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Tragic murder of a man I <$> ““iSm"™©
who built a‘model prison’ I ““"jr" 1 *
by James I.ewin
The brutal murder in December
1981 of the chief warden of the
Ramie Detention and Classification
Center, the late Ronnie Nitzan, has
tragically underscored, for some
observers, the ominous conclusions
of an official report that Israel’s
prisons are “on the verge of
explosion.”
In an interview just five days
before his death, Sgan-C'undar
Nit/an expressed his sense of
satisfaction in the relationship he
had with the prisoners in his
custody. Me spoke of his belief that
“it is the human element that
means more in the rehabilitation of
criminals than large sums of
cash for new programs, even
though we definitely need more
money.
“Since I don’t have an unlimited
budget,.! have to spend more time
among the prisoners themselves,
drinking coffee with them, sharing
meals with them, and this, in my
opinion, helps rehabilitation more
than increased funds.”
In his three years as chief
warden, he said, knocking for luck
on the desk and adding "Baruch
Hashem.” there had not been one
incident of murder or serious
violence under his purview We
spoke to him on Wednesday The
following Sunday morning, while
he was driving to work, Ronnie
Nit/an, who was in his early 30s,
was gunned down by a barrage of
bullets fired by unknown
assailants. As we write, the police
are seeking the trigger-men and
refuse to speculate on the possible
motive.
last August, a special
committee headed by former Tel
Aviv District Court president Max
Kennet, found that many inmates
in Israeli prisons were being held in
"sub-human, over-crowded living
conditions." However, the
committee specifically singled out
the wing under Nitzan’s command
as the model which the rest of the
prison system should try to,
emulate.
The newly appointed commissioner
ol Prison Services, Dr. Mordechai
Wertheimer, praised the newly
built Detention and Classification
Center of Ramie, designed for
defendants awaiting trial and for
new convicts before assignment to
a full-term prison. He asserted that
the intention of the Prison Services
is to do the maximum possible to
improve conditions and help
convicts rehabilitate themselves.
The clean, modern facilities of the
Detention and Classification
Center, Dr. Wertheimer said,
represented “something you can
live with."
Ronnie Nit/an was a
professional, with years of
experience in his field, having
begun his career in the field of
educaton in the army prison
system He spoke with precise
enunciation, each word carefully
chosen, taking a serious yet
markedly liberal attitude toward
his work. Guards, he conceded,
may at times shove or slap inmates.
Nitzan
but in his prison, he stated, there
were no beatings, no sadism, and
the solitary confinement cell had
remained empty for over a year.
All evidence in the facility bore
out his statements. The bright,
white-washed corridors were
decorated with surrealistic
paintings done by the prisoners,
with well-tended green plants in
corners and wall-niches and, at the
entrance to each cell block, small
aquariums stocked with multi
colored tropical fish. A farmyard
housing animals, including
chickens, ducks, guinea-pigs and
monkeys, carefully tended by the
prisoners, gives the latter a chance
to develop toward pets that
affection which is lacking in their
daily life.
Inmates in the Detention
Center, Nitzan explained, are
governed by a policy of granting
privileges for good behavior. At
the first level, when they arrive and
until they prove their good
intentions, the prisoners are kept
in locked cells without permission
to watch television At the second
level, they may watch television
until 9:30 p m and spend more
time in the exercise yard. At the
third level, the cells are open and
the television stays on until the end
of the nightly broadcast.
The atmosphere in the detention
center, contrary to expectation,
was calm, well-ordered and
optimistic. Prisoners praised the
conditions and the staff. One
stated he was taking a university
correspondence course while in
jail. Others said they were learning
painting and handicrafts.
Only days before his demise, he
had spoken with pride of his work
“With my hand on my heart.’ he’d said,
“I can tell you that there has been a
definite improvement in prison
service in the past months."
Nitzan admitted that there are
no easy answers to the problem of
combatting crime. “What can I tell
you, to shut down the institutions
we have for young offenders and
assign each five youngsters to a
leader, and keep them in
communes? To provide one social
worker for each 20 prisoners? To
make a special class at the
university for the employees of the
Prison Service? To get some
minister out of a dream to give us
billions of shekels for new
buildings? We’re talking about
Utopia.
“I contend that the human
element, the enthusiasm, the
warmth, is what distinguishes us
depsite whatever the newspaper
and television may say.” In Israel,
he noted, many members of the
general public volunteer to work at
tutoring or providing general
assistance for the prisoners. “'I hat
is the symbol of our people and, on
that basis, I have a good feeling
about what we are doing here."
Nitzan spoke with cool
composure and assurance, never
mentioning a previous attempt on
his life, approximately a year and
half ago, when a hand-grenade was
discovered at his door-step Sgan-
Cundar Ronnie Nitzan apparently
assumed that such incidents were
simply part of his job.
Nitzan clearly wished to give the
impression that, despite the
negative conclusions of the Kennet
report, the situation in the Prison
System is getting under control,
the problems slowly but surely
being solved, and the right path
being pursued Without
exaggerating, he seemed to be sure
he had the right answers to the
basic questions confronting him.
But it turned oudfhat there was at
least one problem he had
underestimated, forgotten or
ignored. Evidently he had no
notion of it—but now somebody
else is going to have to continue the
worli to which he had made such a
singular contribution.
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BRIDAL ISSUE
February 19
PAGE 19 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE February 5, 1982