Lebanese inmates perform prison play

Record ID: 103049

  • Title: Lebanese inmates perform prison play
  • Date: 18th May 2016
  • Summary: ROUMIEH, LEBANON (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF PRISON VARIOUS OF SECURITY FORCES AT PRISON ENTRANCE SIGN ON ENTRANCE READING (Arabic): 'INTERNAL SECURITY FORCES ROUMIEH CENTRAL PRISON' PRISON TRUCK ENTERING PRISON (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CATHARSIS, ZEINA DACCACHE, SAYING: "Prison, especially in Lebanon, needs activities through which prisoners can be rehabilitated and leave as better people in the outside world, not repeating their crimes etc. My choice in 2006 was to present a plan to the Lebanese government and since then we have come here." VARIOUS OF PRISON EXTERIOR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CATHARSIS, ZEINA DACCACHE, SAYING: "The play that we have been rehearsing for a year and a half inside the prison, which is the result of drama therapy with 40 inmates, like those with mental health issues and people sentenced to life in prison and execution." VARIOUS OF SECURITY FORCES OUTSIDE PRISON (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE EUROPEAN UNION'S AMBASSADOR TO LEBANON, CHRISTINA LASSEN, SAYING: "The specific issue we are focusing on here today is the question of mentally ill prisoners and that's what the play is going to focus on, and for us it is a question of human rights or a human rights approach to these kinds of issues. We want to make sure that the rights of the prisoners are respected and that we are giving the best possible conditions for the inmates of the prison." VARIOUS OF PRISON WALLS
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2016 14:00
  • Keywords: Catharsis Lebanon Roumieh prison plays therapy theatre drama
  • Location: ROUMIEH, LEBANON
  • City: ROUMIEH, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Theatre
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014IC193P
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Behind the walls of Lebanon's Roumieh prison, inmates are turning the confines of the jail into a theatre.
    Prisoners are taking part in a play entitled ''Johar...Up in the air'' a production organised by Catharsis - an NGO that provide drama therapy in Lebanon.
    The play draws on the mental state of inmates, shining light on those with mental health issues, living with life sentences or awaiting execution.
    The founder of the centre and play's director, Zeina Daccache, said that getting prisoners involved in theatre can have a marked effect on their well-being and rehabilitation.
    "Prison, especially in Lebanon, needs activities through which prisoners can be rehabilitated and leave as better people in the outside world, not repeating their crimes etc. My choice in 2006 was to present a plan to the Lebanese government and since then we have come here," she said.
    The play is the outcome of a drama therapy programme that involved dozens of prisoners.
    "W have been rehearsing for a year and a half inside the prison, which is the result of drama therapy with 40 inmates, like those with mental health issues and people sentenced to life in prison and execution," she added.
    The project is being funded and backed by the European Union as part of a prison system penitentiary reform that they have been supporting in Lebanon.
    The EU's ambassador to Lebanon, Christina Lassen, said the play focuses on the important issue of human rights.
    "The specific issue we are focusing on here today is the question of mentally ill prisoners and that's what the play is going to focus on, and for us it is a question of human rights or a human rights approach to these kinds of issues. We want to make sure that the rights of the prisoners are respected and that we are giving the best possible conditions for the inmates of the prison," she said.
    The Lebanese penal code states that "insane" prisoners should be incarcerated in a special psychiatry unit until the appointed tribunal decides to end such incarceration upon evidence of them being "cured from insanity".
    In Roumieh prison, mentally ill inmates are located in what is known as 'The Blue House'.
    One of the prisoners taking part in the production said he wanted to change people's perception about prisoners, particularly those with mental health issues.
    "We are presenting a theatre work for the people in the blue house (housing inmates with mental health issues) and those sentenced for execution and life in prison, those who do not have a number, those executed, they stay all their lives in Roumieh prison, in a room, maybe humidity will eat them, nobody takes care of them, those of the blue house, that people say are crazy, they are really wrong to say that, they are actually called 'until healed', but no one is treating them so that they can get better," he said.
    Another prisoner performing in the play said he was doing so to support inmates with mental health issues.
    "Today I want to say that we have a very big message to tell our brothers in the blue house, to the people who are mentally ill, those not having justice, that we are with them, we are in solidarity with you, we didn't forget you. We are not in a battle, we just are requesting," he said.
    The play is part of The Untold Story of Forgotten Behind Bars, a project implemented by Catharsis, funded by the European Union and in collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the Ministry of Justice, which works towards the improvement of mental health in Lebanese prisons.
    The first performance in the prison took place on May 12, with more performances scheduled on May 18, 19 and 25.
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