Prisons don't recognize radicalization: report

By Janene Pieters on February 18, 2015 - 09:59
Prison Cells
. Source: Flickr/Dylan Oliphant

Prisons in the Netherlands are not capable of recognizing radicalization in inmates, let alone stop it, according to president of the Dutch prison directors association Harry Versteeg.

Versteeg, speaking on BNR news radio, stated that the present conclusion could be that a good tool for recognizing and fighting radicalization is missing. "We have to work hard to develop that. But we haven't yet," he said. The perpetrators in Paris and Copenhagen were radicalized in prison, states BNR's website. "Even in those countries [France and Denmark] they were not able to react adequately. That is not a reproach, but a realization that we apparently do not have a good method to tackle this."

The lack of protocols shocked CDA parliamentarian Madeleine van Toorenburg, who was a prison director for ten years. "I remember well that we had all the plans: all the contacts were there," she told BNR. "I remember that I had to send all my staff on training, that there was a collaboration between the police and the AIVD [Dutch intelligence and security service]. Apparently after 2008 absolutely nothing was done with it."

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