Egypt's mufti has issued a fatwa recently recommending conjugal visits for prisoners, sending the country into another episode of debates over controversial fatwas.
According to the top cleric, Nasr Farid Wassel, depriving prisoners intimacy with their spouses can lead to psychological stress. He added that those who are married to someone serving a prison term should not be punished for the mistakes of their spouses, "especially since such punishment could lead to [his or her] deviation into sin."
In its report, Al Ahram English weekly cast doubt on the applicability of the fatwa, saying that there is a difference between theory and practice.
It quoted Wassel as demanding that security authorities investigate how conjugal visits can be implemented in Egyptian prisons. Confirming that the practice is legitimate under Islamic law, Wassel indicated that arrangements should be made by the Ministry of the Interior "to put things in their rightful order."
According to the mufti, imprisonment is intended to limit freedom with the aim of rehabilitation, but sexual deprivation should not be part of the punishment.
Quoted as speaking to Rose El-Youssef weekly magazine, Wassel claimed that organising conjugal visits would preserve a prisoner's bond to his family and encourage him to maintain a "decent social life,” rather than alienate the people who care for him.
Though the Prisons Authority has refused to comment on the matter, those familiar with Egypt's prison system are sceptical that such a programme will ever be realised, said Al Ahram, adding that setting up facilities for conjugal visits would require a significant restructuring of the existing facilities and, more importantly, the logistics of the visits -- searches, privacy, illegitimate visits -- would be overwhelmingly complicated in light of the sensitivities of Egyptian culture.
Numerous Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Tunisia, allow conjugal visits, but the practice has proved difficult to implement given traditional values and the awkward circumstances involved. In Saudi Arabia, for example, a woman must be accompanied by her father or a brother, and most women are too embarrassed. In other Arab countries, women have simply refused to go, said the weekly.
Former Assistant to the Interior Minister Sami Abdel-Gawwad, who until last month was in charge of the Prisons Authority, declared that given the current state of Egypt's prisons, implementing conjugal visits would be impossible.
"There is neither space nor money to build guest rooms," Abdel-Gawwad told Al-Ahram Weekly. The standard room for such visits is isolated and equipped with two doors -- one that opens into the prison, and one which can be accessed from outside, through which the visitor enters. A bed is not enough; there must be clean sheets, a bathroom, and other basic amenities.
"Practically speaking, it is not feasible to implement conjugal visits," admits Mohamed Zarei, director of the Human Rights Centre for the Assistance of Prisoners, noting that prisons are overcrowded and the number of daily visits is enormous.
Ahmed El-Magdoub, former head of the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research, agrees.
"Although it is a noble goal to lessen the suffering of the prisoners, in this case, it will not happen." – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
