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