Inside the dungeons: Talking to detained and beaten journalist Rami Aysha

[Originally posted at NOW Lebanon]

On August 30, the Lebanese-Palestinian journalist Rami Aysha was arrested in Beirut’s southern suburbs, after which he was beaten and jailed without charge for almost a month. As NOW Lebanon previously reported, Aysha’s case became something of a cause célèbre, with one press freedom watchdog describing it as the worst violation of its kind in the country for over two years. Following his release last week, NOW spoke with Aysha, who vows to continue his work despite the brutal treatment to which he was subjected.

Firstly, let’s go back to the day you were arrested. Where were you, what were you doing, and what happened?

Rami Aysha: I was near the airport road, by Al Saha restaurant. I don’t agree with the word “arrested” because only the Lebanese authorities can arrest me. The horrifying thing was I was kidnapped by people on a motorcycle amid a traffic jam. They pressed a gun to my back, blindfolded me and abducted me without anyone interfering to prevent them.

For the first three hours I was brutally tortured – they hit me with sticks and guns, placed blades against my throat, and broke my finger. One of them asked me which hand I write with. I lied, telling him “the left,” and then they started hitting it.

Some said it was Hezbollah that arrested you, others such as Al Manar and New TV said it was the army mukhabarrat (“intelligence”). Which is true?

Aysha: I cannot accuse anyone because I don’t know who they were and they didn’t identify themselves. However, I can say it wasn’t the army intelligence. I was handed to them only after three hours.

Tell us about how you were treated after that.

Aysha: At the end of the three hours, still blindfolded, I was pushed against a wall. I thought this was the end, and I started praying. Then, out of nowhere, an army intelligence member came in and said “Don’t worry, I’m army intelligence and I’ll get you out of here,” and asked me to run along a path. I was relieved because he was an official and I was in the hands of the government. Even so, on our way out we were swore at and hit by the others while this man tried to protect me. A belt blow on the back of my head still hurts now.

When I arrived at the army intelligence I was again beaten, though they later apologized and handed me to the military police. I was cuffed, blindfolded, hungry and thirsty from the moment of my detention on Thursday till Saturday night. I don’t blame the commanders in charge of the intelligence or the military police for the brutality, but I do blame their juniors.

There is a rumor that you are the journalist who carried out the famous interview for Time magazine with one of the four Hezbollah members indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Is this true?

Aysha: No, I didn’t do the interview and I don’t take credit for others’ efforts. Time magazine has confirmed this. I was even investigated by former General Prosecutor Judge Said Mirza and was proven to have no involvement.

We also heard that you have worked on several arms smuggling stories before. Can you give some examples of things you’ve investigated?

Aysha: I’ve worked on [Palestinian refugee] camps and many other topics before. I’m an investigative reporter and most of my work is on sensitive issues.

Have you been mistreated while working on stories before?

Aysha: We are in Lebanon, not Europe. I have been harassed many times and even hit before, but this is the first time I was detained.

When you were in jail, your lawyer told us there were no plans to take legal action upon your release. However, you have since said you will “fight in court to prove [your] innocence.” What exactly do you plan to do?

Aysha: I will do my best to get my innocence proven, though the judges are trying to release me with a sufficiency period which in itself convicts me. I reject this move, and will take the issue to the court of cassation [the supreme court of Lebanon].

Will you continue to work as a journalist after all this?

Aysha: Definitely, I will continue my job and mission as a journalist. Let no one think I will stop journalism for a moment.

Agnes Helou contributed reporting.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

Freedom of suppression: Fears for press freedom if alleged Hezbollah attack blows over

[Originally posted at NOW Lebanon]

The release on bail Wednesday of a jailed Lebanese-Palestinian journalist may herald the end of what a local watchdog described as one of the worst violations of press freedom of its kind in Lebanon for years.

Rami Aysha, who has freelanced for international publications including Time, was reportedly investigating an arms smuggling story in Beirut’s southern suburbs on August 30 when he was detained and then imprisoned for almost a month without charge. Though an initial report by Al-Manar television station said Aysha was arrested by army intelligence, a letter received by the Committee to Protect Journalists by concerned colleagues alleged the arrest was in fact carried out by members of Hezbollah, which has a strong presence in the southern suburbs. The letter further alleged that Aysha was “severely beaten” by Hezbollah members, who inflicted on him two black eyes – an account corroborated by Aysha’s brother Ramzi, who visited him in a Byblos prison and reported that he had a broken finger and had been beaten on the head with his own camera. Al-Manar is run by Hezbollah, the press office of which could not be reached for comment.

It took almost three weeks for an official charge to be made against Aysha. On September 19, his lawyer, Saliba al-Hajj, informed the Samir Kassir Eyes (SKEyes) Center for Media and Cultural Freedom that Aysha was accused of attempting to smuggle arms himself – a charge both Hajj and Ramzi Aysha denied when contacted by NOW Lebanon.

Ayman Mhanna, SKEyes’ executive director, told NOW Lebanon that a serious violation has occurred either way. “If Aysha was arrested because of his work as a journalist, then his arrest was totally unacceptable and totally illegal, because there is absolutely nothing in Lebanese law that justifies this. And even if he was arrested for other reasons, what his brother and lawyer said about his beating is also totally unacceptable, and we demand an official, public and transparent investigation and trial of those responsible.”

Lawyer and constitutional expert Marwan Sakr agrees, though he cautions that the legal question hinges on the charges raised against Aysha. “A journalist cannot be arrested for simply doing his job, though he can be sued, let’s say, for defamation. In Lebanese law we have something called ‘crimes by publication,’ but again, one cannot be arrested for these,” he told NOW.

“If, however, a journalist is caught committing a crime – carrying out intelligence work for Israel, for example – then of course he can be arrested,” he added.

Should the charges against Aysha prove false, Sakr says he would have several courses of legal action available to him. “If he has been arrested beyond the normal period of arrest according to the law, he could sue for illegal detention. And if he has been subject to false charges by a third party, then he can sue also for false claims. But this would have to wait until the end of the trial, if there is one.”

However, neither Aysha nor his lawyer appears willing to pursue such a course of action. “Even though we feel that no one has the right to arrest Rami but the Lebanese state, what happened, happened. Unless something new comes up, we will not do anything,” Ramzi Aysha said.

“What can we do against the army and Hezbollah?” asked Hajj rhetorically. “All that we can do in this country is pray.”

Accordingly, Mhanna believes Aysha’s case will have detrimental consequences for press freedom in Lebanon. “Though we at SKEyes have witnessed and reported dozens of violations of press freedom in recent years, there has been nothing as severe as this for at least two years,” he said. “We are shocked that we all had to wait for two weeks before this issue became slightly public, and it’s still not getting the public and media attention it deserves. The idea of arresting a journalist during the course of his work and resorting to physical aggression, regardless of any charge, is unacceptable. And the practice of holding someone for a long time without charges is another thing that needs to stop in Lebanon.”

The case also shines a spotlight on Hezbollah, a party with a history of obstructing press freedom in areas under its control. “Last year we reported at least five cases of journalists being detained by Hezbollah and having their photos deleted and so on, all of which we documented in our Annual Report on Press and Cultural Freedom,” said Mhanna. Indeed, NOW Lebanon has in the past had notes confiscated and been prevented from reporting by Hezbollah members in the southern suburbs.

That such behavior may now be escalating into physical attacks on journalists sets a worrying precedent for press freedom, says Mhanna. “Hezbollah members are in no position to conduct any arrests of any citizens, let alone journalists, and let alone beating them in the process. If we open this Pandora’s Box, then all parties will start conducting these arrests.

“We’ll be back to the law of the jungle.”

Luna Safwan contributed reporting.