In Egypt, in the mid-nineteenth century imprisonment became the principal form of punishment. However, prior to the British occupation in 1882, Egyptian prisons were not used as instruments of rehabilitation. Even in the first part of the British occupation, the colonial officials devoted their efforts toward improving living conditions in prisons, and paid little attention to utilizing prisons as instruments of rehabilitation.
In 1897, Charles Coles, ex-commandant of the Cairo police, was nominated as inspector-general of prisons. Until his time, the Egyptian prison system was not organized. But, in 1901 it was centralized by La'ihat al-Sujun, the Prison Law. According to this law, the Egyptian prison system consisted of three types of prisons, i. e., penal servitude establishments, central prisons, and local prisons. Of these prisons, the central prisons served as the main institutions in the Egyptian prison system.
Through Coles' reforms, living conditions in these prisons were gradually improved and offenders were given different treatment according to their sentence and criminal history. In the central prisons, first offenders sentenced to imprisonment or detention with labor were put to work in various workshops, such as those for blacksmiths, carpenters, tinsmiths, etc. Through this, they got a means to earn their living after finishing their terms. So, it was aimed at rehabilitating or training them. On the other hand, the other inmates were excluded from work in the workshops. Therefore, it can be also said that British colonial officials intended to rehabilitate and reform offenders efficiently by giving first offenders priority over repeaters or offenders who committed more serious crimes.
In conclusion, in the era of the British occupation Egyptian prisons, especially central prisons, were transformed into penitentiaries like ones in Western Europe.
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