IFC Report from Maghaberry Gaol – June
2006
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Irish Freedom Committee Report from Maghaberry Gaol – June 2006 |
On recent visits with Irish republican political prisoners at Maghaberry Prison in the Occupied North of Ireland; Irish Freedom Committee members found human rights violations at their worst in recent memory. On June 08 and 09 2006, members of the Irish Freedom Committee met with Irish republican political prisoners interned at Roe House in Maghaberry prison in the Occupied North of Ireland, to hear allegations of skyrocketing human rights abuses inside the jail. Our representatives were presented with a shameful body of evidence on the desperate and worsening situation for dozens of Irish political prisoners at the facility maintained by a supposedly civilized government. Among the more blatant charges included evidence of a whole-scale system of judicial abuse leading to mass internment of political dissidents based on fabricated forensic evidence; ongoing evidence of blatantly racist treatment by an overtly loyalist prison staff; inhumane confinement conditions of up to 23 hours a day lockdown inside tiny and airless prison cells; rotten and spoilt food served regularly with a near total lack of fresh fruits and vegetables; hazardous and deadly exercise facilities including cramped and unventilated facilities infested with bird excrement; extreme abuse of full body and strip searches entailing frequent use of possibly radioactive X-Ray wands, and worse yet , extreme and malicious efforts to criminalize and intimidate family members who come to visit them. A partial list of ongoing human rights abuses to republican prisoners at Maghaberry jail are: - Forced 22-23 hours a day cell lockdown for republican prisoners. - Meals must be taken in cells within inches of open toilet. - Unsanitary and unhealthy exercise facilities in a tiny and crowded “bird cage” yard covered with bird excrement. - Medical care available only one day a week. - Unacceptable lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. Spoilt and rotten fruit served only five times a week. - Lack of educational facilities – empty computer rooms for show only. - Classes offered to men include yoga and hairdressing – no valid education. - Families routinely refused visits by use of sniffer drugs dog despite prison’s own admission that drugs have never been found on republican prisoners or their families. - Families repeatedly fingerprinted on visits up to five times in one visit. - Frequent strip searches of up to a dozen times a day. - Frequent use of possibly radioactive X-ray metal detector leading to complaints of back pains. - Microphones and cameras throughout facilities including possibly in showers. On our visits on June 08-09 Irish Freedom Committee representatives were advised in confidence that protests were soon to commence in response to the litany of human rights abuses the republican prisoners have had been faced with in recent months. . We were told that all of the republican prisoners in the jail were united in strength on this issue and that things had gone far enough; that there was no more room to negotiate short of meeting brute force with united resistance. Sadly as of the past two days we are now witnessing the beginning of what may soon become a horrific repeat of history which does not bear thinking of-- the lives of many young Irish Republican prisoners-- Sons, fathers and husbands many of them-- in danger for their immediate survival in a protest for the most basic of human rights. We ask that our members and supporters please act TODAY in demanding that these conditions be rectified before more men have to die for their basic human rights in a British jail. We have a simple form letter linked below and also posted to the Irish Freedom Committee website. We will have further Action Requests in the coming days regarding the appalling and dangerous conditions at Maghaberry Prison – please stay tuned to our emails. We urge that you continue to send cards and letters of encouragement to the republican POWs who need our support more than ever in the coming weeks. For a list of republican POWs see the Irish Freedom Committee website at http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net - click on POWs. ****Personal message from the republican prisoners at Maghaberry to IFC Members June 24th 2006 – “KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!”***** The Irish Freedom Committee http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net |
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