At present over 30 Republican Prisoners are involved in protest tactics inside Maghaberry Gaol, including a dirty protest. The Political Prisoners are demanding the full implementation of the August 2010 Agreement between themselves, the Prison Service, Independent Facilitators and Stormont’s Department of 'Justice'.
The Agreement was supposed to bring an end to controlled movement and strip-searching. However, within weeks of the Agreement the Screws not only continued but significantly increased strip-searches and severely restricted the movement of Republican Prisoners in Roe House in Maghaberry. In spite of the intransigence of the prison Administration, the Political Prisoners and their Representative Organisations outside attempted to break the impasse by proposing the ‘Portlaoise Model’ which has been rejected by the Prison Service, Administration and Stormont. The ‘Portlaoise Model’ includes replacing strip-searching with modern Airport-Style detectors.
Maghaberry Gaol is never far from media headlines with consistent reports highlighting serious repression, neglect, overcrowding and abuse from various organisations, including the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers. Who stated; ‘Full body-searching is a procedure which is intrusive and invades the privacy of all prisoners...if other less intrusive and more effective electronic methods become available they should be piloted and their use considered’.
Describing controlled-movement, one Political (Remand) Prisoner in Maghaberry describes his morning; ‘The cell door opens again. “Shower!” the screw grunts. I step out onto the landing. I am searched again while my towel, boxers, socks and bar of soap (these are the only items we are allowed to bring to the showers) are thoroughly searched. I am again surrounded, marched to the showers and locked in. when finished, I have to wait to get out and I am searched again. These searches consist of arms spread out and searched, from the wrist to the shoulders, then around the neck, ribs and down to the waist, legs and ankles. Most time you are grabbed aggressively and searched. My stuff was searched again. I am surrounded and marched back to the cell and locked in’.
Cogus/RNU-Aligned Prisoners wrote about prison exercise in Maghaberry; ‘While in the yard of Roe house the prison search team in full riot gear and shields entered the yard and began to dish out severe beatings to Cogus and Cabhair POWs’. Men were placed in arm and head locks and were punched and kicked from the yard back to our cells. This happened every night for another three nights with the beatings getting worse by the day. The prisoners suffered injuries that required outside Hospital treatment’.
Readers should not forget that Veteran Republicans, Marian Price and Martin Corey are imprisoned in Maghaberry Gaol. At the behest of the British Secret Service, MI5. Marian is the only woman held in an all-Male prison and is effectively in solitary confinement. Tyrone Republican, Gerry McGeough is also held there for his alleged involvement in an IRA Operation back in 1981. In October, the UN’s torture investigator, Juan Mendez said; ‘solitary confinement can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pretrial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles.’” He continued, “‘Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, supermax, the hole, secure housing unit…whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by states as a punishment or extortion (of information) technique’.
Everyone with an interest in human rights must do more to stop the nightmare that is Maghaberry. Otherwise, the abuses will continue unchallenged and British injustice will permit another generation of Irish citizens to suffer oppression. Since Internment was re-introduced in 1971, December has traditionally been focused on Political Prisoners by Irish Republican families and communities. Therefore, I ask readers to search within their consciences how best to help those POWs’ incarcerated in Maghaberry.
If people are not informed,then how can they begin to understand what the pow.s. in maghaberry are enduring? I myself can comprehend only because i am personally affected as my loved one is incarcerated in this hell hole! If not then i dare say i would be ignorant also! There needs to be more done for these men and women and a start would be more for more information and more regular updates being delivered to the public. Whats more,is the fact that even family and friends of the pow,s arent being informed as to when and where protests are taking place! All those who claim to be doing all they can to bring an end to the protest,please explain what exactly you are doing? I, as someone who is personally affected would love to know and then be in a better position to help!
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