Life term imprisonment should be replaced by indefinite terms, and those sentenced to such terms should be eligible for parole, according to proposals made to the political party by Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl (MDD), the NGO which works among prisoners and their relatives.

In a 20-point statement, the organisation said, among other things, that although the parole system was introduced six months ago, no prisoner has benefited from it yet and the mechanism still needed to be put in place for its effective implementation. The society said the law needed to be amended for all prisoners to be eligible for parole.

In comments on the life term sentence, MDD said this was an inhuman concept and, in line with the views expressed by the European Court of Human Rights, life terms should be replaced by prison sentences with indefinite terms.

The society called for more frequent recourse to other forms of punishment instead of imprisonment. It noted that close to 600 people were behind bars, crowding the prisons.

A prisoners classification system was needed so that those awaiting trial were held separately from those who had been convicted.

It said that prisoners should be given more opportunities for work and training.

It proposed a system of 'after care' to help prisoners once they were released.

The society also complained about the physical state of the prisons and called for an upgrading.

The same call was made with regard tot he quality of food.

In other points, the NGO suggested that a team could be brought from abroad to help in the modern management of the prisons

The NGO called for recruitment of prison warders  and insisted that prisoners who paid their taxes and social security should not lose their social security pension.