NOVANEWS
Patrick Carty, Justice Watch Ireland,
Introduction
Justice Watch Ireland (JWI), received a letter from Martin McGilloway, a prisoner being held in Maghaberry Jail’s Care and supervision unit (CSU). Mr McGilloway asked for help from JWI, regarding his confinement and that of four other prisoners also being held in the CSU. The other four are Thomas Hamill, Desmond Hamill, Austin Creggan and Gavin Coyle. All five prisoners have continuously requested to be housed on the republican separated landing 4 of Roe house.
Chronology
In April 2011 Gavin Coyle, from Omagh, was remanded in custody to Maghaberry Jail, charged in relation to a republican arms find. Despite requesting separation from the general prison population, due to the republican nature of the charges against him, he was refused separation.
The republican wing on Roe House and the loyalist wing on Bush House, were established following the Steele report in 2003, following lengthy protests by Irish Republicans to be housed together separated from the Loyalist and general prison population. Prisoners who apply to be housed in Roe and Bush, must first be vetted by the Northern Ireland Office, who rely on reports from the PSNI and MI5.
Gavin Coyle was sent straight to Maghaberry’s’Care & Supervision Unit’ (CSU). Gavin’s request to be housed in Roe house were denied. The administration stating his life was under threat from the republican prisoners in Roe house. The republicans housed in Roe have denied Gavin is under threat and repeatedly asked that Gavin be housed on the Wing.
The Care & Supervision Unit (CSU) ,formally the Special Supervision Unit (SSU) and more commonly known to the Prisoners as the ‘Boards’ is basically Maghaberry Jail’s punishment block. It is a strict regime usually consisting of 23 hour lock up, with one hour periods in either the yard, by yourself or at the small internal Gym. The Recreation room exists, but the prisoners are denied it’s use. The staff are said to be specially trained to work in the unit, but many are former members of the jail’s riot squad, the Dedicated Search Team. Prisoners who find themselves in the CSU have usually broken the jail’s rules and after a period in the CSU they are returned to the Prison population. Some prisoners with personality disorders, can spend long periods in the CSU on rule 32. The nature of the unit, it’s regime and the type of individual held there has seen a large number of suicides and incidents of self-harm within the CSU.
MI5 and the PSNI, tried on numerous occasions to try and recruit Gavin Coyle, while he was isolated in this harsh environment. At different periods Gavin Coyle embarked on dirt protest, in unison with republicans prisoners in Roe house.
Desmond Hamill, Austin Creggan Thomas Hamill and Martin McGilloway, four Irish republicans from Dungannon, were remanded to Maghaberry due to two different incidents within a short period between January and Easter 2012. During their trials it was alleged by the PSNI that the men were engaged in republican terrorist activity.
They had requested separation in Roe, the jail administration refused the request, again stating a threat to their lives from republican prisoners in Roe house. (Thomas Hamill had previously spent a short period remanded in custody, for a different incident, he spent that time as a separated prisoner in Roe House.)
While in open population all four embarked on a hunger strike, following threats to their lives from loyalists in open population. The strike lasted 21 days and ended when the family and friends group (a republican prisoner support group) and a number of independent councillors became involved and facilitated the ending of the strike.
Independent republican councillor’s Angela Nelson and Padraig McShane and representatives of the group met with the men’s families, on Friday 21st September 2012 in Belfast. This is what they said “The families gave us permission to act on their behalf and we requested the men stop the hunger strike immediately to give us the space to address the issues” They added that all four had resumed eating prison food by last Saturday.
Councillor Nelson, family and friends campaigner Mandy Duffy and a family member visited Martin McGilloway and Thomas Hamill in Maghaberry on Tuesday. “After speaking with us and being reassured they were now Roe 4 prisoners, the men were very upbeat and content,” said Mrs. Nelson. “These men will need time to recover physically from this protest and their fight to be transferred to Roe 4 to be with fellow republican prisoners will continue.”
Once the four republican prisoners regained their physical strength following the hunger strike they joined Roe on dirt protest in an effort to be rehoused on Roe.
The jail quickly moved the four to the CSU, where they quickly joined with Gavin Coyle and all five continued the dirt protest within the CSU.
On the 21st November 2012 the prisoners on Roe 4 ended their dirt protest. In the CSU the five prisoners continued the protest to try and secure a move to Roe. After 6 months the protest in the CSU came to an end following discussions between the prisoners and the jail administration, this was facilitated by the prisoner’s ombudsman.
The regime of the five was relaxed slightly and there was limited association permitted among the men during exercise and some inter-cell association was permitted.
Strip searching
The full body search or strip searching, is a contentious issue in Maghaberry. The recent high profile protests by republican prisoners, was aimed at ending strip searching and controlled movement.
Following the August 2010 agreement between the NIPS and separated republican prisoners in Roe house, strip searching was to be ended within the jail. Contentiously, the Jail reintroduced full body searches on separated prisoners going to and from jail, eg to court.
Republicans housed in roe refused to strip and were subsequently force strip searched going to and from the jail in the reception area.
Before the August 2010 agreement, republicans were routinely picked out going to and from family and legal visits for full body searches. The August 2010 agreement, seen the installation of a search facility in the Roe-Bush separated compound. Separated prisoners (Loyalist and Republican), now pass through this search facility, which includes an airport scanner for boots, belt, coat etc, a body orifice scanning seat or BOSS chair along with prison officers who carry out rub down searches and a sweep with a hand held metal detector. This has ended the practice of strip searching republicans going to and from family and legal visits.
The five prisoners in the CSU however, are subject to strip searches going to and from family and legal visits. It must be pointed out, the prisoners do not leave the CSU for their family visits. In the period of one month the five where striped in excess of 30 times.
Since the five maintain that they are republican prisoners, they as the republicans in Roe, refuse to strip and are subjected to a forced strip search, which is carried out by 6 of the jails riot squad or dedicated search team. The searches are videoed by another prison officer with a hand held camera.
The five have repeatedly asked to be taken to the new search facility to be searched as the other republican prisoners are.
This continuous forced strip searching must be stopped and the five should be treated as the other republican prisoners are, by being searched at the new search facility.
Care and Supervision Unit (CSU) Regime
The CSU has two main functions. It is used for prisoners who are confined to the cell as a punishment, following adjudication for serious misconduct and is used to house prisoners who, for their own protection, or the protection of others, are required to be kept away from other prisoners. They add that the regime in the CSU is designed to ensure that no prisoner has contact with any other prisoner. Normal cells within the CSU are equipped with a single bed, mattress, pillow and duvet, in-cell sanitation, a plastic seat and a wooden bench attached to the wall. The windows of the cells are covered by an opaque plastic film to prevent prisoners from looking out. The cell windows open each side but have a metal grille at the openings. CSU prisoners are usually subject to over 22 hour lock up, with limited access to real sunlight and in effect face long term isolation.
The prisoner ombudsman’s report into the suicide of John Martin Gerard Kenneway, in Maghaberry Prison on 8 June 2007, highlighted the very repressive nature of the CSU (Which was named the SSU at that time) and the isolation of prisoners held there. The ombudsman stated
“It is widely accepted that the priority should be to relocate prisoners being held in Special Supervision Unit for their own protection, to a more suitable environment, wherever possible. This is particularly the case where a prisoner is held for an extended period.”
Austin Creggan and Desmond Hamill are sentenced together and are not due for release until January 2015. Martin McGilloway and Thomas Hamill are sentenced together and are not due for release until spring 2017. Gavin Coyle is a remand prisoner, who if convicted would serve a substantial sentence. The CSU is not fit for purpose for long term prisoners, as is highlighted by this ombudsman’s report.
Campaigners in England are calling for the English equivalent of the CSU, the Care and Supervision Centre’s, to be closed due to their oppressive nature. They said “In 1984 a prisoner, Michael Williams, instigated a high profile legal action against the prison system and Home Office, one supported by the then National Council for Civil Liberties, that challenged the lawfulness of the Wakefield Prison “Special Control Unit” on the grounds that it’s regime breached the basic human rights of the prisoners held there. Although his legal action failed, it raised the public profile of the Control Unit experiment (originally used on suspected Irish Republican combatants and outlawed by the European Court of Human Rights) and Wakefield closed the control unit. The regime operating in the CSCs, especially in terms of its treatment of mentally ill prisoners, needs to be similarly challenged and exposed, and the behaviour of those trying to legitimize the abuse inherent in that regime and paid to oversee it held fully and publicly accountable.
All evidence leads JWI to believe, that the CSU at Maghaberry, is a short term isolation and punishment facility that should not be inflicted on any prisoner indefinitely.
Separated status
Following protracted protests for segregation in the early nineties by republican prisoners, the Steele report looked into and recommended that republican and loyalist prisoners be housed separately. Following the report in 2003 the’compacts’ where set up with loyalist’s being housed in Bush house and republicans in Roe house.
The compact stipulates that decisions on who can be admitted to separated conditions, are made by the Secretary of State, (see section 3.2 of the compact). Despite the devolution of justice powers to Stormont and the appointment of David Ford as Justice Minister, this approval process is still with the SOS.
Dolores Kelly (Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA), asked the Minister of Justice, David Ford, during questions at Stormont on 4 Mar 2013 “given that Roe House is now full, where he intends to hold prisoners who have signed the separation compact in Maghaberry”.
The justice minister replied “Applications from prisoners to be admitted to separated accommodation are considered by the Prison Service on behalf of the Secretary of State. I have no role to play in the consideration of such applications, and I am, therefore, neither consulted on nor informed about the grounds for approving or refusing individual applications.
Affiliated republican prisoners who apply for and meet the criteria for separation, are held on two designated landings in Roe House. The Prison Service has to manage accommodation pressures daily and therefore, needs to retain a degree of flexibility, in where it houses the various categories of prisoners in its custody. There are currently accommodation pressures across Maghaberry prison, so every effort is made to maximise the transfer of prisoners to Magilligan prison. I am aware that a small number of potentially separated republican prisoners are currently held in normal accommodation at Maghaberry. However, I am satisfied that the Prison Service keeps prisoner accommodation arrangements under review.
This statement raises the possibility that the five held in the CSU are being isolated because of a lack of separated accommodation in Roe, rather than being isolated due to any perceived threat. It also highlights the undermining of the Justice Minister by the British Sectary of State.
JWI believe all five prisoners held in the CSU, who are seeking accommodation on the republican separated landing, fit the criteria to be transferred. This is because there is a lack of transparency regarding how prisoners seeking separation are vetted,.It is hard to verify if a threat exists, or if the refusal is due to a lack of space in the Roe compact, or indeed part of an isolation policy to exert pressure on individuals, as seems to have been the case with Gavin Coyle. Republican prisoners housed in Roe 4 landing, continuously state there is no threat against these prisoners and have openly stated they would welcome their transfer.
Conclusion
JWI calls for the immediate transfer of Martin McGilloway, Gavin Coyle, Thomas Hamill, Desmond Hamill and Austin Creggan, to the separated compact, in accordance with their rights for separation, outlined in the Steele report. To refuse them the right of separation, may be legally construed as an act of discrimination.
JWI calls for the immediate transfer of Martin McGilloway, Gavin Coyle, Thomas Hamill, Desmond Hamill and Austin Creggan, to the separated compact, in accordance with their rights for separation, outlined in the Steele report. To refuse them the right of separation, may be legally construed as an act of discrimination.
The continuing confinement of the five prisoners in the CSU, indefinitely, may be in breach of International and domestic law and UK prison guidelines. Included are the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, (ECHR), specifically Articles 6 and 8. Also domestic obligations as set out in the provisions of the Human Rights Act (1998), alongside international understanding, set out in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, specifically Part 1, paragraph 6, section (1), paragraphs 27 and 29.
It is obvious from JWI’s investigation, that the CSU, formerly the SSU formerly the punishment block, is not suited to long term confinement. It remains a short stay punishment facility. The prisoner ombudsman has highlighted the need to relocate long stay prisoners out of the CSU. The physiological impact of CSU confinement, has led to suicides and incidents of self-harm. The long term isolation of prisoners from each other without meaningful activities, such as education and exercise and little access to natural sunlight, is reminiscent of a Victorian prison regime, not one that exists in the 21st century
JWI recommends that:
· Any prisoner who asks for and meets the criteria for separation be separated
· That no prisoner be housed for longer than three months in CSU confinement
· That no prisoner be subject to the advances of any state agency, without the presence of their legal representatives.
· That the new search facility, installed following the August 2010 agreement, is used to end the degrading process of strip searching.
END
Justice Watch, Ireland (JWI) is dedicated to protecting human rights and the civil liberties of all the people throughout Ireland. We stand with victims and activists to prevent miscarriages of Justice and discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct. We will investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.
We will challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.
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