On October 15, 2022, the MENA Prison Forum collaborated with the Forum de recherche sur les médias en Méditerranée (For2Med) on a one-day event “Les Prisons Secrètes au Moyen-Orient: Une Violence Non Répertoriée” (English translation of the title “Secret Prisons in the Middle East: Unregistered Violence”). The event explored secret prisons in the Middle East as sites of extraordinary violence. The panels addressed the secrecy of the prison location and conditions, as well as the often-obscured fate of those forcibly detained or disappeared, as well as the lack of regulations, justice, and accountability for treatment under such conditions. The event brought together ex-detainees, journalists, artists, academics, and human rights defenders, with many participants bearing several identities simultaneously. The panels specifically addressed secret prisons and conditions in Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq (with a focus on Iraqi Kurdistan). The artist participants displayed and discussed their artwork across sculpture, painting, and drawings in various styles and formats. The event concluded with the screening of the film TADMOR about Lebanese detainees' experiences in the Syrian prison near Palmyra, directed by Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim of the MENA Prison Forum. 

Please see here for more details about the event and photos.