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A
new republican protest is imminent in Maghaberry Gaol
due to the punitive regime inflicted by the Northern
Ireland Prison Service and vigorously supported and
administered by the Prison Officers Association. It
is the belief of the IRPWA that the harsh conditions
and arbitrary nature of discipline endured by the
republican prisoners is a direct consequence of the
British government's decision to implement the Steele
recommendations.
The
POA have made their opposition to segregation for
Political Prisoners quite clear and it would now appear
as if the prisoners are being made targets for their
spleen venting. A number of incidents recently have
shown the deterioration of conditions such as total
lock down, lack of recreation or education facilities,
little or no association and the over zealous cell
and strip searches. The republican prisoners have
endured all of the above with patience and discipline
following assurances from the prison administration
that the difficulties that were occurring were just
"teething problems".
Patience
and goodwill are now in short supply on the republican
wing due to the deliberate provocation and aggressive
actions of the prison regime. This regime is exemplified
by the fact that the prisoners are now expected to
eat their meals in their cells despite the presence
of a fully equipped canteen. The men are also expected
to wash the plates and cutlery in the same sinks that
they carry out their daily ablutions, washing and
shaving. Food parcels are banned from the outside
in the interests of hygiene so it is difficult to
see how washing plates and shaving in the same sink
fulfills the prisons high hygiene criteria. As a consequence
the republican prisoners are now refusing to shave
or cut their hair until they are allowed access to
the canteen or until other more suitable arrangements
are made. It is prison regulation that any man who
enters the prison is not allowed to alter his physical
appearance and the men are quite aware that many of
them will spend time on the boards but they have vowed
to intensify their protest over the coming weeks and
months until the POA and NIPS cease to use them as
pawns and scapegoats in their petulant antics and
games of brinkmanship with the British Government.
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