ARAB SECURITY OFFICIALS DISCUSS PRISON

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001674 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG - HARRIS AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/04/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ECON TS SUBJECT: ARAB SECURITY OFFICIALS DISCUSS PRISON PRIVATIZATION Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HUDSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: According to press reports, during a recent preparatory meeting for an upcoming Arab Interior Ministers meeting, Arab prison, judicial and security officials discussed plans to increase prison privatization. The discussions covered the full or partial participation of the private sector in prison operations, financing maintenance and prisoner training. In interviews, several officials stressed the need to improve prison conditions in the region and focus on re-assimilation of former prisoners. In the future, such steps may lead to an improvement in human rights conditions in Arab prisons. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On July 1, the Tunisian newspaper as-Sabah reported that Arab prison directors and other involved officials discussed prison privatization, among other topics related to a planned January 2007 meeting of Arab Interior Ministers. The chair of the session, Moroccan judge Mustafa al-Bariz, told as-Sabah that privatization of Arab prisons, in different forms and degrees, began some time ago and that Arab countries could benefit from this. According to Doctor Mohammed bin Ali Koman, the Secretary General of the Arab Interior Ministers' Council, "Prisoners are people like us...It is necessary to try to improve the conditions of their prison stay and provide an opportunity for them to benefit from their penal stay." Koman added that such steps will "facilitate prisoners' social and family reintegration" following their release. ¶3. (U) PRISON CONDITIONS: Lebanese Major Joseph al-Fakhri told as-Sabah that "Some of the accumulated problems in Arab prisons cannot be denied, including overcrowding and prisoner violence, due to the lack of and difficulties in providing training programs, which leads to delinquency and crime inside the prisons." Al-Fakhri added that privatization may contribute to improving Arab prison conditions, if well studied and with appropriate guarantees from ministries of justice, interior and social affairs." Moroccan judge Al-Bariz highlighted related systems, already in existence, that grant temporary parole to allow prisoners to attend funerals or receive medical treatment. ¶4. (U) THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR: Major General Ali bin Hussein al Harithy, the Saudi Arabian General Director of Prisons, said private investors would benefit from their involvement in the prison system. He noted, "Their participation could be complete, from prison construction and maintenance and supervising their investments in cooperation with the state." Al-Harithy said that partial participation in some programs, like prisoner training, is another option for privatization. "If prisoners were to produce particular products for sale, the businessmen and the state could profit," al-Harithy noted. Moroccan judge al-Bariz further explained that some Arab countries were already providing prisoners with secondary and university educational opportunities, including related exams. In Morocco, for example, al-Bariz said that the baccalaureate (high school) passing rate for prisoners was higher than that of the general population. Al-Bariz said such programs "are some of the humanitarian steps that assist the prisoner in reintegration after release." ¶5. (C) COMMENT: While the social and economic aspects of privatization are noteworthy, the possible impact of increased privatization on prison conditions is a sign that Arab countries are increasingly concerned with their human rights records. While al-Harithy noted that states will continue to have political, administrative and legal oversight, private prison management may lead to improved prison conditions and application of universal human rights standards. END COMMENT. HUDSON