Damascus-SANA
The cultural centers inside the prisons in Damascus and the governorates came to form a bridge of communication for the detainees with the outside world and to take their hand in the areas of guidance, education, preaching and guidance, following up on their educational attainment and teaching them many arts.
This initiative was launched in September 2017, when the Ministries of Interior and Culture signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of “employing various cultural factors..cinema..book..theater to consolidate concepts of dialogue and acceptance of the other, especially in prisons and various educational facilities, and directing the tools of cultural action towards strengthening the spirit of citizenship.” and overcome the repercussions of the crisis.
The initiative took effect a year after the signing of the memorandum of understanding, when the Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, opened two cultural centers and two folk culture institutes in the men’s and women’s sections in Adra Central Prison. This initiative was not limited to Damascus, but the two new cultural centers in Homs and Tartous prisons.
Together, these centers worked to set up digital literacy courses, organize art exhibitions, and theatrical and cinematic performances, and provided their libraries with thousands of titles from the publications of the Ministry of Culture and the Syrian General Book Authority.
Bassam Diop, Director of Adult Education and Cultural Development at the Ministry of Culture, said in a statement to SANA’s delegate that these centers are part of a plan that seeks to rehabilitate prison inmates in the hope of bringing about the hoped-for change in the knowledge structure and reintegrating them into the national social fabric upon their release.
Diop says, "Our work in these cultural centers is doubled, given the need of these people more than others," explaining that the centers' plan inside prisons, their activities and events are not different from those in any cultural center abroad, but they focus on the societal and legal aspects concerned with the affairs of inmates, such as awareness seminars about The danger of criminal and electronic crime, in addition to practical lectures on health and medical fields delivered by specialized doctors.
The implementation of this initiative, according to the Director of the Prisons Department at the Ministry of Interior, Major General Jassem Al-Hamad, comes as a need and a necessity, as it comes as a rehabilitation of the prison inmates, including those who are arrested and convicted, culturally and cognitively, in order to reform them and return them to civil life after their release by the competent judicial authorities, enabling them to harmonize with the rest of society and take Their role as active and optimistic individuals looking to live in the best way to support their families.
Regarding the upcoming procedures to activate the role of these centers, Brigadier General Moqbel Al-Homsi, head of the Damascus Central Prison branch, said that work is underway to develop these centers in terms of capabilities and highlight the importance of integrating inmates into society. Their psychological, scientific, rehabilitation, training and education affairs that increase their activity and constitute an incentive for them to move towards life.
Amani Farooj
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