Lebanon orders probe into torture of Syrians

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prosecutor general Ghassan Oueidat on Monday ordered a probe into the alleged torture of more than 20 Syrians in custody following a report by Amnesty International, state media reported.

Amnesty, in a report published last week, accused Lebanese authorities of "cruel and abusive" treatment of more than 20 Syrians it said had been tortured in prison or during interrogation. It blamed in particular Lebanon’s military intelligence bureau and said the abuse was mostly at a military intelligence centre in east Lebanon’s Ablah district, the General Security bureau in Beirut or at the defence ministry.

Oueidat called on the government representative at the military court to "open an investigation into claims made by Amnesty International concerning the arrest and torture of Syrian refugees held over terrorism-related charges", the official National News Agency reported.

In its report, Amnesty cited detainees as saying they faced some of the same torture techniques routinely used in Syrian prisons. They were hung upside down, forced into stress positions for prolonged periods and beaten with metal rods and electric cables, according to the rights group.