As FRFI goes to press, there have been two deaths of prisoners from Covid-19 within British prisons, while other confirmed cases stand at 27 but are rising almost hourly. The actual number of prisoners with the virus is certainly already far higher, as the government’s general stubborn refusal to test people presenting with symptoms extends to the prison system, where both prisoners and members of staff who appear to have contracted the virus have simply been ordered to self-isolate. Since 23 March the entire system has been in lockdown, with prisoners confined to their cells, no visits allowed and parole hearings which could determine some prisoners release on hold.
Lockdown does not necessarily equal self-isolation, especially in lower security and over-crowded ‘local’ prisons, where people are housed two to three per cell, with frequent changes of cellmate, as prisoners are imprisoned, released, or transferred. On 22 March, The Observer reported that: ‘Provisional estimates from epidemiologists at University College London suggest that uncontrolled outbreaks of infection could lead to the deaths of up to 1% of the prison population but that this could be substantially reduced if steps are taken to protect elderly prisoners and those with chronic illnesses.’
In countries across the world including Italy, Colombia and Brazil, prisoners have reacted to the fear of being abandoned in a closed institution as the virus takes hold by staging protests, riots and mass break-outs. Iran has implemented a massive programme of both temporary and permanent releases of prisoners and US local jails have begun to release those it deems least dangerous.
In Britain, to date there have been no Covid-19 related prison uprisings. There are widespread calls, both from inside the prison system and from outside supporters, for safety measures to be implemented and for those prisoners who are not considered highly dangerous to be released. Such calls range from that of former Justice Secretary David Gauke, who is calling for the suspension of short sentences and the early release of some prisoners who have a few months left to serve, to that issued by the Prisoners’ Advice Service, which asks the government to release: all prisoners aged over 75, no matter what their conviction; those over 50 convicted of non-violent/sex crimes; people held under immigration detention powers, whether in prison or detention centres, or awaiting extradition; all those with under a year left to serve; prisoners with physical disabilities; and all the prisoners, serving the iniquitous Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection, whose tariffs have expired.
So far, the government has heeded none of these calls in relation to criminal prisons; however 350 detainees have been released from immigration removal centres (IRCs), following legal action by the charity Detention Action.
Nicki Jameson
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 275, March/April 2020
