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BRUTAL ASSAULTS CONTINUING AT MAGHABERRY JAIL - FORCED STRIP SEARCHES

IRISH REPUBLICAN POLITICAL PRISONERS

There are currently nearly 100 Irish Republican prisoners of conscience held in prisons in England, Ireland, Eastern Europe and the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.

Most of these men and women were arrested under draconian “Anti-Terror” laws that have been cited by human rights groups around the world, including by Amnesty International and the European Court of Human Rights, for their questionable legality and potential for abuse.

These men and women are charged and sentenced in juryless, three-judge “Diplock”, or Special, courts where justice is a stranger, and where the unchallenged word of a single police officer can result in a many years’ sentence for “membership to a proscribed organization”.

These political prisoners are held in some of the worst conditions in Europe, and are frequently denied medical care, fresh air, free association amongst themselves, regular contact with the outside world, and visits with their families and loved ones. This policy of extreme isolation of political prisoners by the British and Irish governments is purely an institutionalized form of torture designed to dehumanize individuals and criminalize their political beliefs.

Please help to make the voices of these men and women, and their families, heard here in the United States. The Irish Freedom Committee® is continuing to provide much-needed Direct Support of Irish Republican political prisoners and their families. Please join our efforts to restore impartial justice and the right to a fair trial to these men and women, and to call for International investigation into ongoing human rights abuses in British and Irish jails.

• POSITION DOCUMENT by Non-Conforming Republican Prisoners, Maghaberry - Feb. 25, 2011

• Report on an unannounced full follow-up inspection of Maghaberry Prison, 19 – 23 January 2009: Unannounced Independent visit labels Maghaberry one of the worst British prisons for prisoner welfare and safety

• CPT Report December 2008: CPT cites assaults and abuse against prisoners by Maghaberry Stand-by Search Team:

  > "It would appear from various reports on Maghaberry Prison that the excessive use of force by members of the SST is a persistent phenomenon. The CPT recommends that appropriate action is taken, in the light of the above remarks, to ensure that members of the Maghaberry Stand-by Search Team (SST) do not abuse their powers and that they act in accordance with relevant prison regulations"(P61)

• Irish Republican Ex-POWs Against the RUC/PSNI & MI5 - March 5 2007

• Compact on Separation of Prisoners - Maghaberry Booklet February 2004

• Maghaberry POWs' response to "Compact on Separation" - Jan. 2004

• Irish Freedom Committee cited by British Parliament in granting separation to republican political prisoners at Maghaberry jail:

>"In the period 2001–2003 press releases were posted on the websites of groups such as the Irish Freedom Committee, seeking public support for a campaign in favour of separation and the restoration of ‘political status’ for paramilitary prisoners." The Separation of paramilitary prisoners  pdf doc - search ITEM 29, PG 13

• Steele Report on Seperation of Republican Political Prisoners August 2003  (pdf 113KB)
• More results here

MAY 26, 2010

LIAM HANNAWAY ENDS HUNGER STRIKE  more

WRITE TO LIAM HANNAWAY address

MAY 25, 2010

IRISH PRISONER LIAM HANNAWAY ON 41ST DAY HUNGER STRIKE  help needed now

MAY 15, 2010

SITUATION CRITICAL FOR IRISH HUNGER STRIKER help needed now

MAY 11, 2010

POW GRAVELY ATTACKED AT MAGHABERRY - ACTION NEEDED more here

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Page updated: 06/05/2011

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