and verbal abuse. They reported all kinds of physical abuse, including beating, deprivation of water and food, electric shocks and other forms of inhuman treatment. Female inmates spoke of sexual harassment and gender-based violence, mentioning violence at the Information and General Security departments, ISF centers, judiciary police/ detective units, State Security, the Anti-Drug Bureau/ Hbeish Police Station, Lebanese Army Intelligence, ISF- Information Division and the International Anti-Theft Bureau. (Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, October 12, 2019)
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