ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Several libraries were opened across detention centers in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday as part of an initiative by the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) to contribute to the rehabilitation of prisoners.
Musa Ahmed, the head of BCF, said during a press conference that the rehabilitation project is meant “to build a solid bridge between the people and knowledge.”
“We hope the libraries at the prisons are used beyond reading and can become research centers for not only the inmates but researchers and universities to create a link between scholars and inmates who are willing to learn,” Ahmed added.
The libraries were officially opened at the prisons on Wednesday, with a formal ceremony held inside Erbil’s women and juvenile penitentiary center. The library at the women and juvenile detention center contains over 5,000 books of various genres and topics.
Deman Burhan, the mastermind behind the initiative, told Kurdistan 24 the idea was born after her visit to a female detention center.
“I noticed how books could help those with an unstable psychological state of mind,” Burhan said, adding the BCF supported the idea and helped make the project a reality.
The project aims to assist in the rehabilitation of inmates by giving them access to education inside the prisons as well as those who want to participate in leisurely reading while they serve their sentences.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
(Additional reporting by Hero Mawlodi)