Hunger strike in Roumieh claims two prisoners’ lives in 24 hours

More than 400 inmates in Roumieh Prison’s Block B have entered the fourth day of a hunger and medication strike, protesting delays to the general amnesty law and exceptional sentence reductions pending a Constitutional Council ruling.

The strike coincides with two deaths in 24 hours. The latest was George Abdel Sater, 54, who died in Zahle Prison after reportedly spending 12 years in detention without trial. According to the Prisoners’ Families Committee, inmates said he waited over 30 minutes without urgent medical care, prompting calls for an investigation.

The committee reports five deaths in one month, while an earlier toll recorded 71 prison deaths since the start of 2026.

The crisis has renewed concerns over overcrowding, delayed trials, medicine shortages, and inadequate healthcare. In March 2026, Lebanon’s prisons held 6,212 inmates, most of them in pretrial detention.