Discussion, education, and observation are the main elements of a counseling program that should rehabilitate those with extremist views, who can possibly become militants, lead a normal life, according to Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Interior. He said it is the Kingdom's policy to confront “deviants” with correct teaching, and not just with the might of security forces. Abdulrahman Al-Hadlaq, Director General of Security at the ministry, said that through a carefully designed rehabilitation and counseling program, the deviants could be reintegrated into the mainstream Saudi society, which adheres to pure Islamic values. Turki's and Hadlag's comments came earlier this week, as Saudi Arabia announced the launch of an ambitious long-term, two-track strategy for imprisonment, rehabilitation and counseling of militants, held under charges of committing terrorism or violent acts. The Kingdom has also developed a Care Center in Riyadh, while several other facilities will be built soon in various parts of the country. The care centers will be dedicated to facilities for the rehabilitation and counseling of individuals already convicted of acts of terror and serving different jail terms. “After significant progress is made in prison facilities, and as the prisoners complete their jail terms, the rehabilitation process can continue in other settings, such as at the Care Center,” he said. To make the system more effective, the ministry constructed five ultra-modern, purpose-built prison facilities in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Qassim and Abha. Under the new jail system, inmates who are about to complete their jail terms will be brought to the center for a rehabilitation and counseling program. Earlier this week, a 25-member group of print and electronic media representatives were taken on a tour of the ministry's Care Center in Riyadh. The basic idea was to provide first-hand information on the government's plan of rehabilitation of the deviants through a number of counseling programs and integrate them into the mainstream society. Engr. Muhammad Al-Zahrani, Project Manager for Prisons, said Abha's jail facility has capacity for 1,200 inmates. There are a total of 320 cells at each new facility built in five cities, except Jeddah, which can house around 1,600 prisoners. Brig. Turki said the Kingdom's fight against terror goes beyond the common perception, engaging sociologists, psychiatrists, Ulema (Muslim scholars) and experts on terrorism for the rehabilitation of the detainees. Zahrani said the decision to build dedicated facilities was based upon a number of considerations, foremost among them was the fact that the existing prison facilities were not equipped with modern amenities that encourage the process of counseling and rehabilitation. “Besides, the new facilities would help the authorities classify and segregate the detainees,” he said. “The detainees would then be classified into categories, such as those more predisposed for interrogation and discussion, from other prisoners that have extremist views and are difficult to talk with.” In the new facilities, prisoners will be housed in individual cells, as well as sharing them with other inmates. Each cell, which can accommodate five or six prisoners, is equipped with a TV set mounted above the cell door. The cell's windows are made of unbreakable Plexiglas. Zahrani said the TVs are controlled from guard posts at the end of each corridor. In addition to regular broadcasts, they can also be used to transmit lectures and special programs. He said prisoners would also be provided with newspapers and books. Lectures can also be broadcast to specific individual cells. In addition to detainee and prisoner reception and processing areas, there are 32 individual interrogation rooms, as well as a 12-room and 24-bed prison infirmary. The infirmary has a staff of 25 physicians, including eight specialists, on call round the clock. During interrogations, video feeds are first sent to the prison headquarters, and then to other higher authorities in the Interior Ministry in Riyadh. Zahrani said CCTV cameras are intended to provide accountability and transparency in order to dispelling rumors that abuse and mistreatment take place in the prisons. The new facilities are surrounded with their own sophisticated security systems, including perimeter walls and fences, buried seismic cables and microwave detection systems, he said. “Any attempt to break security would be detected by microwave cameras installed within the premises,” he said. A centrally located kitchen can prepare food for 250 prisoners in a record time of four minutes, he said. Each cellblock has a dedicated and self-contained outdoor area that can be used for exercise or emergency evacuation, said Zahrani, adding that furnishings and mattresses used in the cells are fire proof. Elsewhere in the building, there are a series of other spaces for families to accommodate visits and facilitate the inclusion of a detainee's family and larger social network in the rehabilitation process. There are also 32 rooms for conjugal visits for married prisoners, who, he said, are allowed several hours with their spouses. These rooms are equipped with a double bed, mattress, pillows, bed sheets, blankets, two chairs, a table and an attached bathroom. “One of the key factor of this prison program is that it does not just treat the individual inmates, but also engages a detainee's whole family,” said Zahrani. He said the new facility also includes separate cells for around 80 female inmates. The program is designed in such a way that allows the authorities to learn more about a prisoner's attitude and his social upbringing, data which in turn is used to help support the detainee's family while he is in custody, and to help support his reintegration upon release. “The Kingdom has been keen to serve its nationals in the best possible way, and the construction of the prisons in a record time of 15 months was an indication of that,” he said. “Some of the prisons have already been occupied by inmates.” The new prison facilities have been designed to facilitate the dialogue process while at the same time housing individuals assessed to be significant security risk. The country's security forces have time and again demonstrated great successes by dislodging terrorist cells and combating terrorists through preemptive attacks and arrests of deviant groups across the Kingdom, and won accolades from the international community for their untiring efforts in the war on terror. Brig. Yousef Mansour, Director of Public Affairs at the Interior Ministry, said the Interior Ministry has introduced a new approach by establishing care centers and the construction of state-of-the-art prison facilities to counter deviant groups through a process of counseling by sociologists, psychiatrists, Ulema and experts on terrorism. “The Care program has been designed for those Saudi detainees who already served their prison sentences and about to go back to the mainstream society,” said Al-Hadlaq. He said the best example of the 100 percent success of the Care Center was those Saudi detainees who were brought back to the Kingdom from Guantanamo Bay and underwent a counseling program. Brig. Turki said the Kingdom has so far brought back 127 Saudis from Guantanamo Bay during the past few years. Around 13 more Saudis remain in Guantanamo Bay, “and we are working on their return as soon as possible. We hope for their early return.” __
