Inmates at the Jeddah Correction Home for Juveniles have either been sentenced or charged with a variety of criminal acts, ranging from murder, sexual assault and theft, to drug-abuse and acts in violation of public morals. While some crimes have been deemed worthy of severe sentences, other are charged with lesser acts of criminality, and it has been suggested that in the latter case youngsters have been prompted to seek refuge at the center by a desire to escape unpleasant domestic conditions outside. Hamad, a 17-year-old Eritrean, was sentenced to one year in prison and 300 lashes for his role in the murder of his sister's illegitimate child. His sister was given five years' imprisonment, and both are to be deported upon completing their sentences. A gang of four brothers aged between 16 and 19 years of age were sentenced to seven years' jail for the youngest and nine for the eldest, with the other two given six years' each, for a number of thefts from mobile telephone outlets. Nour, a 17-year-old Burmese national, was given three years in prison after also being found guilty of robbing mobile telephone shops. Tried at the General Court with his two 17- and 16-year-old accomplices, who were given two and three years in jail respectively, Nour now awaits the decision of the Court of Cassation after prosecutors demanded severer sentences. Burmese national Abdul Rahman, who is 16 years old, has been detained at the correction house for 40 days as he waits to face charges of sexually assaulting the seven-year-old daughter of relatives, a charge he denies. Sixteen-year-old Hasan from Chad is being investigated, along with two friends, for an attempt to sexually assault a 10-year-old boy. Bahi, a 17-year-old Egyptian, has been charged with murder which he claims was in self-defense when two persons allegedly tried to rape him. “They threatened me with a knife, but I managed to get it off them and stabbed them both,” Bahi said. One of the men later died from the stab wounds, and investigations into the case continue. The director of the correction center, Shakir Al-Azouri, believes that some inmates prefer the center to their lives outside and commit crimes in order to be returned. Al-Azouri cites unstable families as the primary cause and says that alternative punishments for minor crimes could be more productive for the individuals concerned and reduce the burden on the center. “The Correction House was originally created to discipline juveniles away from prison,” Al-Azouri said. “According to statistics, each inmate costs somewhere between SR130,000 and SR150,000 annually to provide housing, food, education and medical treatment, in addition to the salaries of social workers, supervisors, guards and other expenses.”
