It
is an honour to be here speaking to you all for
a second time. On behalf of the Irish Republican
Prisoners Welfare Association, the 32 County Sovereignty
Movement and the entire Republican movement I would
like to thank you for this opportunity to address
the issues affecting Irish Republican Political
prisoners. Also on behalf of the Republican Movement,
both imprisoned and in the field, I extend solidarity
greetings to all other freedom fighters, political
activists and prisoners of war.
The
spectre of imprisonment looms large over all those
involved in the freedom and liberation struggles
and indeed on many occasions the prison has become
the frontline in the battle between the forces of
progress and those of reaction. In today's political
climate a united front against the use of isolation,
torture and degradation is not just desirable but
is imperative. At a period in human history that
is unprecedented in the monstrosity and brutality
of the state we must become the bulwark against
multi national capitalist and imperialist aggression.
The new world order envisaged by these states such
as the USA and Britain does not tolerate political
dissent nor alternative view points on how best
to deliver on freedom equality peace and justice.
At a time when ordinary civilian's fundamental human
rights are being eroded what can we expect for the
political activist who has actively challenged and
resisted such super powers. With the enactment of
such draconian legislation as the Patriot Act in
the US and the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Britain
anyone with conflicting views to those of the establishment
could easily find themselves behind bars and subject
to the wholesale denial of even the most basic of
human rights. For these reasons and many more it
is incumbent that we meet and share experiences
in order that we might learn from each others struggles
and provide comfort and inspiration to each other.
Although
all freedom struggles are unique in many ways, all
have similarities. The common theme running through
them all is the threat of imprisonment by those
who the political activist seeks to overthrow. When
the activist is seeking to overthrow the state then
the state will attempt to crush him in order to
not only punish the individual but to send out a
message to all those who would attempt to do likewise.
Not alone does this punish the individual but is
also a collective punishment of the freedom fighters
family, friends and community. This is a deliberate
attempt to increase the pressure on all those who
wish to change the status quo and break the power
structure. This is the same in Ireland, in Palestine,
in the Basque Country, in Turkey, in Iraq, in Quantanamo
Bay and in countless thousands of places that never
make headlines.
From
an Irish perspective the prisons issue is and has
always been central to the whole republican ideology.
In every decade since the Irish People declared
their independence Irish Men and Women have been
interned by the British and their quisling allies
in Ireland.
There
is hardly a republican home in the Irish Nation
that has not experienced the heart break of having
loved ones dragged out of their beds in the middle
of the night without explanation and hauled off
to God knows where for God knows how long. The Irish
Republican tradition is one whereby prisoners are
not treated as criminals but rather as heroes. This
is something that the British have consistently
underestimated. From the death of O Donovan Rossa
to that of Bobby Sands, the British and their allies
in the Free State have regularly and consistently
failed to appreciate the depth of feeling and sympathy
of the Irish people towards their prisoners of war.
Despite concerted efforts by the British and Dublin
governments to criminalize the Irish Republican
Army popular support for their prisoners of war
has always provided solace and succour to imprisoned
volunteers.
The
use of isolation as a political tool is not new
to the Irish prison struggles. Perhaps the most
notable example was the campaign for the restoration
of political status that took place from 1976 until
the death of the last hunger striker Mickey Devine
in 1981. Ironically many of those who were instrumental
in these events later signed a British agreement
which sentenced today's republican prisoners to
continual struggle for political status, that deal
being the Good Friday Agreement.
During
the 1976-1981 prison struggle hundreds and hundreds
of Irish revolutionaries spent years isolated in
cold cells, naked save for a blanket. Without any
form of mental or physical exercise. Many died as
a result of the ordeal; some were maimed by prison
guards and others succumbed to various forms of
mental illness as a direct result of their treatment
at the hands of their British captors. Long Kesh
and the H-Blocks rank as a testament to Britain's
failure to control Ireland just as Abu gharib will
become in Iraq.
Irish
political prisoners endured all this and the trauma
of their comrades dying slow and agonizing deaths
on Hunger Strike rather than accept the label of
criminal.
Today's
generation of Irish POW's had their political status
signed away by former comrades. Under the terms
of the Good Friday Agreement they accepted a deal
which effectively stated that armed action against
the British in Ireland was illegal, the implication
being of course that the British presence in Ireland
was somehow legal. This is something that the Prisoners
of War in Ireland and particularly those in the
occupied six counties would not and will not accept.
The latest prison struggle in Ireland was the campaign
by the republican prisoners in Maghaberry for segregation
from common criminals and pro-British death squads.
The campaign which involved wrecking cells, refusal
to conform, no-wash protests and finally a campaign
of smearing excrement on walls forced the British
to grant segregation. This partial victory was no
doubt aided by the fact that the traditional Irish
sympathy for republican POW's was again coming to
the fore. Large protests took place across the north
and the British were actually advised by former
republicans in Sinn Fein to accede to the Republican
demands rather than have them gain any further support
in the republican community. The granting of a wing
of their own for republicans amounted to a de facto
recognition by the British authorities that these
men were political prisoners and not criminals and
ended the policy of isolating the republicans among
a hostile prison population of pro-British paramilitaries
and criminals.
Since
the granting of segregation life for the republican
prisoners has been far from easy.
The
prison authorities have been intent on forcing a
punitive regime upon the prisoners.
The
men have been forced to endure long spells in lock
up due to a practice known as 'controlled movement'.
In effect this means that no more than three prisoners
are allowed out of their cells at any one time.
The prison authorities have been using this to punish
the prisoners for winning segregation, something
which they fought against right from the start.
The prisoners have also been divided into two landings
on the wing with little or no contact between the
two sets of prisoners thus further separating the
men from each other.
Education
and recreational facilities could best be described
as ranging from the basic to the non existent and
the prisoners are continually subjected to humiliating
and degrading strip searches which have been described
as akin to sexual assault. Last summer a potential
Hunger Strike was narrowly avoided by dialogue between
the prisoners and the IRPWA. We felt that the prison
authorities were intent on provoking a serious situation
in order to justify their opposition to segregation
for prisoners.
In
the year since I last
addressed this symposium there have been many
ups and downs for the republican movement both inside
and outside the prisons. Many Republicans have been
released from prison because of revelations that
agents of the British state and members of the British
Army, British police in Ireland and other agencies
of the British state have been involved in the systematic
planting and contamination of evidence against republicans.
Other agents have been involved in entrapping republicans
in order to send them on their way to long prison
sentences. This latest form of internment illustrates
perfectly how low the state will stoop in order
to crush dissent. This also illustrates how desperate
they are to censor the republican message and how
despite their draconian legislation, media censorship,
black propaganda and black operations the message
is still getting out there, that is why international
conferences on issue such as prisoners and what
they stand for are of vital importance. Many of
us here today are unable to get a fair representation
of our views at home nor a level playing field on
which to air our legitimate political opinions yet
here we are today amongst friends. As long as we
continue to discuss the issue of the isolation of
political prisoners and indeed the isolation of
the opinions, hopes and aspiration that have resulted
in these men and women being imprisoned, the forces
of capitalism, imperialism, occupation and reaction
can never be victorious and we, comrades can never
be isolated.
Tiocfaidh
ar la.
