Refugees Died After Interrogation, Lebanese Security Apparatus Disselidiki

JAKARTA - Five security agents are being investigated in Lebanon on charges of tortureing a Syrian refugee, who later died under interrogation, authorities said on Sunday.

The suspects are members of the State Security Agency, according to a court source speaking to AFP, Fadi Akiki, commissioner of the country's military court, has ordered an initial investigation into the man's death.

The victim reportedly suffered several hours of torture, before dying of a heart attack despite being rushed to hospital, as quoted by The National News of AFP September 5.

The State Security Service verified the suspect's death, his wife being Bashar Abdel Saud. He is suspected to be a member of ISIS. In the image seen by AFP, the deceased's body was covered with wounds and bruises.

The State Security Agency, which has faced charges of abuse in the past, said Abdel Saud's death had been referred to an "authority authorized".

Torture in Lebanon was banned under law 2017, but allegations that abuse of prisoners often arises.

Lebanon has a National Human Rights Commission, as well as the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, and the International Committee of the Red Cross is allowed to inspect prisons.

But rights groups have expressed "worries about military courts" as well as "the existence of secret detention places used by both state and non-state actors," the US State Department last year said in a report on the human rights situation in Lebanon.

The report also said, "the authorities admit abuse of violence sometimes occurs during pre-trial detention at police stations or military installations, in which officials interrogated the suspect without the presence of a lawyer".

The United Nations, which made a series of recommendations for Lebanon's security service in 2010, said in May that many of these recommendations had not yet been implemented.

"The establishment of an independent national prevention mechanism, having good resources and functioning properly is key to preventing torture and ill-treatment. Lebanon still has to take firm and urgent action in this regard," said a statement from the UN sub-committee on the prevention of torture.