Second prison death in Lebanon in 24 hours as strike enters fourth day
The Prisoners’ Families Committee in Lebanon reported the death of detainee George Abdelsater, 54, from the town of Iaat in Baalbek District, inside Zahle Prison on Wednesday after a sharp deterioration in his health.This marks the second death in Lebanese prisons within 24 hours and the fifth in 30 days since Parliament passed the amnesty law, according to the committee.
In a statement, the committee said Abdelsater had been held without trial for 12 years and that his health had deteriorated over the years due to severe psychological distress and the inhumane conditions in the country’s prisons.
The committee said the circumstances surrounding George’s death highlight the medical neglect faced by detainees and prisoners, claiming that he remained lying in the prison pharmacy for more than half an hour without being urgently transferred or receiving a medical examination, according to fellow inmates.
The committee added that Abdelsater might have had a chance to receive hospital treatment and the medical care needed to save his life had the amnesty law recently signed by President Joseph Aoun begun to take effect. However, it said the constitutional challenge filed by MP Gebran Bassil, which it claimed disregarded the humanitarian reasons behind the law, had stalled its implementation. The law aims to reduce overcrowding and save prisoners’ lives.
The committee concluded by appealing to the Constitutional Council to reject the challenge and order the law to be implemented immediately, saying that ending delays on the matter has become urgent to prevent further deaths in Lebanese prisons.
Meanwhile, the nationwide hunger strike launched by inmates at Roumieh Central Prison has entered its fourth consecutive day. More than 400 prisoners in Building B continue to refuse food and medication in protest against the suspension of the general amnesty law and the exceptional sentence reductions, pending a Constitutional Council ruling in the coming days.
