Two of the North’s leading criminologists have written to Justice Minister David Ford calling for the release of Marian Price on humanitarian grounds. Professor Phil Scraton of Queen’s and Dr. Linda Moore of the University of Ulster are the authors of a number of reports on prison conditions in the North, including the shocking report three years ago on the incidence of suicide in Maghaberry. Their reports constitute the main body of official research on prison conditions here.
The pair visited Ms. Price at Hydebank last month and have spoken with the Price family and with the women’s governor of the prison. In their letter to Ford they say that:
Marian Price has been imprisoned…without trial in circumstances which may amount to administrative internment and which we believe to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms(ECHR) Article 5 guaranteeing the right to liberty and security of the person…We are profoundly concerned about the conditions and regime under which she is imprisoned in Hydebank Wood and their impact on her deteriorating health and well-being.
In relation to women’s imprisonment in North generally, they refer to:
the inappropriate placement of the women’s unit within a male young offender centre (and) the imposition of less-than-equal treatment on women in prison in NI; restricted movement for women within the site; poor industrial relations; lengthy lock-downs; distant and sometimes hostile staff attitudes to prisoners; limited opportunities for education, training and other activities for women; inadequate healthcare facilities; over-use of strip-searching and isolation.
Turning to the Price case specifically, they say that:
(her) particular situation raises further concerns given that she is detained in isolation, in recognition of her status as a separated prisoner…We consider that her health and well-being are threatened significantly by the conditions under which she is held. We understand that the Healthcare Unit cell to which she was assigned on arrival had mould on its walls/ ceiling, and that she lived-in the cell during the time when it was being cleaned. There is a tannoy near Marian’s cell causing considerable distress and disruption through constant announcements of no relevance to her. We experienced the constant use of the tannoy throughout our visit. It is both loud and oppressive…
Most of her time is spent in isolation, thus threatening her mental and emotional health. In 2011 the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez called for an absolute prohibition of solitary confinement for a period over 15 days, on the grounds that it constitutes not only a threat to health, but also that it can amount to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. Marian Price has endured much longer than this in isolation, and her health has suffered as a consequence….
Further, there are times when Marian is observed exclusively by male staff. For these reasons, and given the concerns expressed locally and internationally regarding Marian Price’s continued detention and declining health, we urge you release her on humanitarian grounds. At the very least she should be in a hospital in the community, rather than in Hydebank Wood.
This plea from the two criminologists with the most extensive experience of the North’s prison system is confirmation that calls for Ms. Price’s release come from a far wider range of interests that supporters of her politics or from political activists generally.
The next few weeks will see the extension of the campaign to Britain and the US, organised through the Prisons Crisis Group. Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six and Bernadette McAliskey will join a representative of the local Muslim community at a rally in Glasgow. Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg will focus on Marian’s case at a meeting in London on the theme, “From Belmarsh to Belfast - Internment Once Again”, drawing attention to the simultaneous imprisonment without trial of Muslims dubbed threats to national security but against whom, as with Marian Price and Martin Corey, no evidence has been presented.
Fucking brilliant, how good it is to have read this post, this should encourage if needed even more people especially ex activists to get in there and help get this very ill woman either home or into an outside hospital,
ReplyDeleteMarty,
ReplyDeletePhil Scraton was on the radio that day with the clown Maurice Morrow which you alerted me to.
Well, if Ford does not take heed of that Articulate letter by two eminent Criminologists , then , He is under orders from MI5/MI6, and , the British Prime Minister.
ReplyDeleteA big thank you to , Professor Phil Scraton of Queen’s and Dr. Linda Moore of the University of Ulster for writing the letter, also to Eamon Mc Cann for posting it on the PQ.
Lets see what happens.
Marian Price rally in Belfast
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is a muslim man interned in an English prison for a number of years now seven I think,then I read todays lead story in the Irish News which ex army information officer Colin Wallace tells us (as if we didnt already know) that it was known to the security forces and right up to the british government that loyalists namely the uvf carried out the bombing that killed 13 people in Mc Gurks bar.he said"the bombing created a major public relations problem for the british government.if the attack had been attributed to the uvf,serious questions would have been asked as to why loyalists werent being interned"the brits still havent told the full truth about that bloody attack,or their role in it. and these are the people qsf now take wages from, and who lock up people without due process,"move on" the bearded one and his cronies echo. fucking rushing headlong backwards to the days of hanging and flogging if you ask me!
ReplyDeleteGreat - more compelling evidence & voices but they took their time...
ReplyDeleteIt is time to rise up Ireland but you are slow at it now - drowning in subjugation/standovers & financial woes...
The rally has shown many do know what this is all about...
Saint?MaryHedgehog,
ReplyDeleteit is not the first time that these people have been raising this issue. Phil Scraton took Maurice Morrow apart on the BBC a few months ago. But they also raise awareness about other issues and their advocacy work is not restricted to Marian.
"administrative internment"
ReplyDeleteAs 'equal' partners in that administration SF need to act and stop dancing!
From Sandy Boyer:
ReplyDeleteMarian Price's force feeding
Marian Price’s health was permanently damaged when she was force fed over 400 times while on hunger strike in a British prison. She described the force feeding in an interview with the Dublin magazine The Village.
“Four male prison officers tie you into the chair so tightly with sheets you can't struggle. You clench your teeth to try to keep your mouth closed but they push a metal spring device around your jaw to prise it open. They force a wooden clamp with a hole in the middle into your mouth. Then, they insert a big rubber tube down that. They hold your head back. You can't speak or move. You're frightened you'll choke to death.”
Marian Price’s husband, Jerry McGlinchey, said in an interview with “Radio Free Eireann” that he is "very, very worried" about her health. He says she never recovered from the force feeding which caused tuberculosis that had to be treated as recently as 2010. The anorexia has returned and she suffers from such severe arthritis that she can't even open her hand.
McGlinchey believes that her health will get steadily worse as long as she is in prison. He said that “My fear is that Marian will slip into a deep depression that it would take her years to come out of. I believe that is what the government intends.”
From Helen McClafferty:
ReplyDeleteNow is the Time to Take a Stand Against the Anti Good Friday Agreement Unionists
While it appears that Nigel Dodds and other Dissidents within the DUP have got themselves into a frenzy over the stance taken by the SDLP on issues of human rights and their calls for the release of Gerry McGeough and Marian Price, it is important to understand that this is not just a stamping of Dissident DUP feet. ...There are more sinister elements working quietly behind the scenes. Those Dissident Unionists, of which there are many, including Foster and Morrow, have never supported the Good Friday Agreement. They do not want the Good Friday Agreement to work. They do not want the Peace Process to work. Of course, they will willingly accept the benefits of that same process. They will accept the grants, the funding, the Ministries, the pay cheques, but they will continue to thwart all attempts to build a sustainable peace in Ireland. What they want is a return to the days of a Protestant State for a Protestant People, a return to the days of the B-Specials.
The recent letter presented to the British Secretary of State by Morrow asking for Gerry McGeough to serve his full sentence and remain in prison until 2031 is an attempt by the Dissident Unionists to thwart and manipulate an International Agreement under which Gerry would be released after serving two years. They will use whatever means possible to achieve this. Gerry's imprisonment is destabilising the Peace Process. The internment of Marian Price, Martin Corey without charge is destabilising the Peace Process. The Dissident Unionists, now being led by Nigel Dodds and Maurice Morrow know this. But Dodds and Morrow are only puppets being used by what Gerry Adams refers to as 'securocrats' who work quietly behind the scenes directing the Anti Good Friday Campaign.
The stance taken by the SDLP and Fianna Fáil has to be supported. Sinn Féin have also called for the release of Gerry, Marian, Martin and others. While our campaign has ciriticised Sinn Fein for their lack of effective action on these issues, our stance has been vindicated by the statement released by Anita Cavlan on her resignation from the party. However, we have always accepted that the imprisonment of Gerry and others does not benefit Sinn Féin, the SDLP or the Nationalist People of Ireland. It will only ever benefit the Dissident Unionists and we must never forget this.
Our campaign has succeeded to bringing together the people of Irish America, the people of Catalonia and the people of Ireland in supporting justice for Gerry McGeough. We have brought on board politicians from the SDLP, Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Independents and the Socialist Party. TD's, MLA's, MEP's, the ERC and ICV and Councillors have come together in a single cause. To support the release of Gerry McGeough and to protect the Good Friday Agreement in the interests of peace and justice.
Now is the time for all those who support peace, justice and equality to stand together, regardless of political affiliation, against the attempts of Dissident Unionists to bring down the Good Friday Agreement.
Damian Herron
Chairman - Northern Ireland
Free Gerry McGeough Campaign
From Sandy Boyer:
ReplyDeleteBernadette McAliskey on the UN doctor who was supposed to see Marian last week.
The reference to the UN doctor:
he was actually turned away from Hydebank because 'they weren't ready for him' - they wondered if meeting with the prison officials on the problems facing the prison might suffice!! - I understand he had to
spell it out for them that wasn't a couretesy call it was a UN
compliance inspection based on an emergency alert to the UN Rapporteur on Health;the would be back and expect to gain entrance and access to Marian. Why look for conspiracy when bog-standard arrogance & ignorance underpins the land of Lilliput! He will make a report and recommendation to the UK govenrment following that. This I beleive is not published.
Covered elsewhere by Cork PSG
ReplyDeleteFrom Helen McClafferty:
ReplyDeleteHydebank Prison turned away the UN doctors - refused them entrance into the prison no less access to examine Marian Price.
The English Bastards would be much happier knowing they killed both Gerry McGeough and Marian Price in prison.
What other excuse do they have for this blatant disregard for human rights?