The General Directorate of Prisons

The General Directorate of Prisons is the entity responsible for organizing, guarding, and managing prisons in the ‎Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Its headquarters is located in the ‎capital, Riyadh, and it is one of the directorates affiliated with the ‎Saudi Ministry of Interior.

The establishment of the General Directorate of Prisons dates ‎back to 1968 when Royal Approval ‎was issued to establish a general department of prisons within the ‎organizational structure of the General Directorate of Public ‎Security, as the tasks related to prisons and their administrations ‎in the Kingdom were directly assigned to the police, being one of ‎its many departments. In 1969, a Royal Order was issued to establish the Administration of Prisons and ‎Detention, and in the same year, a decision was issued by the ‎Minister of Interior to form the General Administration of Prisons while indicating its responsibilities and duties.

In 1978, a Royal Decree was issued ‎regarding the Law of Imprisonment and Detention, upon which the ‎Supreme Council for Prisons was established to prepare ‎studies on developing the role of prison and detention to achieve their desired goals and make them more effective in ‎evaluating convicts.

The General Administration of Prisons was separated from the ‎General Directorate of Public Security by a decision of the ‎Minister of Interior in 2000, thus becoming an ‎independent sector linked to the Assistant Minister of ‎Interior for Security Affairs. The administration was ‎then transformed into the General Directorate of Prisons, while it ‎structurally remained related to the Minister of Interior. This ‎structure was adopted by a decision of the Council of Ministers ‎in 2003.

The directorate's work is based on ‎spreading awareness of the goals of prisons through research, ‎seminars, lectures, and exhibitions. Its responsibilities also ‎include eradicating illiteracy and continuing the inmates' ‎education. Moreover, it aims to develop the technical and ‎professional aspects of the prisoners, solve their problems, and ‎take care of their social well-being. The directorate also organizes many rehabilitation and ‎psychological programs in this regard, allowing ‎the inmates to engage in many different activities.

The General Directorate of Prisons publishes a monthly ‎magazine entitled al-Islah (Reform), which focuses on presenting a ‎variety of general and cultural topics. It also provides a space for ‎the inmates to share their writings.‎

The General Directorate of Prisons provides correctional, ‎rehabilitation, and training programs for prisoners during their ‎sentence that match their abilities, allowing them to lead normal lives ‎among the members of the community after their release, including ‎vocational training, which is one of the correctional programs ‎offered to prisoners. This initiative allows prisoners to join any technical ‎profession available in vocational and industrial training ‎workshops inside the prison. The program aims to discipline and ‎educate the inmates, provide them with a way to lead a decent life ‎in the community after their release, develop the skills of the ‎experienced ones, and benefit from their energy.‎

The professions include car mechanics, car denting, X-steel ‎welding, electrician, general carpentry, sanitary plumbing, ‎electricity and wiring, cloth tailoring, refrigeration, and air ‎conditioning, in addition to electronics, welding, and blacksmithing. The ‎duration of each of the previous courses is six months. Other professions include construction, ‎reinforced concrete, bookbinding, leather industry, carpet ‎industry, paints, shoemaking industry, hand weaving industry, and rosary beads industry.

In December 2021, the General Directorate of Prisons ‎launched a number of specialized rehabilitation centers in ‎various regions of the Kingdom, as one of the objectives of the ‎directorate’s strategic plan to reduce recidivism rates. These centers include: Fajr, Thiqah‎, and Ishraqah.

Fajr Rehabilitation Center targets first-time prisoners in order to support them ‎and spare them the trauma of imprisonment, as well as the behavioral, ‎psychological, familial, and social effects they may experience. ‎This center works according to scientific bases, considered the first of its kind in correctional rehabilitation within ‎penal institutions.‎

Thiqah Center prepares inmates with one ‎year or less left of their sentence to reintegrate them into society and ‎reinforce confidence in their abilities and potential before their release. As for Ishraqah Center, it seeks to alter the ‎behavior of inmates convicted of drug addiction and help ‎them recover psychologically and physically via rehabilitative, ‎psychological, and social treatment programs.‎