Welfare Association Slams Mistreatment Of Republican Prisoner In Maghaberry

The Irish Republican Prisoners’ Welfare Association (IRPWA) has issued a strong condemnation of the "punitive" mistreatment of Derry Republican prisoner Kevin Brady. The statement was prompted by the Maghaberry prison administration's refusal to accept basic items of his clothing, delivered to the prison in person by his wife. No security rationale was offered for the refusal, and the IRPWA stressed that it amounts to only the latest step in a campaign against Brady and his family. On the day of his committal, clothing delivered directly by his legal representative was also arbitrarily turned away at the prison gate.

Brady's situation is now especially serious, sources have warned, because despite agreed protocols which should have seen him held with fellow political prisoners in Maghaberry's republican section at Roe House, he is instead being held separately in isolation. He has begun refusing all prison food until the regime honours its own agreements and transfers him to the political wing. The IRPWA yesterday reiterated its demand that Brady be moved to Roe House immediately, and that the administration end what it described as the "vindictive" campaign which has characterised his treatment since committal.

Brady's story is only the latest in a long and documented string of similar campaigns against republican prisoners by the gaol administration. It is widely recognised that the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) today remains one of the unreconstructed bastions of the old Northern state apparatus. Under the direct supervision of MI5, it continues what many of its members view as a long war against political prisoners, and remains staffed in significant measure by the same zealous anti-republicans who made up its ranks before the Good Friday Agreement.

In consequence, sectarian abuse of prisoners by staff remains a routine occurrence within the gaol. Republican prisoners have for years complained of a catalogue of abuses, ranging from petty harassment to violent strip searches used as a weapon of humiliation. This has in turn led to cycles of protest aimed at restoring full political status and ending the mistreatment, resulting in today’s bitter stalemate. Yesterday's IRPWA statement concluded by pointing out that the same tactics which failed against Republican prisoners in the past would find no more success today. 

This is a developing story.