Forgotten Behind Bars: More Than Nine Months After Assad’s Defeat, 2,000 Syrians Are Languishing in Lebanese Prisons

The walls of Roumieh Central Prison in Lebanon’s Matn district drip with damp and decay. Inside its suffocating cells, meant for three but packed with more than a dozen men each, Syrians who once dared to speak against tyrant Bashar al-Assad’s regime now sit trapped in a Lebanese limbo.Hezbollah, acting with quiet impunity, has filled these rooms with the unwanted and the outspoken, their activism against Damascus now a sentence of indefinite detention on foreign soil.One of them — his identity withheld for his safety — spoke to The New York Sun through a smuggled phone. It is the second time he has been seized.“I’ve been detained for almost a year and a half,” the 30-something former professional said. “The first time I was interrogated, the officer realized I had no ties to terrorism and let me go. But I was kidnapped again, and I’ve been held in this prison in awful conditions since then.”Sadly, such a case is hardly an anomaly. The detainee describes a system designed to break people slowly, through neglect and overcrowding.“In these past 15 months, I’ve seen more than 40 people die from lack of medical care. Just in the last two months, three people have died,” he continued. “Many are developing strange rashes and diseases. The guards tell us, ‘Go figure it out on your own.’”Meals are little more than boiled cracked wheat or rice, meager portions that leave stomachs hollow. At night, the detainees collapse on thin cushions laid side by side in fetid air. Some have been waiting for years without a hearing, and others are sent before Hezbollah-run courts with no legal representation.“There are people here who have been detained for around 10 years,” the detainee said. “Some of them have been sentenced to life in prison. We believe Iran is ultimately responsible for what is happening to us.”He counts at least 200 Syrians jailed for nothing more than activism against Assad. They are among an estimated 2,000 Syrians locked up in Lebanon — many for lacking proper residency papers, others for reasons that remain opaque.“We really need help here,” he pleaded. “We cannot be forgotten.”When the Assad regime collapsed in December 2024 after more than a decade of conflict, many Syrians abroad saw a chance to go home. Families of those displaced across the Middle East clung to the hope that their relatives might finally return from exile, detention, or hiding. Yet for the Syrians in Lebanon’s prisons, that promise of freedom remains out of reach.Syrians now make up nearly a quarter of Lebanon’s total prison population of 8,500, most of whom are held without trial under conditions that rights groups describe as abusive and unlawful. The fate of the Syrian prisoners is tied to unresolved questions of war, politics, and regional power, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement playing a pivotal role in their detention.“Syrian refugees in Lebanon are among the most vulnerable groups. Refugees are often arbitrarily arrested and detained for long periods for alleged offenses ranging from expired identification papers to drug dealing,” Amnesty International’s advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Elizabeth Rghebi, tells the Sun. “Torture and other ill-treatment are widespread in the Lebanese detention system, but the judiciary has failed to adequately investigate torture complaints.”The War That Pushed Millions OutThe Syrian war, which erupted in 2011, displaced more than half of the country’s pre-war population. Millions fled across the border into Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Lebanon, with a population of just over 6 million, eventually hosted the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.While many came as civilians seeking safety, others — particularly activists, defectors, and individuals accused of opposing the Assad regime — were swept up and detained inside Lebanon. Rights groups say this reflected Hezbollah’s deep involvement in Syria’s war.Hezbollah, backed by Iran, intervened militarily in Syria as early as 2012 to support Assad against rebel groups. Its fighters played a decisive role in battles from Qusayr to Aleppo. Syrians in Lebanon who opposed Assad — activists, former fighters, or simply refugees accused of disloyalty — faced intimidation, arrests, and in some cases disappearance.Scores of Syrian refugees in Lebanon who protested against the Assad dictatorship were arbitrarily detained on questionable terrorism-related charges, often after being handed over by Hezbollah or accused of ties to armed groups. Many ended up before Lebanon’s military courts, a system criticized for lack of transparency and for trying civilians under military jurisdiction.“The Lebanese Military Court has issued dozens of unjust rulings of life imprisonment or execution against Syrians and Lebanese for supporting the Syrian revolution, even when the actions occurred outside Lebanon,” Lebanese human rights lawyer Mohammad Sablouh tells the Sun. “During public sessions, judges have told detainees, ‘You are the criminals, not the Assad regime,’ or ‘Whoever fights the Assad regime is fighting the Lebanese Army.’”The practice blurred the line between Lebanese security institutions and Hezbollah’s political influence. Families of detainees argue that many of their relatives were targeted not because of crimes committed in Lebanon, but because they had opposed Assad in Syria.Lebanon’s prison system has long faced overcrowding and neglect. For Syrians, however, the situation has been especially dire.In Roumieh Prison, Lebanon’s largest detention facility, Syrians have reported severe overcrowding, limited medical care, and inadequate food. Human Rights Watch describes Lebanon’s prisons as “harrowing,” citing the spread of infectious diseases, lack of medicine, and prolonged pre-trial detention.Further reports compiled by the Syrian Emergency Task Force note that detainees have suffered beatings with cables and sticks, prolonged solitary confinement, and coerced confessions. In July 2025, a Syrian prisoner at Roumieh reportedly committed suicide, while another died the following month due to medical neglect and malnutrition. “At least 50 prisoners died between 2017 and 2024 due to medical negligence,” Mr. Sablouh said.Indefinite Detention and Legal DeadlockMany Syrians have spent years behind bars without trial. Charges often rest on confessions extracted under duress. Rights groups stress that detainees lack access to due process, and Lebanon’s military courts provide little opportunity for appeal.The problems are compounded by a lack of legal clarity. Families report being left without information on charges, sentences, or prospects for release. Campaigns by relatives have drawn attention, but progress has been slow.The fall of Assad in late 2024 changed the landscape. A new transitional government in Damascus opened dialogue with Lebanese officials about repatriating prisoners. In January 2025, the two nations agreed in principle to return about 1,750 detainees; however, legal and logistical obstacles stalled implementation.“We know the new government is trying to get us out,” the detainee in Roumieh said. “But so far, Hezbollah isn’t allowing it.”Many of the prisoners have never been formally tried or convicted, raising questions about how to process their cases. Lebanese officials worry about releasing individuals accused of terrorism without judicial proceedings, while Syrian officials push for swift repatriation.Frustrations are growing. Syrian detainees inside Roumieh launched a hunger strike in February to demand action. Others formed an improvised news outlet within prison, publicizing their situation online. In July, reports indicated that Syria’s transitional leadership was considering political and economic measures to pressure Lebanon on the issue, but no action has materialized.A Ticking CrisisInternational organizations have repeatedly called on Lebanon to address prison conditions and resolve the status of detainees. Despite these appeals, access to facilities remains restricted, and little has changed for those inside.“Amnesty International has called on the Lebanese authorities to take specific steps to end the arbitrary detention of Syrian refugees and their torture and ill-treatment as well as their fair-trial rights,” said Ms. Rghebi. “This includes immediately releasing all Syrians who have been detained arbitrarily, including children and women detained in order to influence their male relatives, whose detention is also arbitrary.”The prison issue also raises questions about international support for Lebanon. The United States remains one of the largest donors to the country, providing more than $236 million in security assistance since 2010, according to the Department of State, with much of it directed to the Lebanese Armed Forces. In 2024 alone, American assistance to Lebanon exceeded $380 million, providing humanitarian relief, economic aid, and security sector support.American officials regularly describe the Lebanese Armed Forces as a counterbalance to Hezbollah. Despite a broader freeze in foreign assistance, Washington approved $95 million in military aid for Lebanon this year.Critics argue that abuses inside prisons, coupled with Hezbollah’s influence, raise questions about the use of American tax dollars. Hunger strikes, deaths in custody, and mounting political pressure have brought new visibility to the prisoners’ plight, but little progress toward freedom.In July, a 40-year-old Syrian man in Roumieh, who had been detained for around two and a half years without a single court hearing, took his own life. “I demanded and insisted that the Lebanese Ministry of Justice open an investigation into the fabrication of cases and torture used to extract forced confessions,” Sablouh said. “But officials were too afraid even to discuss these cases. The injustice continues while those responsible face no accountability.”For the families of detainees, the collapse of Assad’s rule was supposed to mark a turning point. Instead, many Syrians remain caught in a system where the lines between justice, politics, and regional power are blurred.Their future depends not only on legal reforms within Lebanon, but also on whether Syrian-Lebanese negotiators can overcome years of mistrust and whether international donors — including the United States — are willing to use their influence to bring long-delayed accountability.The Lebanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment.

Forgotten Behind Bars: More Than Nine Months After Assad’s Defeat, 2,000 Syrians Are Languishing in Lebanese Prisons

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