BEIRUT: Twenty prison guards were released overnight Friday, hours after they had been taken hostage by Islamist inmates in Roumieh Prison during a riot protesting strict detention regulations, security sources told The Daily Star.
“The situation in [Roumieh] is back to normal and the officers who were taken hostage have been released,” Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said in remarks published in the As-Safir newspaper Saturday.
Despite the interior minister's assurances, security sources expressed concern over the fraught situation in Block D.
A source said that the 20 guards taken hostage constituted the total number of personnel tasked with monitoring the facility, meaning that prisoners managed to take every single guard in Block D captive during the riots.
"This is evidence of a gap in prison security," the source said.
Another source inside the prison expressed his frustration with the situation since Fridays riots had severely damaged the newly rehabilitated Block D.
Cell doors were broken down, surveillance cameras were destroyed while cell partitions were also removed by the prisoners, the source said, noting that current conditions would allow for very lax security in the facility.
The devestation wrought in Block D is raising fears over the possibility of the resumption of riots, especially since the inmates are no longer confined in cells, the source added.
The release of the captive guards was secured at 2 am Friday after hours of fraught negotiations between security forces and Islamist inmates, according to the security source.
It remains unclear whether the guards were released by force or if an agreement was reached during negotiations.
Riots began during Friday's evening meal, after which inmates are usually confined to their cells for the night.
A number of prisoners in the newly rehabilitated Block D set their mattresses ablaze, and a fire spread throughout the second floor, prompting Civil Defense teams to intervene.
The inmates then escalated their riot by blocking all entrances and taking the guards hostage, the source said.
Anti-riot police stormed Roumieh prison and surrounded all entrances to Block D, issuing a warning to the prisoners.
After negotiations with the prisoners hit a dead end, police units stormed the prison as well.
The riots come in response to the stricter regulations that the prison authorities have adopted to prevent the smuggling of drugs and weapons to inmates.
The security source said the prisoners responsible for the riots were mostly Islamists who had been incarcerated in Roumieh’s notorious Block B building, which was emptied and shut down after a large-scale police operation in January.
Inmates had enjoyed relative autonomy in Block B and prevented security forces from entering.
After the clearing operation took place, television footage showed that prisoners had no cell doors and operated a barber shop and a coffee shop in Block B.
Footage also showed inmates on Block B had a large amount of electronic equipment, including TV sets and mobile phones.
Some of the prisoners are members of Islamist groups and had been imposing Shariah law inside Block B, reports said.
Roumieh prison has been the scene of repetitive riots in past years, with inmates protesting crowded cells and slow trials.
The largest riot occurred in April 2011, when inmates set their beds on fire and broke down cell doors, in protest over subpar living conditions.
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