Lebanon: Information on human rights abuses committed in the South Lebanese Army (SLA) detention centre in Khiam

A representative of L'Observatoire Internationale des Prisons, an organization based in France that monitors conditions in detention centres around the world, stated that information on al-Khiam has been scarce since a report prepared by Amnesty International in 1992 on this prison (12 Oct. 1995).

An article from Agence France Presse (AFP) reports cases of torture by electric shocks applied to prisoners' finger, feet and genitalia, cigarette burns, confinement in cages, and water deprivation (19 Apr. 1995).

According to a representative of Middle East Watch, the most detailed report available on al-Khiam prison has been produced by Amnesty International (12 Oct. 1995). The representative added that Middle East Watch does not have any information further to that in the Amnesty International report (ibid.). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been allowed to visit al-Khiam in 1995 (ibid.). This information is also reported by Voice of Lebanon, which added that the visitation rights were granted after an agreement between the International Red Cross and Israel (9 Feb. 1995). The Red Cross was accompanied by the families of the detained (ibid.). However, the Middle East Watch representative stated that it is the established policy of the ICRC not to disclose any information other than the fact that they were allowed visitation rights (12 Oct. 1995).

According to the report of a mission conducted in March 1994 in Lebanon by Sabine Missistrano, President of the Belgium League for Human Rights, and presented in La lettre hebdomadaire de la ligue des droits de l'homme, Khiam prison was originally a military barrack during the French Mandate and used by the Lebanese army between 1943 and 1985 (May 1994, 22-24). The al-Khiam facility was transformed into a detention centre by the Israeli army and the South Lebanese Army (SLA) during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (ibid.). Al-Khiam has 67 collectives cells and 21 individual cells (ibid.). The report stated that human rights abuses, especially torture, had been carried out against prisoners (ibid.). For a list of torture methods used in al-Khiam, please consult page 23 of the report (ibid.). Eleven prisoners have died from physical and psychological torture (ibid.). The report also mentions briefly that an uprising had occurred in November 1989 (ibid.).

According to the report of a mission conducted in December 1994 in Lebanon by Monique Picard-Weyl, a lawyer at the Cour de Paris, and reported in La lettre de la fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme, there are 259 prisoners (men, women, and teenagers) in al-Khiam (2 Mar. 1995, 10). Al-Khiam is under territory controlled by the South Lebanese Army (SLA) and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) (ibid.).

For a brief overview of detention centres under SLA and IDF in South Lebanon, please consult the attached copy of an article entitled "The Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon" in Third World Quarterly (1355-1357).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 19 April 1995. "Rapport Norvégien sur la Torture dans la Prison de al-Khiam." (NEXIS)

La Lettre de la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme [Paris]. 2 March 1995. No. 576-577. "Liban: Les Détenus Libanais dans les Prisons Sous Contrôle Syrien et Israélien."

La lettre hebdomadaire de la ligue des droits de l'homme [Paris]. May 1994. No. 188. "Liban."

Middle East Watch, New York. 11 October 1995. Telephone interview with a representative.

L'Observatoire Internationale des Prisons, Lyon, France. 12 October 1995. Telephone interview with representative.

Third World Quarterly [London]. October 1986. No. 4, Vol. 8. Chris Mowles. "The Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon."

Voice of the South [Clandestine, in Arabic]. 9 February 1995. "Lebanese Visit Relatives Held in al-Khiyam Prison." (FBIS-NES-95-028 10 February 1995, p. 37)

Attachments

Agence France Presse (AFP). 5 May 1992. "Israel Denies Involvement in Torture at South Lebanon Camp." (NEXIS)

The Associated Press (AP). 23 January 1995. "Hezbollah Declares All Missing Israeli Sodiers Dead." (NEXIS)

Chicago Tribune. 24 January 1995. Noah Sports Final Edition. "Hezbollah Says Israeli MIAS Dead." (NEXIS)

Financial Times [London, UK]. 5 May 1992. "Amnesty Accuses Israelis." (NEXIS)

The Lebanon Report [Beirut]. May 1993. Vol. 4, No. 50. Hizballah and Israel: Prisonners' Exchange in the Work?"

The Middle East [London, UK]. April 1994. "Israel's Faithful Friend."

La Lettre de la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme [Paris]. 2 March 1995. No. 576-577. "Liban: Les Détenus Libanais dans les Prisons Sous Contrôle Syrien et Israélien."

_____. 17 March 1994. No. 529. "Liban."

Third World Quarterly [London]. October 1986. Vol. 8, No. 4. Chris Mowles. "The Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon."

Voice of Lebanon [Beirut, in Arabic]. 9 February 1995. "Lebanese Visit Relatives Held in al-Khiyam." (FBIS-NES-95-028 10 February 1995, p. 37)

Voice of the South [Clandestine, in Arabic]. 9 February 1995. "Lebanese Visit Relatives Held in al-Khiyam Prison." (FBIS-NES-95-028 10 February 1995, p. 37)

_____. 30 May 1993. "Four Detainees Released From al-Khiyam Prison." (FBIS-NES-93-103 1 June 1993, p. 52)

_____. 5 May 1992. "Lahd Denies Amnesty Report on al-Khiyam Prison." (FBIS-NES-92-087 5 May 1992, p. 37)

Reuters. 2 June 1995. BC Cycles. "Lebanon: Press Digest." (NEXIS)