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To
the Prime Minister Tony Blair, and An Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern,
We are here today to protest once again at the conditions
under which Republican prisoners are currently held
in Maghaberry Jail. We have written to the Northern
Ireland Office and have held meetings on the issue
with a number of elected representatives and interested
individuals in the field of human rights. We continue
to be disappointed that the main issues raised have
not been adressed and that the Northern Ireland Prison
Service remains committed to a regime which places
prisoners at risk and also refuses to meet with the
families concerned.
We understand that as part of the implementation of
the Good Friday Agreement, the issue of human rights
is allegedly high on Britain's agenda for the future
of the North of Ireland. We are very pleased that
it is so and would ask that as part of this discussion
the policy of forced integration in Maghaberry Jail
be addressed. This policy directly places the lives
of Republican prisoners in danger and prevents them
from being able to live their prison lives in safety
and within the cultural and social milieu that is
their fundamental human right. Recent statistics confirm
that the majority of people in the North choose to
live in areas predominantly drawn from one community
or the other, and the NIPS policy is in direct contrast
to this fact. The ending of the recent Loyalist feud
has increased the tension within the prison and the
risk to our beloved ones without any recongition of
this from the NIPS.
We are also angry that despite numerous complaints
from those visiting the prison, the use of the sniffer
dog is degrading and dangerous particularly for children.
It is also completely unecessary, as the NIPS's own
statistics confirm, no drugs at all have been found
on Republican prisoners or their visitors. This is
clearly a policy of intimidation and degradation of
families and friends, which is primarily used against
women and children and as such infringes their right
to family life and contact with their loved ones.
We hope that you will address the above issues urgently
and would appreciate an early response. We would point
out that the treatment of prisoners in a civilised
society is an important indicator of the real level
of your commitment to basic human and civil rights.
We are aware that you both could solve these issues
immediately if you wished and we hope that will indeed
be your response.
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