The National Human Rights Society (NHRS) said that an increasing inmate population has resulted in overcrowding in some of the Kingdom's prisons, prompting the Prisons Authority to call for drastic action to tackle overcrowding to avoid harmful consequences. The NHRS is joining hands with the Prisons Authority to find plausible solutions, said deputy director of the NHRS Dr. Mifleh Al-Qahtani. His comments on the prison population came after the Ahsa prison fire which claimed the lives of seven inmates on Sunday night in the Eastern Province. No statistical figures on the prison population, however, were provided. Chief of Prisons Authority Maj. Gen. Ali Bin Hussain Al-Harthi said Monday that one more building to accommodate 700-800 inmates would be ready within two weeks in Ahsa. He also talked about a plan in place to start building new eight prisons by the end of this year nationwide, in addition to eight others which have already been started. The Prisons Authority will have built 35 new prisons by 2009 as specified in the current 8th five-year-plan, he said. The NHRS is following up on the consequences of the fatal fire, waiting for the results of the investigation, Qahtani said. When asked about prison riots, he said that there are regulations which deny amnesty to prisoners with undisciplined behavior. The NHRS has been an ardent protector of the human rights of prisoners inside and outside their cells, he said. “The NHRS has received many complaints which prompted it to pay inspection visits to prisons,” he added. In another development in the prison fire, the five inmates who were believed to have started the fight leading to the deadly fire have been placed in solitary confinement until full probe has been completed. National Committee for Prisoners' Family Welfare is waiting for the investigation results to determine which families of dead inmates are in need of help to be provided to them, said Muhammad Al-Zahrani, secretary of the committee. – Okaz __
