Saudi Arabia's 'Soft' Approach to Terrorist Prisoners: A Model for Others?

The management of terrorist and extremist prisoners has long been recognized as a difficult problem that crosses boundaries between counterterrorism efforts, prison operations, and counter radicalization strategies. While terrorist offenders are relatively rare, there is increasing global concern for the problems raised by holding militant jihadi extremists in prison, not least because of their ability to radicalize and recruit other prisoners.

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of a global effort to address this unique threat. Faced with an extremist prisoner population numbered in the thousands, Saudi officials developed tools intending to prevent prisoner radicalization, to mitigate the risk when an alleged or convicted terrorist was released, and to deal with domestic political concerns about prisoner treatment. What emerged was a unique and highly tailored approach that included rehabilitation-oriented programs in prisons and at prisoner rehabilitation centers, and 'aftercare' support for recently released prisoners. By 2012, portions of this initiative had been offered to thousands of the country's extremist prisoners, including some of the most notorious Al Qaeda members in captivity.

Based on extensive fieldwork, Marisa Porges's book chapter explores this critical aspect of Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism strategy, detailing key components of the Saudi approach, including religious and non-religious programming, initiatives for family members of those in custody, and the aftercare program. In particular, it highlights how this strategy has grown and changed over time to address specific geo-political and security requirements and the needs of Saudi Arabia's extremist prisoner population. It concludes by evaluating the program's successes and failures, demonstrating that the Saudi experience provides an imperfect albeit useful model for other countries considering creative tools for managing terrorist and extremist offenders.