2010
Cabhair Midyear Sustainer Appeal
A
cháirde
Ordinarily this appeal, which is
part of the Irish Republican Political Activists campaign,
would include a written description of the appalling
conditions imposed by the barbaric British regime on young
Irish lads imprisoned for refusing to yield to British
occupation in Northeast Ireland.
However, this year we are sending
you a letter written by a sister of 2 Republican political
prisoners incarcerated in Maghaberry Jail in Co. Antrim. Her
words can describe far better than ours what these lads and
their families go through.
You might think that after 10 men
died on hunger strike in 1981 for the right to be treated as
political prisoners that the issue of British
criminalization of political resistance was resolved once
and for all. No! With the signing of the 1998 “Good Friday
Agreement,” that hard won right was revoked. As a result,
rights-wise, today’s Irish POWs are back in the 1979-1980’s.
And just like Irish POWs thirty years ago, today’s prisoners
will not be criminalized and will fight for political status
just like the martyrs of 1981.
What are we asking you to do? We
want you to get involved. We want you to care.
We want you to do something to support these
men and the goal of a united Ireland.
What can you do? Write a letter to
your local paper protesting the appalling conditions endured
by Irish political prisoners today. Be pro-active. Remember,
Irish political prisoners exist only because of the
continued British occupation of Ireland. Support a
permanent solution for peace and justice: the Irish-authored
Eire Nua peace policy and a British withdrawal from
Ireland.
We urge everyone to learn more
about the 1981 Hunger Strike in Long Kesh Prison. We do not
want more Irish men to die in British jails! View the 2008
film, “Hunger” for a visceral portrayal of the 1981 Hunger
Strike led by Bobby Sands.
If you can, please send a donation
for Cabhair, the Irish organization that supports prisoners’
families. These men have given up their freedom for their
country and they deserve our support. Send your check/money
order made out to Cumann na Saoirse, c/o National Irish
Freedom Committee, P.O. Box 770549, Woodside, NY 11377.
All donations received from this appeal will go directly to
Cabhair.
If we are to prevent a repeat of
1981, we all need to take action! Remember Bobby Sands’
words: “Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own
particular part to play. No part is too great or too small;
no one is too old or too young to do something.”
See
www.irishfreedom.net for
more information and details on upcoming NIFC and Cabhair
events, fundraisers and protests; also listen to Radio Free
Eireann, WBAI 99.5 FM (NYC) most Saturdays at 1: 30 pm
(archived programs at
www.wbai.org).
Slan,
Jane Enright
National Irish Freedom Committee
A Letter
From The Heart
The
conditions in Maghaberry jail is something to worry about,
it is inhumane. I am worried as I have two brothers who are
in Roe House in
Maghaberry and they have to
live through the horrific conditions on a day to day basis.
The screws (prison guards) in Maghaberry continually harass
the POWs. They treat them with a hostile nature and after a
long time of ill treatment the POWs staged a protest.
Their protest began on Easter
Sunday when they barricaded themselves into part of the
prison; this part of the protest lasted 48 hours. During
this period, we never heard anything from our boys as they
cut out the electricity so they couldn’t phone home. During
these 48 hours, we had to rely on media coverage to find out
any information about the protest but there was very little
coverage and the prison service, as usual, was giving the
press half truths about what was going on.
But, we knew that most of what they
were saying to the press was half truths and so these 48
hours were very nerve wrecking for us. After this part of
the protest, the men were sent to solitary confinement or
complete lockdowns in their cells which meant they couldn’t
phone so we didn’t hear from them for a number of days. The
screws stopped their post (mail) so they couldn’t contact us
by post and couldn’t receive post from us.
Eventually, the men were put on 23
hour lockdowns which only allows them to be out of their
cells one hour a day. This lockdown is still in effect
today, which means that we can’t hear from our men everyday
as they don’t always get a chance to phone home because in
their hour out they have to wash their clothes, shower,
exercise, and/or even receive a legal visit.
When we don’t hear from them we
obviously feel dread as we don’t know what’s going on, as in
the past there have been events leading up to the protest
where prisoners have been assaulted by the screws. In the
past year the screws have became increasingly violent toward
the prisoners and there have been several assaults on the
prisoners. My older brother was one of the men who was
assaulted. In this incident the prison officers were
unnecessarily aggressive to him. They beat him and while he
was on the floor they rubbed his face along the concrete.
Afterwards he was covered in bruises all along his face and
eye. We all felt very angry about this as he couldn’t even
report it because if he did it would be him who would
receive charges.
The screws are not very friendly to
us when we visit our men. In fact they do everything in
their power to stop us from visiting. A common method of
trying to stop our visit is using their sniffer drug dog on
us. This is very upsetting for us to go through just to see
our men. We know that they wait all week to see us, as we
only get an opportunity once a week to visit our men. But
the ill treatment has deteriorated yet again; since the
protest began the prison officers have made it increasingly
more difficult for us to receive a visit because our men, as
part of their protest, are refusing to allow the screws to
strip search them. The screws just use this strip search to
degrade the prisoners.
When the prisoners refuse to strip
for the screws, visits are automatically stopped. Even when
we do get a visit there are times when our visits are cut
short and we don’t get the full hour. During the visit the
screws can be very rude. They are not very child friendly
and when our children are running about playing, they come
over and threaten to stop the visit if the children do not
behave appropriately. This is very maddening as they are
just young children and we have to hold our tongues for our
men’s sake.
Having our men in Maghaberry jail where the conditions are
so bad is very worrying. We do feel very anxious for their
health, as the jail does not provide adequate medical
facilities. We see men who are ill with serious health
problems and the prison service does not give them their
medication on time, which is a serious problem as they need
their medication on time.
I am increasingly worried for one
of my brothers because for the past year he has been unwell
with kidney problems and they have done nothing to try and
cure his condition. The prison nurse just made him get tests
but never came back to him with any kind of medical help.
He is still suffering from kidney
problems and still no medical help has been given. And there
are many men like him who have medical problems and are not
getting the treatment they need. This is a vital problem.
But, I feel we have even more
problems on the horizon as, due to the worsening condition
in the jail, the prisoners commenced a dirty protest 2 weeks
ago. This has left us feeling increasingly concerned for our
men’s welfare but we will stay strong and protest on the
streets for political status for the POWs as we the families
will not allow a repeat of 1981. It will not be an easy road
but yet again we will regain political status for our
POWS!!!
Written by the sister of 2
Maghaberry POWs
