RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Mohammed bin Nayef Center for Counseling and Care feels like a resort. There is a large indoor swimming pool, with pictures of swimmers in action on the walls. Next door is a spacious gym with large windows and a banquet hall. Inmates here are referred to as beneficiaries. But these men were part of al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS), fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Here they walk around freely in flowing white robes that cover green electronic ankle monitors. Through an individually tailored program, which includes group sessions and art therapy, they are taught to eschew violence and are prepared for a peaceful future on the outside.
In his speech in Riyadh on May 21, US President Donald Trump called on Muslim nations to “drive out terrorists.” But this program in Saudi Arabia shows another approach: how to bring them back into the fold. The center is a showpiece of the Saudi government’s soft approach to terrorism. It was started in 2004 in response to a growing number of domestic terror attacks. Since then, more than 3,300 people have graduated, including 123 former inmates of Guantanamo Bay.
A stay of three months is usually sufficient, though some stay longer; those beyond reproach are returned to “the judiciary process,” which usually means jail. There are currently 84 men staying at the Mohammed bin Nayef Center in Riyadh, and there are another 45 at its sister facility in Jeddah. The walls are decorated with paintings painted during art therapy sessions. Some are reminders of the past. One depicts a brick watchtower behind a concrete wall topped with barbed wire, bearing the sign “Camp VI Guantanamo.” In the clear blue sky, there is an all-seeing eye. But there are also pictures of hope: a single burning candle in darkness, or a pair of shackled, balled-up hands breaking free from their chains. “Many beneficiaries initially don’t want to draw humans because they think it is contrary to Islam,” said Badr Alrazain, who oversees art therapy at the center. “But the paintings really show the changes they go through.”
Some of the artworks even show the face of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. A key idea in the ideological reprogramming is that holy war, or jihad, is only allowed to be carried out if the ruler — in this case, the Saudi king — commands it. All prisoners sign a patriotic contract before being allowed to re-enter society.
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