Rights group says Syrian refugees tortured in Lebanon

Hundreds of Syrian refugees including children have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by Lebanese security forces for years, Amnesty International said.

They are arrested and beaten on “trumped-up terror-related charges”, the human rights group said in a report based on the testimonials of 26 people and their lawyers.

About 1.5 million Syrians have sought refuge in neighbouring Lebanon since the Syrian conflict started 10 years ago, but xenophobic speech from Assad regime allies in Beirut has fuelled violence against them.

“Since 2011, hundreds of Syrian refugees have been detained in Lebanon, often arbitrarily,” the report said.

Lebanese authorities have pursued Syrians for terrorism offences since 2014, when ISIS was at its height in Syria and militants attempted to overtake the Lebanese border town of Arsal. But the report found that opponents of the Syrian regime in Lebanon also appeared to be targets.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has supported the regime of President Bashar Al Assad in Syria since the early days of the war. Along with Russian and Iranian forces, the Lebanese group has propped up the Syrian government, helping it regain most of the country’s territory.

Syrian refugees interviewed by Amnesty International were not notified of the reason for their arrest and did not have access to a lawyer or to their family when they were first detained.

Torture methods used in Syrian prisons were also used against those detained in Lebanon. These include hanging detainees by the wrists for hours.

“Lebanese security officials seemed to consider opposition to the Syrian government the same as terrorism,” the refugees told Amnesty.

Maher, 40, a teacher, said he was detained for four months in Lebanon for allegedly supporting the Syrian revolution.

“While they were beating me, they said ‘Your God is Bashar Al Assad’,” he said.

Authorities displayed a “cruel and discriminatory treatment of Syrian refugees,” said Marie Forestier, of Amnesty International.

“The Lebanese authorities have utterly disregarded international human rights law,” she said.