The Prisons Authority has come out strongly against negligence charges leveled against it in the National Human Rights Society (NHRS) findings based on its visits to 23 prisons during the last two years. Major Ali Al-Harithy, chief of Prisons authority in the Kingdom, on Friday flatly denied the NHRS charges that included 18 observations. “We found that 17 out of 18 observations had nothing to do with administration. The only exception was the observation on crowded dormitories and we have adopted effective measures to solve the problem in 34 correction houses,” he elaborated. He said the administration began with seven correction facilities in Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central Regions. The prisons here have been expanded and each one is now spread over a 2 sq. km. radius accommodating 7,000 to 8,000 inmates. This expansion has reduced the number of inmates in each warden to 4, he added. He stressed that these are also meant to help them to assimilate into the society. – Okaz/SG __
