Khiam detention center

The Khiam Detention Center, located in Khiam, Lebanon, was a former French barrack complex originally built in the 1930s. It became a base for the Lebanese army before falling under control of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and in 1985 was converted into a detention and interrogation centre. It remained in use for detention and interrogation of Lebanese civilians until Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, and the subsequent collapse of the SLA. After the withdrawal, the prison was preserved in the exact condition as it was abandoned and converted into a museum by the Hezbollah.

The Israeli Air Force destroyed the prison during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Amnesty International [ [http://www.amnesty.org/en/report/info/MDE15/021/2000 Letter from an Amnesty International delegation visiting the prison] ] and Human Rights Watch [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/1999/10/28/israb12795.htm Human Rights Watch article on Khiam] ] reported of the use of torture and other serious human rights abuses in the facility.

Israel has denied any involvement in Khiam, claiming to have delegated operation of the centre to the South Lebanon Army (SLA) as far back as 1988.

Robert Fisk, the British journalist who has spent 25 years informing from Lebanon, said about this prison:

“The sadists of Khiam used to electrocute the penises of their prisoners and throw water over their bodies before plunging electrodes into their chests and kept them in pitch-black, solitary confinement for months. For many years, the Israelis even banned the Red Cross from visiting their foul prison. All the torturers fled across the border into Israel when the Israeli army retreated under fire from Lebanon almost seven years ago.” [http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles2.htm Inside a torturers' den, manacles lie abandoned] ]

About brutality, Fisk wrote:

"The torturers were sadistic, often stupid men. There were pornographic magazines and cheap comics and puzzle books in their filthy quarters."

Fisk says that Israel has admitted training the torturers.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/correspondent/transcripts/01002463.txt Transcription of an interview with a prisoner] (BBC, December 4, 2000)
* [http://www.discoverlebanon.com/en/panoramic_views/el_nabatieh/marjehyoun/khiam_prison.php Panoramic view at 360 degrees of the Khiam Prison in Lebanon before being destroyed in july 2006. Unique photo very interesting]