30
number of them were addicts. The inmates were grateful for and content with her
work; however, two attempted assaults were made on her.
As for the families, her working group succeeded in making the visits to inmates a
more fluid process. And during visiting hours they saw progress as regards the
affective ties between inmates and their families.
The Center had an inmate population of 220, distributed among eight cellblocks. The
schedule of the working group was 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays. They rotated, working with two or three cellblocks per day.
They received UNICEF support for the purchase of clothing, mattresses, blankets and
Articles of personal hygiene for the inmates.
f)
Testimony of Michael Sean O'Loingsigh, Coordinator of the Pastoral
and Educational Team
In the time he worked at the Center, the witness was in charge of coordinating the
ministry and education team. He began working at the Center in late 1993 with a
ministry in which he did interviews with inmates, their families and their attorneys.
In 1994 he started the literacy school, Center No. 118, which had one teacher from
the Ministry of Justice and Labor. He ended that project in 1999, by which time the
school offered a complete elementary education, from first through sixth grade.
There were two libraries for the inmates. Instruction was provided on the judicial
process, and every inmate was given the name of his attorney, the prosecutor and
the judge. There were trades and workshops were conducted. Courses were given
on drug addiction and AIDS. In 1998 he was part of a multi-professional team at the
Ministry of Education and Culture that worked on developing a support plan.
The Mini-Business Project got underway in 1998, with the idea of providing jobs to
the inmates. They were taught new techniques of saving their profits, and learned
teamwork. The goal was to prepare them for re-entry into society, build their selfesteem and serve as an incentive to create a job for themselves.
By late 1998, 60% of the 338 inmates at the Center were in the school, 12% were
developing skills, and 28% were involved in other activities like cooking and
cleaning.
In addition to coordinating the inmates’ schooling, starting in 1995 the witness also
began coordinating training workshops for volunteers and staff of the Center.
Starting in 1998, some inmates began to participate in those workshops. The
witness knows many former inmates who have managed to become part of
mainstream society once again and are currently engaged in various types of
activities.
The Center took a major step forward when each inmate had an opportunity to move
further in his studies and to be trained. Also, more training was provided for the
Center’s staff and volunteers, so that they would have a better understanding of the
complexities of the inmate rehabilitation process.