Some of the paintings made by prisoners on display as Gulf Prisoners Week was inaugurated at the Gulf Mall yesterday Pic: Kammutty V P / The Peninsula
A number of excellent crafts and paintings made by prison inmates were displayed yesterday at the Gulf Mall on the occasion of the 5th Gulf Inmates Week.
“The 5th Gulf Inmates Week, which the ministry is keen to mark every year, has an important role in enhancing positive behaviour among prisoners and in integrating them with the society,” Staff Major General Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi said yesterday while inaugurating the event.
The 5th Gulf Inmates Week was organized under the theme 'Together to Achieve Reform', with the participation of various Ministry of Interior Departments like the Penal and Correctional Institutions Department (PCID), Medical Services Department, and General Directorate of Passports.
Other relevant institutions like Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Qatar Red Crescent, Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, and Sheikh Eid Charitable Foundation (Eid Charity) also participated in the event.
“These crafts and paintings provided by the Penal and Correctional Institutions Department (PCID) at the Ministry and made by prisoners reflect that inmates are getting all care,” said Al Khulaifi.
Brigadier Khalifa Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Director General of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation, stressed the importance of Gulf Inmates Week saying it helped in reducing the gap between the prisoners and the society through awareness messages aimed at spreading the culture of acceptance of released prisoners.
He also appreciated the efforts of the PCID and the relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies and their support to prisoners’ families, in addition to exchanging experience with other GCC countries in this regard.
“We are offering the prisoners all the activities they need including sports and for those interested in work we are offering several workshops like electric workshop, workshop for repairing ACs, among others. And half of the money they are getting by selling their products is for prisoners and their families while the other half goes to the Ministry to buy the raw materials for them," said Lieutenant Colonel Jassim Al Kaabi, Care and Rehabilitation section head, adding that experts used to give lectures to inmates on drug addiction.
About the displayed crafts, he said people could communicate with the authorities concerned and book the items they wanted to buy. Some paintings are priced up to QR 20,000.
