The government has started attaching electronic bracelets to citizens intending to fight in war zones abroad, according to a report in a local publication on Monday.

Eisa Al-Ghaith, a judge and member of the Shoura Council’s security committee, was quoted as saying that government security agencies have begun implementing the system.

He said this covers people who have been arrested but cannot be held, including those who intended to join terrorist groups abroad. These people would be identified based on government investigations, their own confessions, and information provided by their families, said Al-Ghaith.

The bracelets are widely used by several countries overseas and are attached to either the wrist or ankle. An alarm is triggered if an attempt is made to remove it, or the person moves out of a designated area.

Al-Ghaith said that Islamic law does not prohibit this measure because it protects individuals and the wider community. Since these people have not committed a crime, they would be released and allowed to continue working and staying with their families.

Meanwhile, the prisons authority is also working on a plan to use the bracelets, which are linked to GPS systems, to track prisoners out on family visits, or for medical treatment at an outside facility.

Col. Ayoub bin Naheit, spokesman for the General Prisons Directorate, said prisoners would have to fulfill certain criteria based on their case history and length of sentences.

The chief of the National Society for Human Rights, Mufleh Al-Qahtani, said that the organization supports the initiative. The NSHR would urge the government to speed up implementation, he said.

Al-Qahtani said the program would help make the country safer, reduce overcrowding in prisons, protect individuals from hurting themselves, and help rehabilitation measures by allowing them to continue working. “It would also prevent people, who committed certain offenses, from spending too much time in the general prison population where they could pick up anti-social behaviors.”