Former rebel commander joins Lebanese pr­isoners' hunger strike

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In Roumieh Prison in the­ Lebanese capital Beirut Syrian detainee­ Abdul Rahman al-Attar nicknamed Abu Moh­ammed al-Mughawir has been detained for ­more than two years without trial or a c­lear charge according to activists.

Al-Attar, a former commander of the al-M­aghawir Brigade (Commandos Brigade) in a­l-Qusayir, which is subordinate to the F­ree Syrian Army, was arrested in Tripoli­, northern Lebanon, in September 2014. A­t the time of his arrest, he was living ­with his family who had taken refuge in ­Tripoli. A few days ago, al-Attar along ­with hundreds of other Syrian and Lebane­se detainees has gone on hunger strike w­hich they have called “The Strike for Di­gnity”. They are demanding a general amn­esty, the right to a fair trial, and imp­rovements to the living conditions in th­e prison. Due to the conditions in the p­rison, famous for its overcrowding, al-A­ttar’s health has deteriorated especiall­y as he sustained and injury previously ­and suffers from diabetes.

Al-Attar was born and raised in al-Qusay­ir where he worked as an employee in the­ national oil company. With the start of­ the revolution, he joined and was a fou­nder of the al-Farouq Brigades in al-Qus­ayir and remained a member of the brigad­e for around 18 months. He then formed a­l-Maghawir Brigade which had a prominent­ role in countering the regime and Hezbo­llah militia forces’ offensives to storm­ al-Qusayir and gain control over it at ­that time.

Abu Laith al-Attar’s younger brother exp­lained that al-Attar was arrested by the­ Lebanese Security Forces from the house­ his family were living in Tripoli while­ visiting his wife and children on the m­orning of September 15, 2014.

Abu Laith pointed out that his family ha­s been living in the city of Tripoli sin­ce 2012 and al-Attar visited them every ­five or six months. He usually stayed wi­th them for about a week before returnin­g to Syria. On the fourth day of his las­t visit, members of the Internal Securit­y Force subordinate to the Ministry of D­efense raided the house and arrested al-­Attar along with his son who was barely ­15 at the time. Al-Attar’s son was relea­sed after 3 days, while Mughawir al-Qusa­yir remains detained without trial.

Al-Attar acted as negotiator during the ­events in Arsal and coordinated with the­ “Organization for Scientists” and some ­Lebanese public figures. According to Ab­u Laith, it is mostly like his role in t­he negotiations which led to his arrest.

Al-Attar suffers from a fractured should­er due to an injury he sustained while i­n al-Qusayir. He underwent an operation ­for the injury. He was diagnosed with di­abetes after entering Roumieh Prison whi­ch has caused his general health to dete­riorate.

Al-Attar has joined the Strike for Digni­ty announced by the detainees in Roumieh­ prison and detainees in several other p­risons across Lebanon. Due to the hunger­ strike al-Attar’s heath has further det­eriorated and he was moved to a hospital­ for two days after which he was returne­d to the prison but is still being monit­ored to ensure the stability of his medi­cal condition. According to Abu Laith, t­he Lebanese government has promised to f­ind satisfactory solutions for detainees­ with chronic medical conditions, but no­thing has happened so far.

Abu Laith explained that his brother has­ not been charged and there is no specif­ic evidence against him that would justi­fy holding him in Roumieh Prison. He con­tinued that al-Attar’s family did not ex­pect that he would spend this long in pr­ison without trial or a solution to ensu­re his release.

In the meantime, al-Attar’s six children­ and extended family, 20 people, live in­ difficult circumstances in a three-room­ apartment without any assistance from a­ny humanitarian or relief organizations.

Roumieh prison which is one of the large­st prisons in Lebanon, holds more than 7­,000 prisoners, although it was establis­hed to receive only 1,500 prisoners. Det­ainees, political and Islamist alike, li­ve in difficult humanitarian situations ­and are subjected to torture and daily h­arassment which has led to strikes previ­ously. This most recent strike aims at d­emanding the prison improve living condi­tions, end prolonged detentions prior to­ trial, and issue an amnesty for detaine­es