Jordan: Prison conditions improve in 2008, says NCHR
NCHR Commissioner General Muhyiddine Touq said the number of complaints on physical abuse, punishment and degrading treatment in detention centres declined in 2008.
Conditions in the Kingdom’s correctional and rehabilitation centres improved during the past year, according to the National Centre for Human Rights’ (NCHR) sixth annual report.
NCHR Commissioner General Muhyiddine Touq said the number of complaints on physical abuse, punishment and degrading treatment in detention centres declined in 2008, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The report commended positive measures taken by the Public Security Department last year to improve inmates’ conditions, including building new correctional centres and providing training and rehabilitation programmes.
Touq, however, highlighted the increase in the number of inmates awaiting trial, calling for efforts to streamline trial procedures.
The number of detainees awaiting trial stood at 26,088, while the number of those convicted totalled 24,176 at the end of last year, according to the report.
The report also indicated that 39 suicide attempts were recorded at correctional centres, while 24 inmates died in prison.
Nisreen Zreiqat, director of the NCHR correctional and rehabilitation unit, who prepared the report, told The Jordan Times that the blueprint highlighted the detention environment, inmates’ problems and positive and adverse changes over the past year and also outlined NCHR recommendations regarding the findings.
Zreiqat cited the prison riots which occurred in April as one of the adverse occurrences in the correctional and rehabilitation centres in 2008.
Three inmates died and 68 were injured at the Muwaqqar correctional and rehabilitation centre after around 180 inmates rioted in protest against plans to separate prisoners.
She also noted that NCHR personnel were prevented from visiting inmates between mid-April and the beginning of August. The obstruction contradicts item 10 of the NCHR law, which entitles the centre to visit rehabilitation and correctional centres in the Kingdom.
Moreover, the report referred to long trial periods, which augment the problems of the centres as they become overcrowded, besides increasing their financial and administrative burdens, Zreiqat added.
The report concluded by saying that despite the NCHR’s frequent recommendations on improving conditions of prisons and prisoners, several previous suggestions have not been taken into consideration due to the lack of seriousness by some concerned parties.
Date: 9 February 2009
Source: Jordan Times
