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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, July 18, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: Lebanese army accused of torturing Syrian refugees
Shocking pictures show extent of injuries to four men who died in custody after being picked up in raids on camps near Arsal
Lizzie Porter-Monday 17 July 2017
BEIRUT - The Lebanese
army has been accused of widespread torture of Syrian refugee prisoners,
four of whom died in custody after they were picked up in mass raids at
camps near Arsal on the Syria-Lebanon border.
The four men died after apparently spending several days in the custody
of the Lebanese army after the raid, prompting the military to open an
inquiry. However initial forensic reports, seen by Middle East Eye, said
there was "no evidence of violence" against the prisoners and that the
four men had died of natural causes.
But photographs also seen by Middle East Eye show huge gashes and
bruising on the bodies of three of the four men, identified as Mustafa
Abdel-Kareem Absi, Anas Hussein al-Hsaikeh, Khalid Hussein Moulays, and
Othman Merhi Moulays.
The victims were left tied with plastic handcuffs for days on end, "to
the point where it caused extreme physical damage - on both their hands
and legs", said a legal source who had seen the bodies before
their burial on 11 July.
An image obtained by Middle East Eye showing injuries to one of the dead men (MEE)
The source told MEE that deep wounds on the corpses were clear indicators of torture.
"There are also the wounds all over their bodies - on the shoulders,
arms, knees - especially from the knees. People who were detained and
released told me that they were tortured as well."
The source, who cannot be named for security reasons, questioned the
army's official version of events, in which the deceased died of heart
attacks and a stroke brought on by the weather.
"How can [the army's death report] repeatedly say that there was no
violence at all? How can a doctor say that there is no source of
violence at all?" the source said. "It was clear there were wounds on
the head that led to bleeding."
Read more ►
A second source with extensive experience of examining images of torture
victims said the pictures showed "enough evidence of clear signs of
torture".
"This is beyond any doubt. There is clear sign of tension and trauma on
the wrists, which could indicate that the victim has been hung by his
wrists, by gravity," the source said.
"It cannot be signs of regular hand restrainers, the level of the trauma
and pressure clearly indicates that the victims were hung by their
hands."
"We can also see intense round traumas on the abdomen and lower back,
which are not signs of falling. If somebody falls, the trauma is on the
extremities, not on the central abdomen."
People close to the dead men also said they were confused about the army's version of events.
"There was no pre-existing health condition," a relative of one of the victims told MEE, who shared pictures of the burial.
"He was 100 percent healthy."
الجيش اللبناني يقتحم مخيمات للنازحين السوريين في بلدة عرسال ويعتقل العشرات منهم كما قام بتخريب المخيمات ومصادرة بعض أملاك اللاجئين.
When asked if they thought the deceased had been tortured, the relative
said: "God knows best... but the pictures speak for themselves."
A medical source from a hospital in Arsal said one of the dead was also a medic, who did not live in the camp.
"He was an anesthesiologist," the source told MEE. "When the [army]
statement said that he had pre-existing health conditions, we were
shocked because that wasn't the case. He died healthy."
Lawyers representing the families of three of the men obtained
permission for an independent assessment of the bodies. However,
military intelligence intervened and confiscated the forensic samples
before it could be carried out.
"We are not convinced that the initial report [from the army-appointed
medic] is accurate," said Wissam Tarif, an advocacy director
representing three of the families.
"There is no independent analysis yet - they put an obstacle in front of that.
Deep cuts to wrist of one of those who died in custody (MEE)
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"We obtained an order from a judge in Zahle to obtain an independent
forensic opinion, and the forensic samples were taken to Hotel Dieu [a
hospital in Beirut] but the military intelligence intervened and took
them and the organs [samples]".
Human rights observers are now sending images of the bodies abroad for
independent examination, amid fears that the results of the army's own
investigation will not be made public.
"We have sent photos of three of the bodies to a doctor with expertise
in documenting torture for assessment, to see whether they show evidence
of the cause of death," Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher Bassam
Khawaja told MEE.
"In Lebanon there is a history of the security services opening
investigations but not publishing the findings, so the public and the
families don't know the results", he continued.
Arsal raids
The four men were arrested after the army swept into two refugee camps
at Arsal, al-Nur and al-Qariya, looking for what they said were
"terrorists". They were met by a series of suicide attacks and one
grenade attack, which injured several soldiers.
Read more ►
The army officially acknowledged that one Syrian died, a four-year-old
child, in one of the suicide attacks, and four more subsequently in
their custody.
However, sources in Arsal said at least seven others were killed, increasing the death toll to 12.
A medical source in Arsal said several bodies were received from both
the Lebanese army and neighbouring hospitals in east Lebanon before and
after the military operations.
"Four days after the operation [on 4 July], we received four dead bodies from the Baalbek municipality," the source said.
"Three were buried immediately, and the other who was decapitated with
his arms amputated was left for a week in case he was identified, but
was buried a week later."
It was not until 11 July when they received the four bodies of the Syrians explicitly identified in the military statement.
While the army claimed that the Syrian child died due to the suicide
attacks, other sources claim that she was crushed by an armored
personnel carrier but the military prevented doctors from examining the
body.
"We also received the body of a four-year-old, though we were not allowed to examine it," the source said.
"Most of the families at the encampments have said that the child was crushed, but of course I was not there to witness it."
Another body was allegedly taken the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in
Beirut, before it was transferred to Arsal for burial, although it
remained unclear why the corpse was separated.
A history of torture
The possibility of death under torture in Lebanese army custody comes
against a background of previous accounts of abuse by security services.
Last December, Human Rights Watch published the harrowing account of a
Syrian refugee who said he was beaten, verbally abused and had a rod
pushed up his anus at Rehanieh military police prison on the suspicion of being gay.
HRW has thoroughly documented 10 cases in
which civilians in Lebanese military detention said that they were
tortured. This included during interrogations, when none of them had
access to a lawyer or their families.
"The use of torture is taking place [in the Lebanese security system] we
cannot deny that," George Ghali, programmes director of Lebanese human
rights organisation Alef, told MEE.
"There hasn't been proper accountability for these cases which is creating a culture of impunity, tolerance and acceptance."
The UN Committee Against Torture has echoed similar concerns.
The 30 June army raid near Arsal was the latest of dozens carried out on
security grounds, in which more than 350 refugees have been arrested.
But human rights observers are concerned that security services fail to treat detainees with dignity during their operations.
The June 30 raid caused widespread anger and furthered accusations of
ill-treatment of refugees by Lebanon's security forces, after images
appeared of dozens of refugees lying face down on the ground, guarded by armed soldiers.
MEE also understands that some of the prisoners were not given reasons for their arrest.
"Putting their faces on the ground, lying on their stomachs - that is
not going to provide more protection or security," said George Ghali.
"Our position is that the constant and systematic human rights
violations that are occurring in this situation feed a hospitable
environment for radicalisation."
Since the 30 June raid, media and human rights observers have been
denied access to Arsal, which the Lebanese army consider a security
zone.
While some of those arrested have since been released, observers are
concerned about the fate of the scores still believed to be in prison,
who risk disappearing in Lebanon's opaque security apparatus.
"There are definitely people still detained," said Bassam Khawaja from HRW.
Although there was no evidence of people being forcibly returned to
Syria, he said access by lawyers or family members to individuals
detained by the Lebanese military is routinely "very hard".
On 10 July,
the Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, said the army's investigation
into the deaths in custody would be completed in "two or three days".
But the results have yet to be revealed.
"The army is conducting a clear and transparent investigation into this
issue and no one should doubt it because the army is keener on the
security of the citizens and civilians than anyone else is," Hariri said.
"Also, questioning the investigation carried out by the Army Command is unacceptable."
A Lebanese army source told MEE that they did not have any more
information than previously released comments. The military had
described torture allegations as "baseless".
The army did not respond to questions from MEE to confirm the total
death toll after the Arsal raid, say how many men were still in custody,
or explain if there were plans to improve transparency.