More broken promises to Republican Prisoners

PROMISES of a breakthrough in ending full-body strip-searching of POWs in Maghaberry jail, Co Antrim have come to nought following the announcement on February 13 that the electronic scanning machine will not now be installed in the jail. The promise of the scanner made by British minister for justice at Stormont David Ford towards the end of 2012, was a key factor in the Republican prisoners suspending their dirty protest after three years in November 2012 “in order to give the prison regime another opportunity to acknowledge and implement the agreement all parties signed up to in August 2010”. The ending of strip-searching and the establishment of free association for all POWs are cornerstones of that agreement.

The Agreement was reached after protracted talks involving the prison service, the department of justice at Stormont and facilitated by two “outside” people. On February 14 this year David Ford’s office and the prison service rowed back and announced that the electronic scanners — hi-tech millimetre wave equipment, similar to that used at airports — will not now be installed. The British authorities claim that the machines “failed to find concealed items such as drugs, scissors and knives during a trial” - if true then surely a worry for airports.

Allegedly more than 1,000 prisoners who took part in the 'experiment' were searched using two millimetre wave scanners at Magilligan prison and Hydebank Wood over the past three months. The use of selected prisoners from the mainstream prison instead of using POWs from Roe House for the trial tells its own tale. Mainstream prisoners don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to “offers” from the prison authorities. It is common to offer inducements to mainstream prisoners to co-operate with the authorities – the “it is in your own interests”, a veiled threat. Add to that the fact that it was prison warders who conducted the trial.

Again, a vested interest, though it has to be said a much more sinister vested interest. Jobs are at stake here; if Roe House were running as a political wing then there would be no need for so many warders to be on duty every day. Currently there are two or three warders for every one prisoner.
If the 2010 Agreement were implemented then the number of warders needed would be far far less, as strip-searching would be abolished and free association granted.

In another vindictive turn, the prison regime has added a further rule designed to exacerbate a bad situation. The POWs have been told that they have to undergo a drugs test before they can be granted parole. This is unheard of with Republican prisoners, despite was the prison regime is claiming. It is a lie to state, as they have done, that Republican POWs always underwent a drugs test before being granted parole. Even the Ombudsman, Pauline McCabe, acknowledged that Republican prisoners “were unlikely to smuggle or use drugs”.

Forced full-body strip-searches, and brutality use in these searches, are being carried out on Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail and it looks to continue that way in the foreseeable future (last month we carried a report of such a strip-search).This practice will never be acceptable. Neither will the continue harassment and intimidation of the POWs by the warders, and while we will not tar them all with the one brush, they will continue to obey order from Whitehall and Stormont to make POWs lives as miserable as possible as the alternative is unacceptable to them – a well-run Row House where Republican POWs are treated as such —Republican POW with full political status.

- POW Department,  Sinn Féin Poblachtach, March 5, 2013.

POW Department
Sinn Féin Poblachtach
223 Parnell Street
Dublin 1.
00353-1-8729747