Report on the Assessment of the Compliance of the Correction and Rehabilitation
Centers in Palestine with International Prison Standards
is insufficient due to the conditions of the building. The CRC suffers
from the difficulty of maintaining its facilities because the building is
old and was not designed as a CRC in the first place, which constitutes
an inappropriate living condition for inmates. In addition, the recreational space is insufficient for the number of inmates and the infrastructure doesn’t meet the accommodation requirements for inmates
with disabilities.
•
Services facilities: The Bethlehem CRC does not comply at all with
international standards regarding the nature and quality of its service
facilities. The service facilities do not have windows to ensure adequate ventilation and provide natural light, which poses a real risk to
the health of inmates and staff at the CRC. The CRC does not have
facilities for vocational rehabilitation. There is a library but its area is
2 square meters (2 meters X 1 meter) and is inadequate at all (it contains 600 books). The library has no books for persons with disabilities
and it’s inadequate for their needs. The infrastructure of the service
facilities is not equipped to meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
The medical clinic needs many medical devices that are not available
currently not available there, and the windows of the services facilities
do not allow enough light in due to the conditions of the center.
•
Women’s detention center: The Bethlehem CRC complies to some
degree with the international standards for the detention of women with
a compliance rate of 2.5. Detained women are placed in separate sections away from men, and the women’s section is headed by a female
staff member. It is forbidden to search women by male staff members
and infants are allowed to stay with their mothers. All women’s sanitary items are provided regularly, and pregnant detainees give birth in
civilian hospitals. Physical contact between detained mothers and their
children is allowed during visits. However, the CRC does not have a
women’s clinic that is separate from the general medicine clinic, nor is
there a female doctor for this purpose. There is no nursery to take care
of children accompanying their detained mothers. In addition, there
are no vocational training programs for rehabilitating female inmates,
building their capacities and filling their time in a good way. There
is also weak coordination and networking with civil and community
institutions in regards to the rehabilitation of women before their re-
INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
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