Peter McVerry SJ reviews the first report of the Inspector of Prisons in Ireland, and is glad to see that it has not missed the shameful reality of life for many criminals in the prison system.
It may not have told us anything we didn’t know before, but it was probably the most interesting report I’ve ever read, and certainly the most entertaining. It’s not often that an official report, published by the government, brings a smile to your face, but the first Annual Report of the Inspector of Prisons was like no other.
Since 1985, reports on prisons in Ireland have repeatedly called for the appointment of an independent Inspector of Prisons. (An Inspector of Prisons had been appointed in England and Wales in 1980 and in Scotland in 1981) Ireland, late as always, finally appointed Mr Justice Kinlen as Inspector of Prisons in April 2002. However, he had no office, no staff, and no money! Nor did he feel wanted.
Mere lip service
“I was quite satisfied,” he says, “that neither the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, nor the Prison Service Senior Personnel in Headquarters welcomed my appointment, although they undoubtedly paid ‘lip service’ to the idea.”
On appointment, the Department of Justice suggested to him that he take six months off to go on a tour of Western Australia and New Zealand.
“While many interpretations will be put on these offers, I took them as meaning I was not to do any real work.”
Six months later, in October 2002, he was, at last, given his own office. But it had no equipment, such as telephones, fax machines, computers or cleaners. Another six months passed before his new office finally became operational, in March 2003.
Now he had an office, but no money.
“I was told that I could not spend a penny piece or employ anyone without the consent of the Prison Authorities. I WAS APPALLED (his emphasis). The smarminess was replaced by ignorant arrogance.”
Not only had he no money, he couldn’t get any real information out of the Prison Service. He was refused information which “was already available to the Public Press, the Prison Officers’ Association and the Chaplains”.
Having vented his frustration on the Department of Justice and the Prison Service, he then turns to the prisons themselves.
Thirty-year Investigation
He reports that a delegation from the Visiting Committee in St Patrick’s Institution (for young offenders) had gone to see the Minister for Social Welfare. Their concern was that prisoners were being released with little money, not even enough to get a bed in a hostel for the night. That was 30 years ago!
The newly appointed Inspector raised this issue with the Prison Authorities. He was informed that the matter was being investigated!
“It is fantastic that after thirty years or more, the whole matter is now ‘being investigated’ … it is a scandal … there is so much of a shambles in relation to prisons that one would almost despair … the fact is that we as a State are prepared to spend in the region of €1,300 per week to retain an offender in prison but are unwilling to offer any adequate financial support on release.”
No serious attempt to help
On drugs in prison: “Some efforts were being made (to deal with the problem) but there was no serious attempt to address the underlying causes. In fact ‘clean’ prisoners are exposed to drugs and become addicts in prison.”
On sex offenders in prison: “There is no real attempt to help them address their problem.”
On homelessness: “For some, homelessness is a reality to be faced after a long and painful prison sentence … it will be remembered that eleven women refused to leave prison for Christmas because they had nowhere to go.”
On prisoners with psychiatric problems: “(Prisoners with psychiatric problems) should certainly not be dumped by an uncaring society into a prison to cause further deterioration to an already inadequate system. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of (mental) disability in prison … I am concerned that in prison, people’s human rights are being denied by an uncaring society implemented by feuding government departments!”
In appointing Mr Justice Kinlen to the post of Inspector of Prisons, the government may have thought that they were appointing someone who would not ‘rock the boat.’ I suspect they are not looking forward to the next four years of his term of office. I will await, with eager anticipation, his next four reports – if they are published!
More bad news
However, there was further bad news for the government over its prisons. In May 2002, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (a title mercifully shortened to CPT!) visited Ireland, as it had done in 1993 and 1998. The committee visited Cloverhill Remand Prison, Cork Prison and Mountjoy Prison.
“Many of the inmates interviewed by the delegation indicated that they had reasonably good and constructive relations with most of the prison staff.
“However, in all three prisons visited, the delegation heard complaints of verbal abuse. In Dublin, it also heard complaints of physical ill-treatment (kicks, slaps and rough treatment) of prisoners by staff, frequently relating to placements in the padded cells – in Cloverhill Prison – or cell searches – in Mountjoy Prison for men.”
They also noted with concern an assault on a prisoner in Mountjoy in 1999 in which his jaw was broken in two places. They noted that the five prison officers who witnessed the assault had failed to report it, and then subsequently attempted to conceal the assault.
Little confidence
While the committee reported that senior management were determined to take action when allegations of ill-treatment by staff came to their attention, they noted with concern that:
“Prisoners appeared to have very little confidence in the complaints system. The delegation found that, notwithstanding the allegations of ill-treatment received by it, very few prisoners actually filed a complaint. Moreover, the records examined at Mountjoy Prison showed that inmates who did complain of having been physically ill-treated often subsequently withdrew those complaints.”
In their response to the CPT report, the Department of Justice noted that in 2001 and 2002, there had been 47 complaints of ill-treatment by prison officers. Of these, four were still ongoing. In every one of the other 43 complaints, the Department noted that “the investigation carried out found that the allegation was not substantiated.”
Worse than useless
As someone who is in daily contact with prisoners and ex-prisoners, and who regularly hears of allegations of ill-treatment by prison staff, this confirms for me that the existing complaints system is worse than useless.
Even more worrying is the comment by the CPT that prisoners often withdraw their complaint. The lives of prisoners, and every moment of their day, are controlled by the same prison officer against whom the prisoner has made a complaint and by that prison officer’s colleagues, in total seclusion from the outside world. There is enormous psychological pressure – and allegations are made that the pressure is more than psychological! – on the prisoner to withdraw his complaint.
It is urgent that a new and credible complaints process is introduced into Irish prisons. One more task for the new Inspector of Prisons.
This article first appeared in
Reality (February, 2004), a publication of the Irish Redemptorists.
