Lebanon’s interior minister pushes for prison reform amid calls for radical change
Unless broad, structural reforms to the administration of prisons and military detention centers are passed in conjunction with changes to the criminal justice process itself, the reforms announced by Lebanon’s interior minister so far will likely only have a moderate impact on the penal system.
![LEBANON-GOVERNMENT/WOMEN Lebanon's Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan attends a handover ceremony at the ministry in Beirut, Lebanon February 6, 2019. Picture taken February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RC13E9A5B8D0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2019/05/RTX6N6TZ.jpg/RTX6N6TZ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=BdVlctJD)
During an interview with the Lebanese paper L’Orient-Le Jour on Feb. 22, new Minister of Interior Raya al-Hassan stated that reforming Lebanon’s overcrowded and abuse-ridden prison system is high on her agenda.
“Indeed, some projects have been implemented by my predecessors, but much remains to be done,” Hassan said.