Here's what the Saudis are doing to combat extremism in the kingdom

Christopher Boucek reports on "soft" counter-terrorism measures the Saudis have adopted in this week's issue of The Jamestown Foundation's Global Terrorism Analysis:

The centerpiece of the Saudi strategy is dubbed the "counseling program," which is intended to assist those individuals that have espoused takfiri beliefs "repent and abandon terrorist ideologies" (al-Ikhbariyah, April 27). The program seeks to de-radicalize extremist sympathizers by engaging them in intensive religious debates and psychological counseling. It is important to stress that participants in the counseling program are only terrorist sympathizers, and at the most individuals caught with jihadi propaganda. They are not individuals that have been active in terrorist violence in the kingdom; people "with blood on their hands" are barred from participating.

But curiously, this program seems to involve counseling people in Saudi prisons. But if the program is only open to people without "blood on their hands" one does have to wonder, well, what are they in prison for then? For merely sympathizing with terrorists? And most Saudis think America's detention policies are unfair???

Anyway, back to the report.

In their first meeting, committee members will simply listen to the prisoner. They ask them about what they did, why they did it and the circumstances that brought them to be in prison. Throughout the process, the scholars engage prisoners in discussions about their beliefs, and then attempt to persuade them that their religious justification for their actions is wrong and based upon a corrupted understanding of Islam. The committee first demonstrates that what the prisoners were tricked into believing was false, and then they teach them the proper state-approved interpretation of Islam.

The Advisory Committee runs two programs. The first includes short sessions, which typically run about two hours. While some prisoners recant their beliefs after the first session, typically a prisoner goes through several of these meetings... At the end of the course, an exam is given; those who pass the exam move to the next stage of the process, while those who do not pass repeat the course.

As Boucek writes:

The Counseling Program is based upon a presumption of benevolence, and not vengeance or retribution. It presumes that the suspects were abused, lied to and misled by extremists into straying away from "true Islam," and that the state wants to help security prisoners return to the correct path.

Fair enough, but now check this detail out:

The vast majority of prisoners who have participated in the program, according to research conducted by the Advisory Committee, have been found to not have had a religious education during their childhood....the majority have been radicalized through extremist books, tapes, videos and, more recently, the internet. The Counseling Program, therefore, seeks to "correct" this misunderstanding by reinforcing the official state version of Islam.

I'm not sure I buy that this is indeed the case, having heard once too many times that radical Islam entered the kingdom after the Saudi educational system became infiltrated with radical Muslim Brothers who had fled Nasser's Egypt. Nevertheless, I still think this has to be a positive development - that the extreme version of Islam is now being so thoroughly repudiated by the Saudi government that it is even willing to resort to a bit of revisionism to make it so.

And here is another good idea, I think:

[O]nce a breadwinner is incarcerated, the committee provides the family with an alternate salary. Other needs, including children's schooling and family healthcare, are also provided. This is intended to offset further radicalization brought on by the detention of family members. It is acknowledged by officials that when the government arrests someone, that memory lingers, and this social support is intended to offset that hardship somewhat. The government further recognizes that if they fail to do this, then it is possible that extremist elements will move in to provide this support.

This support then continues upon release. Prisoners who have successfully completed the rehabilitation process and have satisfactorily renounced their previous beliefs are given assistance in locating jobs and other benefits, including additional government stipends, cars and apartments. Upon release, they are required to check in with authorities, and are encouraged to continue meeting with the scholars they were speaking with while in prison. Many, for instance, often continue to attend their study circles at mosque after being released. Furthermore, rehabilitated prisoners are encouraged to settle down, marry and have children, in part because it is understood that it is much more difficult for young men to get into trouble once they become obligated with family responsibilities.

According to Saudi figures, of the 700 prisoners who passed this program, only 9 have been re-arrested for security offenses. About 1,000 participants remain incarcerated and then there are some 1,400 individuals who refuse to have anything to do with the program.

I've heard other counterterrorism experts claim the same success with other programs that use persuasion as opposed to coercion. At the moment, however, I'm too lazy to supply examples but if you want some, email me and I'll dig them up.