Letter to the UN office of the High Commission
Below is a submission sent to the UN human rights commission today
To whom it may concern,
We are the Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee (IWOC). It is a committee within the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) trade union.
We wish to report to the UN Committee against Torture regarding the systematic abuse of prisoners.
The average age of death of prisoners in England and Wales is 56 which is 25 years below the average of the region.
By your own reports, there is systemic racism within the prison system. Muslim are over-represented in close-supervision centres and face incredibly dehumanising treatment.
Many members of our organisation have been sent to other prisons without notifying us and emails requesting information about where they are have been ignored in violation of the prison service’s own policy of response within 4 weeks. This was after
We have been attempting to collect direct evidence over the past few years and this is what we have so far:
Swaleside
Our members has been diligent in collecting information on the abuses that have taken place there. They have detailed poor sanitation and lack of toiletries, resulting in feelings of degradation. More details on this can be read here, in a letter we have sent to the governor. A response to this letter can be seen in Appendix A, however our members reported no improvements to their conditions. A follow up letter can be read here which was not responded to. Instead, many of our members and those working in solidarity with those members were transferred to prisons such as HMP Lowdham Grange and HMP Whitemoor. Some members we have not been able to re-establish contact despite multiple attempts, depriving them of our support.
Systemic medical neglect and withholding of food has been reported as can be seen in Appendix B and on social media posts here and here. We would like to highlight a member struggling to breath for hours until they get seen by a medical professional. Infections are left to fester for months without medical attention, despite repeated requests for medical attention. We wrote to the governor again regarding the treatment of this member, a copy of this can be found here.
Attacks on multiple individuals in Swaleside is evidenced here as well as more medical neglect.
Lowdham Grange
One member transferred to Lowdham (from Swaleside) has been facing significant repression from the prison, all communication with loved ones has been cut off completely. No one, not his friends or his union, has heard from him which is highly unusual. We have been receiving conflicting reports with the prison claiming that he is choosing not to contact us but the family engagement officer informing us that he has been deprived of a phone. All visits have been cancelled after booking. This member’s name is Ryan Roberts (prisoner number A5155EM) and is the main complainant in this report. Because he has been prevented from communicating with us he was not able to provide consent for this report to be submitted on his behalf however he had consented to us performing campaigns in his name in the past. We would prefer his identity not be disclosed publicly due to the repercussions he has been receiving because of his diligent work in documenting human rights abuses in Swaleside.
An open letter was written by people not associated with our committee, it can be found here.
Another member has been reporting numbers of deaths that don’t align with the numbers published by the prison which can be found here.
Here is a report by the BBC regarding a death and multiple deaths. Here is a petition from a family unaffiliated with us.
Other prisons
We have limited reports from other prisons as we don’t have many members there, this is what we have so far:
Conclusion
As you can see from these reports England has major issues when it comes to the ways prisoners are treated. As our membership grows, we will be able to provide more reports on the human rights abuses they are experiencing within the WISE region.
Regards,
IWOC
