4.6.04
micheailin's
**Click on above link for "live" links contained in this post
IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------
Subject: ACTION REQUEST – Continuing Crisis at Maghaberry
Date: Friday, June 04, 2004
The situation for Republican prisoners at Maghaberry Gaol is at a
boiling point, and concerns are very high that the POWs will soon be
faced with no choice but Hunger Strike.
Knowing the strength and caliber of the men inside, and the utter
disregard for them by the government, we fear the worst.
The prisoners themselves are now referring to the Republican wing at
Maghaberry as the “Punishment Block” and it is now more than clear that
the men are being punished by the Prison Officers Association and the
Prisons Service for successfully winning segregation from loyalist death
squads last year.
The Republican prisoners are allowed out of their cells only for an hour
at a time, usually only once a day. Occasionally they are also allowed
a second hour out later in the day, and these are the “Good Days”. They
are allowed out only 2 men at a time. The prison claims that it does
not have enough security staff to allow more than one hour per day cell
release for 2 men at a time.
The men have had all of their legally entitled educational facilities
and classes denied to them. Fresh air and exercise have been severely
curtailed, and while outdoors for their brief few minutes of the day the
men are subjected to unrelenting sectarian abuse from loyalists at
exercise a few feet away separated by a link fence.
The men are forced to eat alone in their cells and wash their dishes and
utensils in the same sink that they wash themselves in. They are
routinely denied hot showers and recently a Republican prisoner met with
disciplinary measures after bathing himself in a steel cold water
kitchen sink after being denied a hot shower after strenuous exercise.
These conditions are barbaric in the extreme and are clearly designed,
as the Statement below so clearly points out, as the P.O.A. exacting
it’s “Pound of Flesh” for the protracted Dirty Protests of last year
which resulted in the Steele recommendations to immediately segregate
the republican prisoners away from loyalist death squads.
The statement below is from the Republican prisoners at Maghaberry.
Please take a moment today to SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE PRISONS SERVICE and
NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE at the IFC link provided below -- Ask for
immediate address to the deteriorating conditions for Republican
prisoners at Maghaberry and the progressive loss of human rights in the
gaol.
Go raibh maith agat;
-IFC POW Dept.
The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
May 27, 2004
Statement from Maghaberry POW’s
The Maghaberry Republican prisoners wish to draw attention to the
deteriorating conditions under which they are being held.
Throughout our struggle for segregation, Finlay Spratt’s POA has
obstructed at every level and opportunity our demands for human rights.
Following the announcement of the Steele report the POA reacted with
fury.
Now that the glare of media attention has lifted it would appear the POA
elements within the Prison Service are determined to take their pound of
flesh from republicans for the no-wash protest of summer 2003.
The republican wing in Maghaberry is now effectively a punishment block.
The regime under which the men are now being held is more suited to
cattle than to human beings.
Prisoners are forced to live under restricted movement to the extreme,
denying men the right to exercise, shower or clean their cells.
The wings are filthy and most men are bearded reflecting the extent of
this restricted regime.
These conditions are now deteriorating to the point where hygiene and
the physical and mental health of prisoners are being dangerously
compromised.
Given that the continued practice of strip searching is more akin to
sexual assault and given that families are still forced to run the
gauntlet of sniffer dogs and endure other humiliations, it can only be
assumed that elements within the prison service are intent on provoking
a violent response, thus justifying their original opposition (to
Steele).
The Prison Service has effectively binned the Steele report and each day
sees republican prisoners struggle to have their human rights granted.
THIS SITUATION CANNOT CARRY ON INDEFINITELY!!!!
-Republican POWs, Maghaberry Gaol
************************************************
PLEASE SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE PRISONS SERVICE and NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE
TODAY.
Ask for immediate address to the deteriorating conditions for Republican
prisoners at Maghaberry and the progressive loss of human rights in the
gaol.
CONTACT INFO/SAMPLE LETTER HERE:
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/march_2004.htm#action_request_maghaberry
************************************************
READ MORE HERE:
Statement: Lack of facilities a cause for grave concern
March 12, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/march_2004.htm#maghaberry_lack_of_facilities
Prisoners complain of degrading conditions – IPOW letter to the Derry
News
January 20, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/january_2004.htm#pow_letter_derryjournal
Prisoners’ response to “Compact Proposals”
January 16, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/january_2004.htm#powstatement_'compactproposals'_maghaberry
Letter to the IFC from Republican OC John James Connolly
September 22, 2003
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/september_2003.htm#letter_jj_ifc_090403
************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates
**Click on above link for "live" links contained in this post
IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------
Subject: ACTION REQUEST – Continuing Crisis at Maghaberry
Date: Friday, June 04, 2004
The situation for Republican prisoners at Maghaberry Gaol is at a
boiling point, and concerns are very high that the POWs will soon be
faced with no choice but Hunger Strike.
Knowing the strength and caliber of the men inside, and the utter
disregard for them by the government, we fear the worst.
The prisoners themselves are now referring to the Republican wing at
Maghaberry as the “Punishment Block” and it is now more than clear that
the men are being punished by the Prison Officers Association and the
Prisons Service for successfully winning segregation from loyalist death
squads last year.
The Republican prisoners are allowed out of their cells only for an hour
at a time, usually only once a day. Occasionally they are also allowed
a second hour out later in the day, and these are the “Good Days”. They
are allowed out only 2 men at a time. The prison claims that it does
not have enough security staff to allow more than one hour per day cell
release for 2 men at a time.
The men have had all of their legally entitled educational facilities
and classes denied to them. Fresh air and exercise have been severely
curtailed, and while outdoors for their brief few minutes of the day the
men are subjected to unrelenting sectarian abuse from loyalists at
exercise a few feet away separated by a link fence.
The men are forced to eat alone in their cells and wash their dishes and
utensils in the same sink that they wash themselves in. They are
routinely denied hot showers and recently a Republican prisoner met with
disciplinary measures after bathing himself in a steel cold water
kitchen sink after being denied a hot shower after strenuous exercise.
These conditions are barbaric in the extreme and are clearly designed,
as the Statement below so clearly points out, as the P.O.A. exacting
it’s “Pound of Flesh” for the protracted Dirty Protests of last year
which resulted in the Steele recommendations to immediately segregate
the republican prisoners away from loyalist death squads.
The statement below is from the Republican prisoners at Maghaberry.
Please take a moment today to SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE PRISONS SERVICE and
NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE at the IFC link provided below -- Ask for
immediate address to the deteriorating conditions for Republican
prisoners at Maghaberry and the progressive loss of human rights in the
gaol.
Go raibh maith agat;
-IFC POW Dept.
The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
May 27, 2004
Statement from Maghaberry POW’s
The Maghaberry Republican prisoners wish to draw attention to the
deteriorating conditions under which they are being held.
Throughout our struggle for segregation, Finlay Spratt’s POA has
obstructed at every level and opportunity our demands for human rights.
Following the announcement of the Steele report the POA reacted with
fury.
Now that the glare of media attention has lifted it would appear the POA
elements within the Prison Service are determined to take their pound of
flesh from republicans for the no-wash protest of summer 2003.
The republican wing in Maghaberry is now effectively a punishment block.
The regime under which the men are now being held is more suited to
cattle than to human beings.
Prisoners are forced to live under restricted movement to the extreme,
denying men the right to exercise, shower or clean their cells.
The wings are filthy and most men are bearded reflecting the extent of
this restricted regime.
These conditions are now deteriorating to the point where hygiene and
the physical and mental health of prisoners are being dangerously
compromised.
Given that the continued practice of strip searching is more akin to
sexual assault and given that families are still forced to run the
gauntlet of sniffer dogs and endure other humiliations, it can only be
assumed that elements within the prison service are intent on provoking
a violent response, thus justifying their original opposition (to
Steele).
The Prison Service has effectively binned the Steele report and each day
sees republican prisoners struggle to have their human rights granted.
THIS SITUATION CANNOT CARRY ON INDEFINITELY!!!!
-Republican POWs, Maghaberry Gaol
************************************************
PLEASE SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE PRISONS SERVICE and NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE
TODAY.
Ask for immediate address to the deteriorating conditions for Republican
prisoners at Maghaberry and the progressive loss of human rights in the
gaol.
CONTACT INFO/SAMPLE LETTER HERE:
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/march_2004.htm#action_request_maghaberry
************************************************
READ MORE HERE:
Statement: Lack of facilities a cause for grave concern
March 12, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/march_2004.htm#maghaberry_lack_of_facilities
Prisoners complain of degrading conditions – IPOW letter to the Derry
News
January 20, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/january_2004.htm#pow_letter_derryjournal
Prisoners’ response to “Compact Proposals”
January 16, 2004
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/january_2004.htm#powstatement_'compactproposals'_maghaberry
Letter to the IFC from Republican OC John James Connolly
September 22, 2003
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/september_2003.htm#letter_jj_ifc_090403
************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates
