Call for cooperation on social re-integration of female prison inmates

In partnership with the Swedish organization for international development, Diakonia, and in ‎collaboration with both the ministry of social affairs and the general directorate of internal ‎security forces, the association of Dar al Amal organized yesterday a seminar entitled ‘the social ‎re-integration of former women detainees’. On the occasion held at the Beirut Chamber of ‎Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the head of the Prisons Department, Lieutenant Colonel ‎Ghassan Othman, described the state of women prisons in Lebanon as sad, painful and ‎problematic, pointing out that the harsh conditions were mainly related to overcrowded cells and ‎worn out buildings that badly require maintenance, in addition to the lack of space and ‎recreational facilities. Othman made clear that the ministry of interior has teamed up with ‎municipalities and the ISF to rehabilitate and develop the present conditions to keep up with the ‎modern standards of reformatory detention centers. In the same spirit, Diakonia- Lebanon Office ‎director, Rodolf Jibrayel, urged authorities concerned to cooperate in order to facilitate the ‎reintegration of freed women detainees through the provision of decent work opportunities. The ‎social rehabilitation and reintegration program implemented by Dar al Amal in three women ‎prisons was also outlined, and the role of civil society and the economic sector highlighted. To ‎close, two prisoners made live testimonies of their post-prison distressed life and the social ‎stigma and rejection by a community that does not give them the prospects of earning a decent ‎livelihood. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, September 29, 2016)‎