OMAN'S NEW CENTRAL PRISON AND DETENTION CENTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000119

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/PI, G/TIP, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN SMIG ELAB KMPI MU
SUBJECT: OMAN'S NEW CENTRAL PRISON AND DETENTION CENTER


1. (SBU) Summary: Emboffs recently visited the Royal Oman
Police's (ROP) new central prison and detention complex in
the state of Samayl, located in Oman's interior. While most
of the complex is still under construction, emboffs received
a tour of the completed detention center for illegal workers.
The center appeared clean and well run. Post will encourage
the ROP to institute procedures to screen the detainee
population for victims of trafficking in persons (TIP). End
Summary.

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The Prison
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2. (SBU) On January 30, poloff and ARSO visited the site of
the ROP's new penal complex in Samayl, located approximately
80 kilometers inland from Muscat. Major sections of the
complex still are under construction, but once complete, the
complex will hold Oman's central prison and a detention
center for illegal foreign workers. The facility's director,
ROP Colonel Humaid al-Khanbashi, briefed emboffs on the
features of the site's future prison. According to
Khanbashi, the compound will cover 600,000 square meters with
a capacity to hold more than 3,000 inmates. Men, women and
juveniles up to age 20 will be held in separate facilities of
2,200, 600, and 300 beds, respectively. Individual cells
will vary in size, he said, but the largest is designed to
hold a maximum of seven inmates. There will be a health
clinic in each facility, and a hospital in the middle of the
compound.


3. (SBU) Khanbashi stated that the ROP designed the prison
with a focus on prisoner rehabilitation. The compound will
include two farm plots and several exercise areas. Each
inmate facility will have a library, classrooms and a lecture
hall. In addition, the ROP has an agreement with the
Ministry of Education (MOE) to help inmates finish their
secondary education and MOE proctors will conduct the
secondary school completion exam on-site. The primary
mission of the prison is not to punish, but to prepare
inmates to reenter society, Khanbashi said, as the inmates
have "suffered their greatest punishment already" by bringing
shame to their extended family and tribal communities. He
anticipated that the prison population likely will not exceed
more than 50% of total capacity any time in the near future.
The new facility and low population gives the ROP an
opportunity to focus on rehabilitation. "Now is our chance,"
he said, "while we have the resources and the time."

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The Detention Center
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4. (SBU) Although prison construction will not be complete
before the end of 2008 at the earliest, the ROP already is
beginning to move prisoners into temporary quarters in the
complex's detention center for illegal workers. The ROP
closed its aging prison in Rumais in December 2007, for
example, and transferred approximately 1,000 inmates to
Samayl. At the time of emboffs' visit, the detention center
was filled to nearly half of its 2,000-bed capacity, with the
inmates from the Rumais prison separated into cell blocks
according to gender, age and length/type of sentence. 142
foreign workers, mostly from Bangladesh and Pakistan, also
were in the center that day. Khanbashi reminded emboffs that
once the prison is complete, the ROP will move all of the
convicted prisoners to that compound, leaving the detention
center as a dedicated space for holding illegal foreign
workers.


5. (SBU) Khanbashi took emboffs inside one of the detainee
cell blocks as they toured the compound. The separate cell
units, each with the capacity to hold approximately 30-40
detainees, appeared clean but sparsely furnished. In one
cell, bedrolls for each detainee lay side by side at
intervals on the concrete floor. Detainees remain in the
detention center from a few days to several months, depending
in large part on how quickly the government of Oman and the
workers' respective embassies can arrange for their
deportation. Many show up at the detention center without
any form of identification from their country of origin,
Khanbashi stated, and it often takes time for the relevant
embassies to confirm nationality.

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No Screening for TIP
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MUSCAT 00000119 002 OF 002



6. (SBU) Poloff asked Khanbashi if he screens detainees to
determine if any could be victims of trafficking in persons
(TIP). "We are the last stop before deportation," he said,
and confirmed that his officers are not instructed to conduct
a thorough intake interview. He explained that the ROP
captured most of the Samayl detainees during periodic sweeps
targeting illegal workers. Before the ROP transfers them to
the detention center from holding cells in local police
stations, the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Directorate of
Labor Care reviews each worker's case to determine his or her
labor status. The MOM is thus responsible for determining if
the workers are victims of a crime, Khanbashi stated.
However, detainees do have the right at any time to lodge a
complaint or volunteer information about their case, which
the ROP would relay directly to the MOM.

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Comment
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7. (SBU) Based on Khanbashi's presentation, it appears that
the ROP is building a modern facility that should be more
than adequate to handle Oman's present and future inmate
population. Khanbashi indicated that he would welcome USG
support to improve the facility and expressed his interest in
visiting a U.S. prison. One area for assistance could be in
helping the ROP to institute a screening mechanism for TIP at
the detention center (in addition to earlier in the detention
process),and in training its officers in how to handle TIP
victims. Post will discuss this idea with Omani officials
and inform the Department if there is interest in USG
assistance to institute such measures.
GRAPPO