Seychelles and Israeli prison services discuss future training and cooperation

The Montagne Posee Prison on the main island of Mahe (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Dynamic security, training in escort services, as well as data analysis and management are amongst the areas in which the Seychelles Prison Service held discussions with its Israeli counterpart recently.

According to a press communique on September 1 by the Seychelles Prison Service, the first virtual meeting was held on August 30, 2022. Led by the commissioner of the Seychelles Prison Service, Raymond St. Ange, the meeting provided an opportunity for the service to look at engagement possibilities with the Israeli Prison Service in critical areas of prison operations.

Speaking to SNA on Friday, St. Ange said that the cooperation areas being discussed are areas in which the local prison service needs to make improvements. He outlined that during his visit to a prison headquarters in Israel, which took place in early 2020, he observed the extensive knowledge officers held and the training programme in place.

"The work there is intense with officers encountering different situations daily and as such, they have a good background and a sharp platform to operate from. One of the things that we lack here, is a solid training ground. In a lot of countries, they send their staff to a training prison whereas in Seychelles we only have a prison that is operating. We have to approach things a little differently to ensure the security of our staff, especially when they are doing training," said St. Ange.

With discussions currently at a preliminary stage, the commissioner expects to welcome an Israeli officer to the country, who will be responsible to carry out an evaluation on services and work carried out at the Seychelles Prison Service.

"From there, we will be able to take measures to come up with a plan based on the response," said St. Ange.

Aside from discussions with the Israeli Prison Service, the University of Seychelles has been engaged to develop short courses for officers who work at and with the Seychelles Prison Service. De-escalation and conflict resolution, officer safety and dealing with inmates in a custodial setting and social skills, among others, are courses that will be available to staff.

"If we can together with our partners, develop such a course we can put together 12 to 15 specific modules including interview techniques, report writing, English skills, and basic writing," said St. Ange.

"There are already some short courses that we can start accessing next year. We are already looking at some different prison academies around the world, especially in the United States, that are already doing online courses. It will be better for us due to our limitations and access. We need to use the technology that we already have," he continued.

The commissioner further outlined that the Seychelles Prison Service has a "huge amount of things to do with a very small administration and team. We have to focus on managing the prison."

"Our service needs to grow in terms of manpower. We are in the process of carrying out construction of a new high-security prison, a new remand facility that has been proposed and approved to be located close to the courts, and a youth offenders facility for Praslin," said St. Ange.

The Seychelles Prison Service already has cooperation agreements with Mauritius and Tanzania, and it has held preliminary discussions with Morocco as well.