The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has called for a review of prison system to allow expatriate inmates serve the prison terms in their home countries. Seventy percent of prisoners in Saudi jails are foreign national, according to NSHR. NSHR chairman Dr. Bandar Hamza Al-Hajjar also called for a review of regulations regarding criminal records of released convicts in accordance with the initiative of Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior. Prince Naif suggested to the King to allow the release of convicts who are not considered a menace to the society after finishing 75 percent of their sentence with good behavior, and canceling 15 percent of sentence if a prisoner passed education and training programs introduced in prison. These suggestions were referred to the Shoura Council. Al-Hajjar said Prince Naif's suggestions could get a boost if criminal records of prisoners were erased soon after the release of a convict. At present it takes years to erase the records. He called on private and public sectors to participate in setting education and training programs and encouraging inmates to enroll in them. He said few prisoners are enrolling in these programs and cited that only 5 percent of Riyadh's prison inmates were interested in education inside jails. Prisons in Saudi Arabia have 108 schools with 2,319 inmates, of which 1,569 have passed to the next grade. Most juveniles in jails have no interest in education as they skipped school even before they were imprisoned. Dr. Al-Hajjar called for efforts to reduce overcrowding inside prisons. He also asked the Ministry of Justice to consider alternatives for prison as the goal is correction, not punishment. - Okaz __
