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04 13 02 - UDA Death Warnings Issued to Republican POWs at Maghaberry 04 09 02 - Derry Journal: "Derry Man assaulted in jail by loyalist" |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: UDA Death Warnings Issued to Republican POWs at Maghaberry Date: 04 13 02 Less than one week after a brutal and unprovoked assault upon Republican prisoner Ciaran McLaughlin, the UDA has issued death warnings to several Republican POWs at Maghaberry. Prison guards accompanied by RUC officers have visited the men in their cells to warn them that they have been targeted from inside the prison. Republican prisoners at Maghaberry, who have been stripped of all terms of political status following the signing of the 1998 Treaty with Britain, are housed by the prison administration and the British Government in amongst these Loyalist paramilitary prisoners, outnumbered eight to one. Please email, write and telephone the Northern Ireland Prison Service today regarding this barbaric and deadly "mingling" policy, which increasingly appears to be in existence solely to guarantee the death of a Republican POW. The Irish Freedom Committee ® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ Statement from Marian Price regarding UDA Death Threats to republican prisoners "(We have) learned that several Republican Prisoners in Maghaberry Gaol have been visited by the prison governor, accompanied by RUC men, to inform them they are under death threat from the UDA. We have also received information from the gaol giving details of items found in cells belonging to Loyalist prisoners during searches on Friday 12th April 2002. These included needles and syringes. Spokesperson Marian Price said “ Given the highly volatile situation in Maghaberry, and in light of the most recent attack on Republican Prisoner Ciaran Mc Laughlin, we expect the authorities to pay proper heed to these developments and take steps to ensure the safety of these men. The very least we demand is that Republicans are given a wing of their own and no longer forced to be on wings where they are greatly outnumbered by Loyalists. The items found are a deeply worrying turn of events and pose a serious risk to Republican Prisoners. We have advised these men to contact their solicitors and would remind the NIPS of their legal obligations re: the protection, health and safety of these men.” (We) ask all Republicans to support our ongoing campaign to ensure these men are recognised and treated as the Political Prisoners they are. " ************************************************ Please continue to write to the Northern Ireland Prison Service and register your concerns regarding unnecessary and cruel and unusual punishment to Irish POW Ciaran McLaughlin. Please keep your letters polite but factual. A sample letter is below. PLEASE TELEPHONE, E-MAIL and WRITE: NORTHERN IRELAND PRISON SERVICE Room 321 Prison Service Headquarters Dundonald House Upper Newtownards Road BELFAST BT4 3SU E-Mail: info@niprisonservice.gov.uk Phone: 028 9052 5065 - (General Enquiry Line) ----------------- NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE John Reid MP - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Adam Ingram MP - Minister of State George Howarth MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Block B Castle Buildings Belfast BT4 3STGTN Phone: 440 02890 520 700 (24 hours) Fax: 02890 528473/528478/528482 Email: press.nio.@nics.gov.uk
************************************************ (SAMPLE LETTER) ----------------- Mister David Blunkett, MP Secretary of State Home Office 50, Queen Annes Gate Londo SW1H 9AT Tuesday March 12, 2002
Dear Mr. Blunkett; We are writing to express our growing concern for the treatment of Irish political prisoners at Maghaberry prison, and what are clearly highly unsafe conditions for this large group of men. We are aware that Republican political prisoners held at Maghaberry are being housed greatly outnumbered alongside Loyalist paramilitary prisoners, who have already viciously attacked a number of them. We are also aware that death warnings have been issued to the Republican prisoners at Maghaberry from inside the prison. We have read in recent news of the vicious attack on Ciaran McLaughlin, who was assaulted in his cell on Sunday April 7th as he lay sleeping, by a UDA-alligned prisoner. We recall the vicious and unprovoked attack in September of last year on John Martin Swift, who received 17 staples to his head, and 15 stitches to his face, following a brutal attack in which he was nearly killed by a gang of Loyalist paramilitary prisoners. We are certain that your offices do not wish to see such a dangerous situation go unchecked inside a government facility of your own jurisdiction. We are also writing to express our grave concern over the treatment of the above-mentioned Republican prisoner Ciaran McLaughlin; who has made repeated applications for compassionate leave to visit his dying grandson, who doctors have said will die within the month. We are aware that Mr. McLaughlin and his wife raised this boy as if he was their own son. We know that his wife has offered to be incarcerated herself in his stead while he is visiting with his grandson, as security on his return. We are becoming concerned that Mr. McLaughlin will continue to be denied this brief opportunity to say goodbye to his beloved grandson until word is received that the little boy has died. We implore you to do your utmost to ensure that the dying wishes of a small boy are not victimized unnecessarily. The favor of a reply is greatly appreciated. Yours very sincerely; __________________________ (Your Name, Address) ************************************************ PLEASE WRITE TO REPUBLICAN POWs! Visit the Irish Freedom Committee website at www.irishfreedomcommittee.net for more information on writing to Irish Political Prisoners-- or contact our POW Department at Saoirse@irishfreedomcommittee.net for help. ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: Derry Journal: " Derry man assaulted in jail by loyalist" Date: 04 09 02 --------------------- Derry Journal April 9, 2002 DERRY MAN ASSAULTED IN JAIL BY LOYALIST THE FAMILY of a Derry prisoner currently serving an 18 year sentence in Maghaberry Prison have said they are extremely concerned about his safety after he was assaulted on Sunday. Ciaran McLaughlin is believed to have been injured when he was attacked in his cell by a well known loyalist. His wife Bernie said she received a phone call from the prison to inform her that Ciaran had been attacked. She said: "As far as I know he was attacked in his cell by a loyalist who had an iron with him. Ciaran had to receive treatment for some gashes and puncture wounds." In a further development Mrs. McLaughlin said her husband had been threatened after the assault. She said: "I have been told that four loyalists have told Ciaran they will cut his throat when he comes out of his cell." A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said yesterday: "We can confirm that a prisoner in Maghaberry Prison was assaulted in his cell in Bann House yesterday afternoon. "The prisoner received minor injuries which were treated by staff in the medical centre.." The spokesperson continued: "The Police Service were called to investigate the incident. "There were no witnesses to the incident and the prisoner involved declined to make a statement to either the prison authorities or the Police Service of Northern Ireland until he had seen his solicitor. "He is being interviewed by prison staff again this morning." Mrs. McLaughlin claimed yesterday that her husband's life is at risk due to the policy being pursued in Maghaberry. She said: "The Northern Ireland Office seem intent on continuing with this policy of forced integration in their attempt to criminalise these prisoners. "This policy has resulted in my husband being attacked in his cell and I am worried that if something is not done soon someone is going to be really badly injured or worse. "The authorities have to recognise that these men are political prisoners and will not ever accept the label of criminals." She also hit out at the refusal of the prison authorities to grant her husband compassionate parole to see their seriously ill granddaughter. Mrs. McLaughlin said: "It seems that all humanitarian concerns have gone out the window. "First of all Ciaran is kept in conditions where his life is constantly under threat and added to that the authorities for no reason have refused him permission to see his granddaughter. "Surely it is not asking too much for prisoners to be held in conditions befitting their status as political prisoners." ************************************************ PLEASE SEND CARDS AND LETTERS TO IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS Go to our website at www.irishfreedomcommittee.net for more information, or write to our POW Department at Saoirse@irishfreedomcommittee.net. ************************************************ For more information on brutal and inhumane conditions for Irish Republican POWs at Maghaberry, please go to: - Irish Freedom Committee NewsList, March 29, 2002: "We'll Wear no Convict's Uniform" - Irish Freedom Committee NewsList, September 04, 2001: POW SEVERELY ATTACKED IN MAGHABERRY PRISON ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- IFC POW DEPT. Subject: More on POW Ciaran McLaughlin Date: 04 09 02 The brutal attack over the weekend on POW Kieran McLaughlin is only the latest in a long series of hardships in this man's life. On Sunday night, Ciaran McLaughlin was viciously attacked in his cell as he lay sleeping by the UDA-alligned Pastor Clifford Peebles. He was attacked with an electric iron, and received severe head and face injuries. This attack could not have gone forward without the cooperation of sympathetic prison guards; who would have let the attackers know that Kieran was sleeping, and that his prison cell was unlocked. This is Rev. Peebles second violent and unprovoked attack on a republican POW at Maghaberry since his arrest in October 1999. On October 31, 1999 the UDA-alligned reverend threw boiling water on republican POW Tommy Crossan, blistering his chest and hands. Ciaran McLaughlin, age 46, was sentenced by a juryless Diplock court in Belfast High Court to 18 years in November of last year. He is the longest-sentenced political prisoner in the Occupied North of Ireland. By the time he is released he will have spent 31 years of his life in prison as an Irish Republican POW. Kieran was released in 1994 after spending 13 years in prison in the H-Blocks, and also spent time in Long Kesh when he was 19 years old. Since late last year Ciaran, along with his family and a wide network of friends and supporters, has been petitioning the Northern Ireland Prison Service for a short compassionate release to visit with his dying two-year-old grandson. His little grandson, whom Ciaran raised as his own son, has been diagnosed with a rare brain disease and has very little time left to live. The little boy has begged to see his dear grandfather, and Ciaran has made repeated requests to the prison board to be allowed the short compassionate release that is freely granted to other prisoners when loved ones fall ill. As previous experience in these situations has shown, the prison board will in all likelihood only release Ciaran once the boy has died, so he can briefly attend the funeral. This treatment can only be seen as a selective form of inhumanity the prison has chosen to show Ciaran for reasons of its own. Republican POWs have shown time and again that compassionate parole is always honored. Please continue to telephone, email, and write to the NIPS to register your concerns regarding unnecessary and cruel and unusual punishment to Irish POW Ciaran McLaughlin. Please also demand an immediate end to the dangerous and inhumane policy of housing loyalist paramilitary prisoners alongside Irish republican POWs-- a policy which can only be seen as a British government sanction guaranteeing the certain and imminent death of an Irish republican prisoner. Go raibh maith agat The Irish Freedom Committee ® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net (Thank you to the Henry Joy McKracken Unit, Worcester MA Irish Freedom Committee; for their assistance with providing the above information.) ************************************************ Please continue to write to the Northern Ireland Prison Service and register your concerns regarding unnecessary and cruel and unusual punishment to Irish POW Ciaran McLaughlin. Please keep your letters polite but factual. A sample letter is below. PLEASE TELEPHONE, E-MAIL and WRITE: NORTHERN IRELAND PRISON SERVICE Room 321 Prison Service Headquarters Dundonald House Upper Newtownards Road BELFAST BT4 3SU E-Mail: info@niprisonservice.gov.uk Phone: 028 9052 5065 - (General Enquiry Line) ----------------- NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE John Reid MP - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Adam Ingram MP - Minister of State George Howarth MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Block B Castle Buildings Belfast BT4 3STGTN Phone: 440 02890 520 700 (24 hours) Fax: 02890 528473/528478/528482
************************************************ (SAMPLE LETTER) ----------------- Mister David Blunkett, MP Secretary of State Home Office 50, Queen Annes Gate Londo SW1H 9AT Tuesday March 12, 2002
Dear Mr. Blunkett; We are writing to express our growing concern for the treatment of Irish political prisoners at Maghaberry prison, and what are clearly highly unsafe conditions for this large group of men. We are aware that Republican political prisoners held at Maghaberry are being housed greatly outnumbered alongside Loyalist paramilitary prisoners, who have already viciously attacked a number of them. We are also aware that death warnings have been issued to the Republican prisoners at Maghaberry from inside the prison. We have read in recent news of the vicious attack on Ciaran McLaughlin, who was assaulted in his cell on Sunday April 7th as he lay sleeping, by a UDA-alligned prisoner. We recall the vicious and unprovoked attack in September of last year on John Martin Swift, who received 17 staples to his head, and 15 stitches to his face, following a brutal attack in which he was nearly killed by a gang of Loyalist paramilitary prisoners. We are certain that your offices do not wish to see such a dangerous situation go unchecked inside a government facility of your own jurisdiction. We are also writing to express our grave concern over the treatment of the above-mentioned Republican prisoner Ciaran McLaughlin; who has made repeated applications for compassionate leave to visit his dying grandson, who doctors have said will die within the month. We are aware that Mr. McLaughlin and his wife raised this boy as if he was their own son. We know that his wife has offered to be incarcerated herself in his stead while he is visiting with his grandson, as security on his return. We are becoming concerned that Mr. McLaughlin will continue to be denied this brief opportunity to say goodbye to his beloved grandson until word is received that the little boy has died. We implore you to do your utmost to ensure that the dying wishes of a small boy are not victimized unnecessarily. The favor of a reply is greatly appreciated. Yours very sincerely; __________________________ (Your Name, Address) ************************************************ PLEASE NOTE: re Marian Price's statement distributed yesterday by this NewsList: -------------------- Correction: Please note Ciaran Mc Loughlin was not a " blanket-man", his imprisonment came after that traumatic period. We make this amendment in line with our policy of keeping statements factually accurate. - Marian Price. ************************************************ For more information on brutal and inhumane conditions for Irish Republican POWs at Maghaberry, please go to: - Irish Freedom Committee NewsList, March 29, 2002: "We'll Wear no Convict's Uniform" - Irish Freedom Committee NewsList, September 04, 2001: POW SEVERELY ATTACKED IN MAGHABERRY PRISON ************************************************ PLEASE SEND CARDS AND LETTERS TO IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS Go to our website at www.irishfreedomcommittee.net for more information, or write to our POW Department at Saoirse@irishfreedomcommittee.net. ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: POW Ciaran McLaughlin Attacked at Maghaberry Date: 04 08 02 The Irish Freedom Committee has received word that Irish Republican Political Prisoner Ciaran McLaughlin has been viciously attacked in his prison cell while sleeping. Ciaran suffered very serious face and head injuries in an attack using an electric iron. His attacker, loyalist Rev. Clifford Peebles, has previously attacked another republican POW at Maghaberry. It is clear to observers that this attack could not have succeeded without the complicity of sympathetic prison guards. We ask that all Irish activist groups and human rights organizations please call and write the Northern Ireland Prison Service today, and demand that loyalist and republican prisoners be immediately separated; as one can only deduce that a fatality will soon be the result of this lethal housing arrangement. We call your attention to the statement below from prisoners' rights spokesperson Marian Price in Belfast The Irish Freedom Committee ® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ Statement from Marian Price re. vicious attack on republican prisoner by UDA prisoner "(We) wish to highlight and utterly condemn the latest loyalist attack on a Republican Prisoner in Maghaberry Gaol. On Sunday 7th April 2002 loyalist firebrand “Pastor” Clifford Peebles, at the behest of his UDA cohorts, subjected Ciaran Mc Loughlin from Derry, a former blanket man and lifelong activist, to a vicious and totally unprovoked attack. "The Republican Prisoner was asleep in his cell when the loyalist struck wielding an electric iron and causing Ciaran severe head injuries. Our latest information is that he has received stitches to his face and has heavy bruising about the head. This would appear to be a favoured loyalist tactic as it is the second such incident involving an electric iron in the past six months. These attacks are the latest in an ongoing campaign of harassment against Republicans and certainly appear to have the tacit support of the prison authorities. "We demand that Republican prisoners are segregated from loyalists and given a wing of their own. We call on all Republican activists, sympathisers and ex-pows to come out in support of the men in Maghaberry before an inevitable fatality occurs." ************************************************ PLEASE TELEPHONE, E-MAIL and WRITE: NORTHERN IRELAND PRISON SERVICE Room 321 Prison Service Headquarters Dundonald House Upper Newtownards Road BELFAST BT4 3SU E-Mail: info@niprisonservice.gov.uk Phone: 028 9052 5065 - (General Enquiry Line) ----------------- NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE John Reid MP - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Adam Ingram MP - Minister of State George Howarth MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Block B Castle Buildings Belfast BT4 3STGTN Phone: 440 02890 520 700 (24 hours) Fax: 02890 528473/528478/528482 ************************************************ Go to www.irishfreedomcommittee.net for up-to-date information about Irish Republican Political Prisoners and how YOU can help them, or write to our POW Department at Saoirse@irishfreedomcommittee.net. ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee NewsList - IFC Updates ************************************************ |