Segregation and Political Status for Republican POWs Petition

In Maghaberry Prison in the North of Ireland, members of organisations participating in the national liberation struggle are being held in unsafe conditions and denied status as political prisoners. The prison struggles of the 1970s and 1980s, during which ten men died on hungerstrike, won political status, but this was lost following the ratification of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Now Republican prisoners of war are held in the same blocks and cells as loyalists and other criminals. Incidents of violence against Republican prisoners in Maghaberry are becoming more frequent. Republican prisoners are currently engaged in a dirty protest and are considering undertaking a new hungerstrike.

The IRSCNA fully supports the right of the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry to segregation. We clearly recognise that they are political prisoners involved in a legitimate form of protest within the jail. The prisoners' actions were politically motivated, they were charged with scheduled offences and tried in political non-jury courts. They are political prisoners. We appeal to all concerned individuals and groups to support their demands before we are faced with the daunting prospect of another hunger strike. We are not asking you to agree with their political opinions, we're simply asking that you support their basic rights as political prisoners. We will not allow Britain to criminalise Republican prisoners or their struggle for freedom. We intend on making this issue into a major campaign over the coming weeks and months.

We ask that you sign this petition online. To do so, click here.

You can also print it out in order to make it easy for people without online access to sign it. Completed petitions should be mailed to:

Northern Ireland Office
Block B
Castle Buildings
Belfast
North of Ireland
BT4 3SG

To download the petition in Word format for printing, click here.

To open the petition in PDF format for printing, click here.

To print out the petition from the web, click here.

Links
Andersonstown News: Dissidents Attacked in Maghaberry
Andersonstown News: Jail Hell
Andersonstown News: Prisoner Safety Issue Still on Agenda
Andersonstown News: Segregation Crisis Takes a New Twist
Andersonstown News: The Diary of a Prisoner
Belfast Telegraph: DUP Man Backs Calls to Segregate Inmates
Belfast Telegraph: Republicans Beaten in Jail by Loyalists
Cabhair
Derry Journal: Maghaberry Prison at 'Boiling Point'
Irish Political Status Committee
Irish Prisoners of War Information
Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association
IRPWA Prisoner List
London Observer: Hunger Strike Fear as Jail Protests Continue
London Times: Maghaberry Segregation Recommended
online.ie: Segregation Could End Dirty Protest
Republican Socialist Prisoners of War
Teach na Failte
Ten Men Dead: The Legacy of the 1981 Republican Hunger Strikes
UTV: NI Prisoners Fail in Legal Bid
UTV: Prison Row 'Could Spark New Street Violence'
UTV: Republicans Repeat Prison Segregation Demands

This site has been accessed times since 20 August 2003.
Last Revised: 31 August 2003.