Mashnouq: Abuse Videos Must Not be Exploited to Undermine ISF, Institutions

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Monday warned of attempts to take advantage of shocking abuse videos leaked from the Roumieh prison to undermine the Internal Security Forces and other state institutions.

“This act must not be used to undermine the reputation of the ISF,” said Mashnouq at a press conference he held after visiting Roumieh and meeting with ISF officers and the abused Islamist inmates who appeared in the videos.

“The practices do not justify insults against the ISF or any Lebanese security agency or institution. The interior minister will act according to his jurisdiction towards any officer or security guard who breaches the humanitarian rights of any inmate,” he pledged.

Mashnouq noted that during his meeting with the abused prisoners, they told him that “the abuses stopped” after they were moved to the prison facility's Block B.

“There will be follow-up on the way the prisoners are being treated and keenness on implementing the law. I will not tolerate any mistake against any prisoner,” the minister vowed.

“The probe is ongoing and I tell the politicians that they are only serving the agenda of extremism by condemning state institutions,” Mashnouq cautioned, adding that he will do all he can to “protect state institutions and rectify any mistake that they might commit.”

He promised “firm and harsh measures” against the violators “in line with the applicable laws.”

In response to a question, the minister added: “No one is saying that the members of the army and the security forces are saints. Mistakes happen and they are rectified afterwards.”

Mashnouq also dismissed media reports alleging that Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi orchestrated the release of the videos and the street protests that ensued to undermine his status as interior minister.

Mashnouq and Rifi are both members of al-Mustaqbal movement and observers see them as potential candidates to the post of prime minister.

Asked about calls for his resignation, the minister said: “The issue of my resignation is not important. What's important is preserving the state instead of emptying its institutions.”

Speaking to reporters before a security meeting at the Grand Serail, Rifi described Mashnouq as his “friend,” slamming the accusations against him as “the peak of bankruptcy.”

“I'm cooperating with (al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad) Hariri and Mashnouq to contain the anger on the streets,” the minister added.

He described the footage from Roumieh as “a manifestation of the school of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad, which has started to crumble.”

Rifi also noted that the security personnel who appeared in the videos as well as those who filmed and leaked the footage have all been detained.

Speaking during the security meeting, Prime Minister Tammam Salam described the abuse as an “obscene and unethical act” that “violates the Lebanese Constitution.”

Salam expressed to Mashnouq and Rifi his “full support for the steps that they have made so far in order to address the case, and for their wisdom, national responsibility and keenness on the law,” the National News Agency said.

The premier also warned against “exploiting a rogue and unusual behavior in the ISF's conduct to insult this national institution.”

The graphic videos sent shockwaves across the country and triggered street protests by angry demonstrators after they went viral on social networking websites.

Mashnouq has announced that they were filmed around two months ago following riots at the prison facility.

Five prison guards have been detained so far in connection with the ongoing investigation.

The two videos, apparently filmed on cellphones, appear to show guards at the prison humiliating detainees and beating them with plastic pipes.

In one video, a prisoner lies on a floor covered in water, stripped to his underwear with his hands tied behind his back.

He is asked what he is accused of, and replies "transporting terrorists."

A guard then beats him repeatedly with a green pipe, while another man off-camera encourages him and demands that the prisoner kiss his assailant's boot.

In the other video, around a dozen prisoners, all stripped to their underwear with their hands tied behind them are seated on a floor.

A guard can be seen beating at least two prisoners, shouting at one: "Lower your voice or I'll put your eyes out."

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.

Islamist prisoners who were being held at Roumieh's Block B transferred to a new ward following increased lawlessness and worsening conditions.

In January, security forces took full control of the notorious Block B after storming the building and seizing illegal items from Islamist prisoners.

Around 800 to 900 inmates, most of them Islamists, were transferred to the new Block D.

Y.R.