The members of this international seminar met January 4-7, 1997 to: (1) explore the problems involved in implementing minimum standard rules for treatment of offenders in Arab correctional institutions; (2) study the principles and rules cited in the handbook; (3) search for solutions to overcrowding in Arab correctional institutions; (4) evaluate prison privatization; (5) enhance Arab cooperation in the new treatment trend; and (6) formulate basic principles for Arab strategy based on preventive policy to complete the role of correctional institutions. Participants reviewed working papers concerning, among other topics: basic principles and rules for correctional treatment in the next century, rights of inmates inside and outside correctional institutions, rights of detainees in detention, basic inmates' needs in Arab correctional institutions, problems of treatment in Latin American correctional systems, training of prison staff, minimum standard rules for treatment of offenders in crimes against humanity, and Arab strategy based on preventive policy for the 21st century.