Report: U.S. to Start Training Program for Prison Officials in Saudi Arabia
HMMM
The State Department is looking for a U.S. contractor to teach Saudi prison officials how to manage female inmates.
Stringer/AFP/Getty
The State Department is seeking U.S. contractors to train Saudi Arabian prison officials in managing female prisoners, The Young Turks reports. Federal procurement records from late September show the department seeks to conduct a training program for up to 50 Saudi prison officials on topics like “Prisoner Transportation and Escort, Prison Intelligence Unit Operations/Security Threat Groups, and Emergency Management and Emergency Response Teams (ERT).” The State Department insisted the goal of the program is to help the prisons conform to “internationally-accepted best correctional practices and human rights standards.” Human-rights observers told TYT there has been a “recent spike in the number of female political prisoners” in the country, and many are incarcerated or mistreated in prison for “speech crimes.” The country has been accused of orchestrating the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing after entering Istanbul’s Saudi Arabian consulate.
