LEBANON: 40 MEN AWAIT EXECUTION IN ROUMIEH PRISON

the prospect of passing a ban against the death penalty has become increasingly distant in Lebanon, where human rights advocates say court trials are often expedient and the accused often lack adequate counsel. Sonele Daas sits on death row in Lebanon's central Roumieh prison. He was found guilty of murder almost one decade ago. The 60 year old Bangladeshi had travelled to Lebanon to work and send wages home to his family, but after a dispute with a fellow compatriot, Daas was arrested, tried and convicted by a Lebanese court for the compatriot's subsequent death. Today Daas still does not understand Arabic. He has lost touch with his family and is entirely dependent on others for help, said Jihane Morad, a young social worker for the Association for Justice and Mercy. Daas is one of 40 men in crowded Roumieh prison currently sentenced to die by shooting or hanging. Since Lebanon's independence in 1943, 54 people have been executed by the state, many after the civil war's end in the 1990s. Human rights activists have expressed concern that defense lawyers for death penalty cases are scarce and usually working on a volunteer basis. Furthermore, the appeals process is limited and the use of torture to obtain a confession is reportedly commonplace. Lebanon is a signatory to international laws governing civil and political rights, as well as laws against torture. "Lebanon as a state signs everything, but nothing is implemented," Marie Daunay, president of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights said. However, with the abolitionist campaigners having succeeded in getting accidental death struck off the list of charges to merit the death penalty, Slaybi believes the campaign will ultimately triumph. "If there is stability in Lebanon, then the death penalty will be eliminated," he predicted.