Baladi News – (Omar Yusuf)
The commissioner of the Lebanese government to the military court claimed that the special medical examination of the bodies of the four Syrian refugees arrested in Arsal proved that they had died due to health reasons, disproving images showing torture marks on their bodies.
The Lebanese national news agency said that the report issued on Monday proved that "the four Syrians were not subjected to torture or any violence, and that the cause of death was caused by various health problems they were suffering mainly," contrary to what was confirmed by Lebanese activists and human rights workers that Syrian detainees from Arsal had been tortured to death in Lebanese army prisons.
The Lebanese army admitted the death of four Syrians detained in its prisons on 30 June during a campaign of raids and arbitrary arrests in Arsal camps of Syrian refugees. The campaign resulted in the arrest of more than 400 refugees and the death of 20 others under the pretext of "fighting terrorism."
In a statement, the Lebanese army claimed that the Syrian detainees died as a result of medical issues they had been suffering from.
The case caused widespread reactions, including a wave of hostility against the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and provocative calls to expel harass them. Racist recordings were also published showing a group of Lebanese men loyal to the Hezbollah militia beat and insult a Syrian refugee.