BRD - Prisons Management

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Reengineering Prisons Management

Re-engineering prison management in Lebanon: a call for handling crises

April 14, 2011 12:00 AM ByGilbert Doumit

The Daily Star

Smoke billows from Roumieh prison compound

BEIRUT: In the midst of political aggravation and rising discourse on the riots in Roumieh

prison, Lebanese citizens find themselves once again in the face of a confusing crisis.

For over two weeks now, reports on violence and chaos in the prisons have led politicians to

speak up against the current management system. What is needed now more than ever is a

holistic rethinking of the way in which our prisons are managed.

Only real structural change with true will to transform the current system can remedy to the

current crisis. Any piecemeal attempts will remain short-lived with recurrent chaos and violence

remaining inevitable.

Lebanese prisons are overcrowded and mismanaged at many levels. Caretaker Justice Minister

Ibrahim Najjar disclosed that of the 5,511 individuals spread across Lebanons 23 prisons, just1,655 (30 percent) have been convicted of a crime.

Of Roumiehs estimated 3,700 detainees, 721 have been convicted. In addition, there are 222foreign inmates in the prison who have served their sentences but remain incarcerated. Various

legal, social and cultural factors add to the problem.
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Often blamed, the Internal Security Forces are also victims of this system. In a 2010 study by

Beyond Reform & Development, we were able to identify the self-governance system in whichinmates and ISF members are living under in 11 peripheral prisons.

ISF members and inmates are both incarcerated by the cruelty of Lebanese laws and the archaic

infrastructural in prisons. The absence of law enforcement by central government leads toinmates and ISF members suffering from unbearable living conditions.

Both sides; ISF and inmates, fall into the trap of feeling detained and losing their freedomunjustly because of a larger system that protects neither their rights nor their interests. They both

feel their lives are on hold, waiting for the time when the system would end their shared misery

and bring back their hope and trust in its ability to regain balance. Much like society at large,prisons became a place housing divisions, lacking opportunity, and basic rights.

In our study with over 70 members of the ISF in 11 prisons, we noted that both ISF and inmates

suffer from huge bureaucratic inefficiencies controlling their destiny and the future of their

families.

Both sides lack opportunities to develop their capacities, improve their livelihoods, and secure

income for their families. Both sides fear societys judgment of their parts and yearn for societyto reshape their image and become more accepting of their role. Both sides seek to be

reintegrated in a social system that provides them with justice, equity and protects their humanrights.

The Interior and Municipalities Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry are

in dire need to rethink the overall way in which Lebanese prisons are managed. It is crucial to

consider the restructuring of the Internal Security Forces, redistributing roles, and supporting

them with expertise in prisons management, rehabilitation, and legal aid.

The Lebanese government should plan for the development of a team of civilian professionals

dedicated to prisons management.

Next steps should also seek to design a Competency Framework for Prisons Management. Theframework should be designed around respecting human rights and international conventions. It

should include joint responsibility between civilian experts and the ISF.

Moreover there is a need to enhance communication mechanisms between security authorities,

judicial bodies, relevant ministries, and civil society organizations working on serving prisons.

Also, government and civil society should collaborate on improving the types and levels of

services in prisons through a hybrid system of a central security apparatus and socio-economicbenefits. Finally the re-engineering of prisons and separation of inmates based on the type of

crimes, duration of sentences is a crucial at this stage

A show of serious concern and responsiveness to the current situation would incorporate these

empirical findings into the long-term solution for Lebanese prisons. There is a danger that, while


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the situation deteriorates, Lebanese policy-makers enter into a futile public debate on whos to

blame.

The longer the situation persists in the prisons, the higher the risk of it turning into a larger social

issue. Families of inmates and ISF members should not have to suffer for the carelessness and

inequity of the system as their children are.

I believe that there is sufficient evidence to instigate a true reform process. There is a need forgovernment efforts to go beyond responding to the crisis towards pursuing real change in the

policies and systems that led to this crisis. Roumieh, like all peripheral prisons, is a ticking time-

bomb. Our hope is that Lebanese statesmen can rise to the occasion and act responsibly toward

the detained men and women, both as inmates and as ISF members.

Gilbert Doumit is the managing partner of Beyond Reform & Development, a social business

offering policy and public administration consulting across the Middle East. BRD visited local

prisons last year conducting over 70 interviews with ISF staff, as part of the Cinemarena project

led by the Social Affairs Ministry, and in collaboration with the Interior & MunicipalitiesMinistry, supported by the Italian Development Cooperation.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on April 14, 2011, onpage 3.

Read more:http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Apr/14/Re-engineering-prison-management-in-

Lebanon-a-call-for-handling-crises.ashx#ixzz20szPXvnu (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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