Written evidence from the Northern Ireland
Human Rights Commission
1. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
(the Commission) is a statutory body created by the Northern Ireland
Act 1998. It has a range of functions including reviewing the
adequacy and effectiveness of Northern Ireland law and practice
relating to the protection of human rights,[29]
advising on legislative and other measures which ought to be taken
to protect human rights,[30]
advising on whether a Bill is compatible with human rights[31]
and promoting understanding and awareness of the importance of
human rights in Northern Ireland.[32]
In all of that work the Commission bases its positions on the
full range of internationally accepted human rights standards,
including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), other
treaty obligations in the Council of Europe and United Nations
systems, and the non-binding "soft law" standards developed
by the human rights bodies.
2. The Commission welcomes this inquiry
into the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and the opportunity
to submit evidence. The Commission would also be very willing
to give oral evidence to the Inquiry should Committee Members
consider this would assist their deliberations.
THE COMMISSION'S
WORK ON
PLACES OF
DETENTION
3. The Commission has for some time had
a Working Group on Places of Detention, which recently broadened
its remit to become a standing Committee on Detention, Policing
and Criminal Justice. Commissioners on this committee have undertaken
a series of visits to places of detention, including every prison
in Northern Ireland. The Commission has also conducted extensive
research into women's imprisonment (in Mourne House at HMP Maghaberry,
and following the transfer to Hydebank Wood), and has also researched
the treatment of children in custody. The Commission regularly
submits responses to prison service consultations on draft policies.
The Commission bases its work on the expectations contained within
international human rights instruments.
4. The following submission is divided into
two parts. The first section focuses on specific issues regarding
individual prisons. The second provides bullet-points regarding
over-arching concerns relating to human rights in prisons in Northern
Ireland. The Committee's inquiry focuses on the prison estate,
health services and education, and the concerns that we have encountered
in, especially, the first two areas are set out below, along with
other matters that may be of interest to the Committee.
SPECIFIC ISSUES
IN INDIVIDUAL
PRISONS
Magilligan Prison
5. Last year's inspection of Magilligan
Prison by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Chief
Inspector of Criminal Justice (published December 2006) raised
human rights concerns. The inspection was a follow up to the 2004
visit when serious shortcomings in the regime were identified
by the Inspectors. Yet the 2006 inspection found that only two
of the eleven recommendations from the previous report had been
fully achieved, with a further four achieved in part.
6. The Commission shares the Inspectorates'
concerns about issues of prisoner safety (and sense of safety)
in Magilligan. Commissioners have raised with the Northern Ireland
Prison Service concerns about cells having a single buzzer, for
use in emergencies and to request access to the toilets. The Commission
has serious concerns that prisoners' lives may be put at risk
in this situation, raising issues related to Article 2 ECHR (the
right to life).
7. The Commission also considers it unacceptable
that in the 21st century not all prisoners have access to in-cell
sanitation, including toilet and running water. On our visits
to Magilligan prisoners have expressed feelings of degradation
at having to wait to access the toilet, or to tell staff whether
they need to urinate or defecate in order for officers to establish
priority of need. The Commission endorses the Inspectors' recommendation
that the H-Blocks should be demolished and replaced with more
suitable accommodation with integral sanitation.
8. While levels of self-harm are reported
to be low in Magilligan, the Inspection found that prisoners who
self-harm are still occasionally held in the Special Supervision
Unit (or punishment block) in strip clothing. The Commission considers
that vulnerable self-harming or suicidal prisoners should not
be held in what are effectively punishment blocks. When Commissioners
visited the SSU/punishment block in autumn 2006 they found inadequate
ventilation in the cells. One prisoner was dressed in his boxer
shorts and a vest as he was so hot. Another young man was ill
with the flu but being held in isolation. The Commission considers
that ill prisoners should not be detained in the SSU. The Commission
supports the Inspectors' recommendation that the SSU is unfit
for purpose and should be replaced urgently.
9. Prisoners raised with Commissioners issues
regarding child-centred visits. Prisoners said that when their
child-centred visit has to be cancelled (for example due to court
appearances) visits are not re-scheduled but have to wait until
the next month. This does not take account of the rights of the
child or children deprived of the visit, which should be the paramount
consideration. The rights of the children of prisoners are further
discussed below.
10. The 2006 Inspection report commented
on improvement in education in Magilligan and Commissioners were
also impressed by the positive work being done in the Magilligan
Education Centre.
Maghaberry Prison
11. The Commission would draw the Committee's
attention to the serious human rights issues raised by the most
recent Inspection report (published May 2006), especially the
Inspectors' finding that systems for dealing with bullying, and
suicide prevention were underdeveloped.
12. In 2006 the Commission visited Maghaberry,
meeting prisoners held under the separated regime, prisoners in
the Special Supervision Unit (punishment block) and prisoners
from Poland.
13. The Commission's concerns regarding
the separated regime include: lengthy lock down times (analysis
of the review of the regime suggests that prisoners can routinely
be locked up for over 20 hours a day); the impact of "controlled
movement" on prisoners; limited access to education and recreation;
a high level of strip searching; and prisoners having to eat meals
in cells. It was notable that loyalist and republican prisoners
articulated the same concerns about what they saw as excessive
security, which some prisoners said was having a very detrimental
impact on their state of mind. The Commission has made representations
to the Northern Ireland Prison Service about the need to ensure
that the treatment of separated prisoners complies with human
rights standards and to ensure that as far as possible, separated
prisoners have the same level of access to services, such as education,
as other prisoners.
14. The Commission was concerned at the
detention of some loyalist prisoners in the SSU for periods of
several months. These prisoners were being held in the SSU "for
their own safety" following notification from the Police
Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that their lives were at risk.
The SSU is not a suitable environment for people to be held in
for long periods and this can only be detrimental to the individuals'
mental health.
15. As in other prisons, the Commission
is concerned that self-harming and suicidal prisoners are held
in the SSU along with prisoners in isolation for disciplinary
offences.
16. Discussions with Polish prisoners indicated
that provision for "Foreign National" prisoners was
patchy and depended largely on individual officers' use of discretion,
for example in providing copies of newspapers in their own language.
Some prisoners appeared to be very isolated. The Commission welcomes
the development by the Northern Ireland Prison Service of a generic
policy on "Foreign National" Prisoners. Operational
policies for each establishment must be developed based on the
principles of the generic policy.
Hydebank Wood Women's Prison
17. The Commission continues to call for
an independent public inquiry into women's imprisonment in Mourne
House, HMP Maghaberry, from 2002-04. The jury at the recent (February
2007) inquest into the death of Roseanne Irvine (who died in Mourne
House in 2004) returned a narrative verdict commencing with the
declaration that "the prison system failed Roseanne".
18. The Commission publicly opposed the
transfer of women from Mourne House to Hydebank Wood, despite
being very critical of conditions in Mourne. It was clear that
moving women from a unit in a high security male prison to a unit
located in a male young offenders' centre would not resolve the
problems associated with women's imprisonment in Northern Ireland.
19. The Commission has completed research
on women's imprisonment in Hydebank Wood which is being prepared
for publication. The report will be published at the end of May
and we would be most willing to brief the Committee on the research
findings.
20. Without pre-empting the publication,
our general concerns about conditions for women in Hydebank Wood
include the transportation of men and women together in prison
vans; routine strip searching (the Commission assisted a female
prisoner in taking a successful judicial review of the policy
of frequent strip searching); shared visiting area with young
men; shared healthcare facilities for women and young men; very
limited mental health and other medical services at night-time;
limited range of work-related training opportunities; length of
time spent in cell; lack of a therapeutic regime for vulnerable,
self-harming or suicidal prisoners; limited access to outdoors
for those women not involved in the gardening project; and no
age-specific regime for girls and young women.
21. As should have been predicted by the
Prison Service, the shared environment at Hydebank Wood places
severe restrictions on women's freedom of movement. This is especially
curtailing for women on long sentences including life prisoners
who should be subject to a less restrictive regime.
22. The Commission fully endorses the recommendations
of the Inspectorates for the women's unit in Hydebank Wood to
be declared a temporary facility, and for a discrete women's prison
to be developed.
23. The Commission also supports the Inspectorates'
finding that Ash House is not a suitable environment for girls
under 18 years of age.
Hydebank Wood Young Offenders' Centre
24. The Commission wishes to highlight some
of the key human rights concerns raised in the most recent inspection
report (2005). The Commission welcomes the Inspectors' finding
that their recommendation for improved systems for managing self-harm
and suicide had been fully achieved. However, it is of concern
that "Other [recommendations], such as in-cell sanitation,
sufficient education and training, and improved time out of cell
had not".
25. It is also worrying that the Inspection
found that "too many vulnerable young people were routinely
placed in stripclothing and special cells as a first response
to fears of self-harm", and that Inspectors had "particular
concerns about the severity of punishments in the `special supervision'
unit (or the `block' as it was routinely called)".
OVERARCHING HUMAN
RIGHTS CONCERNS
Care of self-harming and suicidal prisoners
26. Prisoners who are self-harming and suicidal,
or who are vulnerable through mental health problems or other
difficulties should be detained in therapeutic regimes comprising
a constructive and interaction based programme. Staff in these
units should undergo specialised training.
27. Self-harming and suicidal prisoners
should not be held in the special supervision unit/punishment
cells alongside people adjudicated for disciplinary offences.
Imprisonment of people with serious mental health
problems
28. People with serious mental health problems
should wherever possible be provided with therapeutic alternatives
to prison. This includes people diagnosed as "personality
disordered".
29. A coherent and multi-agency strategy
should be developed to respond to the needs of offenders diagnosed
as mentally ill and "behaviourally" or "personality
disordered". There should be the development of community-based
therapeutic facilities offering age-appropriate and gender-specific
programmes to identify and meet needs.
Transfer of Prison Healthcare
30. The transfer of primary responsibility
of prisoner healthcare from the Northern Ireland Prison Service
to the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety
(DHSSPS) from April 2007 provides an opportunity to transform
the healthcare of prisoners. People in healthcare centres in prisons
should be treated first and foremost as patients. Healthcare staff
working in prison healthcare centres should be employed as healthcare
professionals and should be separate from prison discipline officers.
Following the transfer, all prison healthcare staff should be
directly employed by and accountable to the relevant healthcare
department/trust.
Isolation
31. The use of punishment cells/special
supervision units for disciplinary purposes or for the protection
of vulnerable, self-harming prisoners is of concern to the Commission.
The experience of isolation can be very damaging for individuals'
mental health. The jury at the inquest into the death of Annie
Kelly (aged 19) who was found hanged in a punishment cell at Mourne
House in 2002, found that Annie's long periods held in isolation
contributed to death. It is acknowledged by international human
rights bodies that prolonged use of solitary confinement may amount
to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. International human
rights standards require the state to minimise or end altogether,
the use of solitary confinement:
Efforts addressed for the abolition of solitary
confinement as a punishment, or to the restriction of its use,
should be undertaken and encouraged. (Principle 7, UN Basic Principles
for the Treatment of Prisoners).
32. The Commission urges Government to work
towards the restriction or abolition of the use of solitary confinement
as a punishment.
33. In the interim, self-harming or suicidal
prisoners should not be held in the Special Supervision Unit alongside
prisoners held in isolation for disciplinary reasons.
34. Children should never be held in solitary
confinement.
In-cell sanitation
35. It is degrading for prisoners to have
to use a buzzer to request access to the toilet at night, or to
use a "pot". The Commission recommends that in the 21st
century it is appropriate that all prisoners have access to in-cell
sanitation.
Length of lock-down
36. The inspection of Maghaberry found that
prisoners are subject to too lengthy periods of lock-down. Time
spent in cell should be restricted and prisoners facilitated in
spending as much time out of cell as possible, engaged in constructive
activities.
Mothers of babies and young children
37. International human rights standards
make special provision for mothers in prison with their babies.
The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners state that in women's prisons there should be special
accommodation for pre- and post-natal care and treatment (23(1)).[33]
Where infants are allowed to stay in prison with their mother
there should be a cre"che equipped by fully trained staff
where babies will stay when not with their mothers (23(2)).
38. In acknowledgement of the adverse effects
of imprisonment of mothers on babies, the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly adopted a recommendation that member states should "develop
and use community-based penalties for mothers of young children"
and should avoid the use of prison custody and should ensure that
custody for pregnant women and mothers of young children is a
last resort for women who have committed the most serious offences
and who "represent a danger to the community".[34]
39. The Council of Europe recommends the
development of small scale secure and semi-secure units with social
services support for the small number of mothers requiring custody
"where children can be cared for in a child-friendly environment
and where the best interests of the child will be paramount, whilst
guaranteeing public security"; appropriate staff training
in child care; flexible visiting rights for fathers; appropriate
guidelines for courts.
40. The Commission recommends that for those
exceptional cases where a mother is imprisoned with her baby,
the age limit up until which babies may live in prison with their
mothers should be raised in line with that in other UK jurisdictions
and other European states.
41. We have also recommended that the NIPS
should provide adequate cre"che and nursery provision for
young babies, including links with cre"ches in the community.
42. However, the imprisonment of women with
babies should be avoided and we urge the development of education
programmes for criminal justice professionals on the issue of
mothers, babies and young children.
The rights of children of prisoners
43. The provisions of the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are relevant to all children
whose parents or carers are imprisoned. The CRC requires that
the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration
in all decisions affecting the child (Article 3). States are required
to respect the right of children who are separated from one or
both parents to "maintain personal relations and direct contact
with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary
to the child's best interests" (Article 9).
44. This is also underlined in an important
"soft law" standard, the UN Body of Principles. The
authorities should ensure "assistance when needed to dependent
and, in particular, minor members of the families of detained
or imprisoned persons" (Principle 31).[35]
45. Each year an estimated 700,000 children
within the European Union are separated from an imprisoned parent.[36]
Research by the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) found that around
125,000 children in England and Wales are affected by the imprisonment
of a parent each year. Children of prisoners are defined as "children
in need" in Children's Services Plans, yet there are no available
records in Northern Ireland on the numbers of children affected
by the imprisonment of a parent. It is reasonable to assume that
the overall number of children affected at some point in their
childhood by the imprisonment of one or more parent would extend
to tens of thousands.
46. Problems associated with having a parent
in prison include a sense of loss; lack of knowledge and/or understanding;
material deprivation; emotional suffering; unstable and distanced
relationships; stigmatisation and labelling; adapting to release
and fear of further loss.
47. The Northern Ireland Prison Service
and relevant agencies should continue to improve services for
children of prisoners.
48. Legislation should be enacted to require
judges and magistrates to consider the best interests of any affected
children before passing sentence.
Strip searching
49. Strip searching is an inherently degrading
process and should also be used only where individual risk assessment
indicates it is necessary. The Commission does not accept the
distinction made between whole-body strip searching and the NIPS
practice of "half and half" searches.
50. In the case of women, strip searching
should only be carried out by medically qualified staff. These
should not be the same staff responsible for the women's routine
healthcare. Children should not be strip searched.
Children and young people in custody
51. Human rights standards state that children's
imprisonment shall be used only as a measure of last resort and
for the minimum period of time. Custody for children must be used
only exceptionally and imposed only where a child is found guilty
of a serious act involving violence against another person or
persistence in committing other serious offences and where there
is no other appropriate response. Every effort must also be made
to apply alternatives to custody before trial and remanding children
to custody must be limited to exceptional circumstances.
52. When children are detained, they must
be treated with respect and dignity in an age-appropriate regime.
The state must make efforts to provide "semi-institutional"
arrangements such as "half-way houses" or day training
centres and life inside detention centres should be as close to
life in the community as possible. Children in custody should
be detained separately from adults unless it is considered in
the child's best interests to do otherwise. These principles reflect
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the major relevant
soft law instrument, the Beijing Rules.[37]
53. As noted above, there is no age-appropriate
regime for girls and young women in Hydebank Wood.
54. The Commission supports the recommendation
of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons that children under
18 should not be held in Prison Service custody. Alternative arrangements
for under-18-year-old boys and girls should be made by the Youth
Justice Agency.
People imprisoned for "fine default"
55. International human rights standards
require that in jurisdictions where people can be imprisoned for
fine default these prisoners should "not be subjected to
any greater restriction or severity than is necessary to ensure
safe custody and good order". These prisoners should be held
separately from prisoners sentenced for criminal offences (UN
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 94).
The Commission is particularly concerned about the imprisonment
of women for fine default bearing in mind the especially destructive
impact of female imprisonment on children and families.
56. The Human Rights Commission calls for
an end to all imprisonment for fine default in Northern Ireland.
It said this in June 2005, response to the Review of the Sentencing
Framework in Northern Ireland, and welcomed the suggestion in
that consultation of "a disposal akin to a supervised attendance
order in place of custody".
Overcrowding
57. The Council of Europe's Committee for
the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has observed the negative impact
of overcrowding in prisons:
Overcrowding is an issue of direct relevance
to the CPT's mandate. All the services and activities within a
prison will be adversely affected if it is required to cater for
more prisoners than it was designed to accommodate; the overall
quality of life in the establishment will be lowered, perhaps
significantly. Moreover, the level of overcrowding in a prison,
or in a particular part of it, might be such as to be in itself
inhuman or degrading from a physical standpoint.[38]
58. Overcrowding in prisons in Northern
Ireland has not taken place on the same scale as in Great Britain.
However, the Commission shares the concerns of the Northern Ireland
Prison Service about growing numbers and prisons approaching capacity.
Cell sharing is unacceptable except where cells were specifically
designed to accommodate more than one prisoner.
59. Human rights standards state that "where
sleeping accommodation is in individual cells or rooms, each prisoners
shall occupy by night a cell or room by himself. If for special
reasons, such as temporary over-crowding, it becomes necessary
for the central prison administration to make an exception to
this rule, it is not desirable to have two prisoners in a cell
or room" (UN Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 9).
60. The Government should take steps to
reduce the prison population as far as possible, for example by
ending imprisonment for fine default.
Transition within the prison service
61. Northern Ireland is in a transitional
situation, coming out of a period of prolonged conflict. Achieving
confidence in the criminal justice system is an integral part
of successful transition. Following the Criminal Justice Review
and the report of the Patten Commission, the Police Service and
other elements of the criminal justice system underwent significant
change. The Prison Service, however, has not yet undergone such
a transition. The Commission acknowledges the violence and trauma
suffered by prison officers during the conflict. We do not forget
this in urging reflection on how best to equip the Prison Service
to deal with imprisonment in the 21st century, including achieving
full compliance with international human rights standards.
Monitoring places of detention
62. An international NGO, the Association
for the Prevention of Torture, observes that:
At all times and in all places, persons deprived
of their liberty are vulnerable and at risk of being mistreated
and even tortured []. This means that they must be afforded enhanced
protection by monitoring their conditions of detention.[39]
63. The implementation of the Optional Protocol
to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) provides an important
opportunity to ensure that prisons in Northern Ireland, and elsewhere
in the UK, are opened up to enhanced monitoring, transparency
and accountability. As the APT notes, enhanced monitoring should
result in "increasing the legitimacy of the management of
the place and the public confidence in the institutions."[40]
64. The major step forward expected in a
very few weeks (by 22 June) is the designation of a National Preventative
Mechanism (NPM), which under OPCAT may be a single agency or a
set of agencies with the ability to conduct independent inspection
visits. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionas
a UN-accredited national human rights institution, as an agency
that has contributed extensively to the protection of human rights
in prisons, and in the light of the impending extension of its
powers to investigate places of detention (in the Justice and
Security (NI) Bill)should be one of the agencies comprising
the UK NPM. The Commission is hosting a seminar on implementation
of OPCAT on 26 June, marking the tenth UN International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture, and also the 20th anniversary of
the entry into force of the UN Convention against Torture. We
therefore await with great interest the announcement on the composition
and functions of the NPM, and would encourage the Committee to
take account of that development and its potential for increasing
confidence in the management of the prison system in Northern
Ireland.
Ciarán O« Maoláin
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
April 2007
29 Northern Ireland Act 1998, s69(1). Back
30
Ibid, s69(3). Back
31
Ibid, s69(4). Back
32
Ibid., s69(6). Back
33
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted
by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime
and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved
by the Economic and Social Council by its resolution 663 C (XXIV)
of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977. Back
34
Council of Europe Recommendation 1469 (2000) on Mothers and Babies
in Prison, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 30 June 2000. Back
35
Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any
Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by General Assembly
resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988. Back
36
Data from EUROCHIPS, the European Committee for Children of Imprisoned
Parents (EUROCHIPS), a Europe-wide NGO funded by the Bernard van
Leer Foundation. Back
37
Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
("the Beijing Rules"), adopted by General Assembly resolution
40/33 of 29 November 1985. Back
38
CPT (1992), 2nd General Report, Strasbourg: Council of
Europe, para 46. Back
39
Association for the Prevention of Torture, Monitoring places
of detention: a practical guide, Geneva: APT, April 2004,
p25. Emphasis in original. Back
40
ibid. Back
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