Romie Prison Hunger Strike Enters 13th Day Amid Sharp Health Deterioration

The hunger strike by 400 prisoners at Romie Central Prison enters its 13th consecutive day, carrying further transfers of inmates to hospitals in the capital Beirut, where the striking prisoner "A. A." was taken to hospital last night following a sharp decline in his health condition, raising the number of critical cases among the striking prisoners to 35 as of now, according to the prisoners' spokesperson.

Information indicates that a delegation from the Red Cross recently visited Building B, meeting with several prisoners and assessing the on-site and medical conditions of inmates within the prison.

The prisoners issued an urgent humanitarian appeal through a banner raised from inside the prison, urging human rights organizations to visit them immediately to witness the deteriorating living and health conditions. This coincided with a call from the "Lebanese Initiative for General Amnesty" urging Lebanese and international human rights organizations to pressure authorities into releasing the amnesty law, calling it a humanitarian necessity to address overcrowding, injustices, and the protection of human dignity, arguing that silence from the human rights community only intensifies the suffering of inmates and their families and fails to stop the death toll in prisons.