Security Forces End Roumieh Riot amid Torture Scandal
Security forces succeeded on Tuesday in containing a riot that has erupted at Roumieh Prison, two days after a torture scandal hit the facility.
The forces restored order at the jail after listening to the inmates' demands, said MTV.
Media had reported earlier that the prisoners had broken down the doors of their cells and beat other inmates.
The rioters at the facility's Block A reportedly demanded better conditions. Among them are convicted drug traffickers from the Shamas family.
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's adviser on prisons, Brig. Gen. Monir Shaaban, and several top security officials rushed to the facility to hear their demands.
An ISF special panthers unit was also deployed near Roumieh on the outskirts of Beirut to stop the riot from going out of control.
On Sunday, online video clips showed prison guards beating Islamists in Roumieh's Block B.
The video drew sharp condemnation and accusations among politicians from the rival March 8 and 14 alliances on who stood behind the leak.
The clips show a room full of detainees stripped down to their underwear. In one clip, a guard beats a detainee on his back with what looks like a green hose. He yells "keep quiet" at the screaming detainee.
Another clip shows a second guard taunting and insulting a bearded detainee while hitting him. The detainee begs for mercy and later a voice, presumably of another guard, is heard ordering the inmate to kiss the man beating him. He is kicked in the face when he attempts it.
The detainees shown were handcuffed behind their back while squatting on a flooded floor.
G.K./M.T.
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