Racism still rife in jails, five years after the murder of Zahid Mubarek

* Year-long inquiry attacks failure to change
* Bias remains at institution where inmate died

UK: The prison service will be strongly criticised for continued racial discrimination against ethnic minority inmates by the official report from the Zahid Mubarek inquiry.

The inquiry was set up into the killing of Mr Mubarek who was battered to death by his cell mate, a white racist psychopath, at Feltham youth jail, west London, in March 2000.

The expected criticism comes two years after the service promised big improvements after an inquiry by the Commission for Racial Equality found it guilty of unlawful racial discrimination on 17 separate counts. Two internal reports by the prison service catalogue continuing discrimination, poor practice and other failings.

The inquiry, chaired by Mr Justice Keith, will find prison bosses have still failed to implement enough changes after the Mubarek scandal. Mr Mubarek, 19, died just hours before he was due to be released. His killer, Robert Stewart, was violent and racist, yet the two youths were put in the same cell. Stewart, who had RIP tattooed on his forehead, admitted to the inquiry for the first time that racial hatred was a motive in the killing.

Yesterday the year long inquiry ended and has seen the prison service suffer more damaging revelations. Even the prison service's internal reports, passed to the inquiry find widescale continued failings on race despite promises by its most senior managers to crack down on discrimination.

A report by its race equalities adviser found prisons with a swastika daubed on the wall, racist language and "belligerent behaviour" by staff, officers telling racist jokes to white inmates, and claims of bullying and abuse. Staff at one jail were also found to be hostile to the prison services's investigation team which was mostly black. At Portland jail the race equality report found that on the investigator's first day a staff member told them "we're being overrun by you lot." Some staff at Portland saw demands to reform by their bosses as "political correctness from London" .

At Leeds jail staff were"openly" hostile to prison service inspectors. Leeds is being investigated by the prisons ombudsman after an Asian inmate was killed by his white cellmate. According to the report by Beverley Thompson, the segregation wing at Leeds was of most concern: "Some staff were unable to disguise the hostility they felt about race relations."

At the top security Belmarsh jail, where terrorism suspects are held, white inmates complained about the racism of white officers. The white prisoners took offence because some of them were in mixed race relationships.

Even at Feltham itself "an undercurrent of discriminatory behaviours and attitudes" from some staff was found. In evidence to the inquiry the CRE commissioner responsible for checking the prison service lives up to its promises said some governors were unaware of discrimination.

Mohammed Aziz said very senior managers just did not get it: "My big disappointment is that even as I walk the prison today, I still find that there is not the recognition in everyday life, amongst very, very senior prison staff, that there is such a thing as institutional racism in our prisons today.

The inquiry will find that prison service headquarters produce policy on racism that is good or competent, but it is not translated into action at ground level, sources said.

The inquiry's report will be handed to the home secretary in February next year and will be published.

FAQ: Prisons and race

What are the proportions of ethnic minority prisoners and prison officers?

In the decade from 1993 to 2003, the percentage of ethnic minority inmates increased from 16% to 25%. A large part of the increase is due to a rise in incarcerated foreign nationals. Only 5.7% of prison staff are from ethnic minorities, up from 4.9% in 2000, the year Zahid Mubarek was murdered.

How seriously is the Prison Service taking the problem?

The current Prison Service director general and his predecessor have vowed to take tough and effective action. But the Mubarek inquiry report will find that it has not been enough.

How many inquiries into the Zahid Mubarek death have there been?

The inquiry that ended yesterday is the third. The Prison Service held an internal inquiry. That was followed by one from the Commission for Racial Equality. Mubarek's family were unsatisfied by both and demanded the third.

By Vikram Dodd posted 8 October 05

Inquiry must root out prison racists

UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned

UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'

UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

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UK prisoners should get vote, European court rules
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Prison plan 'will cut reoffending'
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Clarke to scrap plan to peg prison numbers
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Crowded jails 'boosting suicides'
UK: The chief inspector of prisons warned that an overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails was leading to an increase in prisoner suicides.

Chief justice calls for new approach to law and order
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Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach
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Throw away the key
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Judges' misdeeds will remain secret
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Prisoner total rises 15% in six years
England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in western Europe, it emerged today. New research indicates that the government's use of prison as its main tool of penal policy has increased by 15% since 1999.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Prisoner's cell death
UK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.

Plans for five new 'superprisons'
Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.

Prison has lost its way - report
UK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Row over acupuncture for prisoners
UK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles
UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Parole Board Membership

NSW: The Law Society is aware that two former long standing police officers Mr Robert Inkster, an Mr Peter Walsh, were appointed to the Parole Board as Community Members for a period of three years from 17 January 2005 until 16 January 2008.

The Law Society is concerned at the potential perception of bias on the Parole Board due to the strong representation of former police officers serving as Community Members.

The NSW Police Service has representative serving as and Official Member on the Parole Board pursuant to section 183(2)(b) of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999. At least ten community members are appointed to the Parole Board who are to reflect as closely as possible the composition of the community at large (s183(2)(e)).

The Law Society acknowledges that it would be unfair to preclude someone with a police service background being appointed as a community member on the grounds that he or she is not representative of the community.

However, members of the public may perceive that Parole Board members who are former police officers may tend to favour the interests of the NSW Police, which are narrower than the interests of the community.

Including two former members of the NSW Police as Community Members is not keeping with the need for a broad range of views being available to the Parole Board, preferably from parties who are not open to being accused of bias because of their present or former careers.

While the Law Society is not suggesting that there will be actual bias on the Parole Board, it is concerned that the perception of bias should be avoided.

The Law Society suggests that when future Community Members are appointed that the perception of bias is an important matter to be taken into consideration.

NSW Legislative Council Hansard 01/03/2005

The Hon, Peter Breen: My question is directed to the Minister for Justice and Minister for Fair Trading. Is the Minister aware that Robert Bruce Inkster and Peter John Walsh, both policemen, have been appointed as community representatives to the Parole Board?

Does the Minister agree that those appointments do not reflect the composition of the community at large, as specified in the relevant legislation?

Does the Minister acknowledge a potential conflict of interesting that Mr Inkster and Mr Walsh may have had previous dealings as serving policeman with inmates whose parole the are reviewing?

Does the Minister acknowledge that the relevant legislation has a provision for at least one police officer to be appointed to the Parole Board?

Is it the Minister's intention to stack the Parole Board with current and former police officers?

The Hon. John Hatzistergos: The answer to the questions seriatim are: Yes, no, no yes and no.

NSW Parole Board and the Politics of NSW Prisons

Case No 1 Prisoners Letter to Bob Carr. Dear Premier, I refer to my complaints that the Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services are acting contrary to imposed sentences and sentencing law principles.

Unlawful Parole Considerations

Probation and Parole Officers fulfill an important role within the criminal justice system by supervising, managing and providing assistance to offenders on conditional liberty?

Probation and Parole in NSW

Since I requested some help from Justice Action and the authorities just before Xmas for the then corrections personnel to assist me I was moved so that my parole prospects would be thwarted even further.

PAROLE

Well firstly thank you for sending the latest copy of Framed Magazine to me. I was very surprised, as I had no idea that I was still on your books. If you like I can send some more drawings for possible submission in the future.

Probation and Parole in NSW

I am a prisoner at the Goulburn Prison I refer to the New South Wales Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 Sect 135.

By Just Us 21 May 05

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Prison guards test positive for drugs
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NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
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Hicks's lawyers seek panel decision

Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than two-and-a-half years

Lawyers for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee, [prisoner], David Hicks will make another attempt to dismiss charges against their client in a series of motions hearings starting in Cuba today.

Mr Hicks has pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought by a, [war criminal], US military tribunal, including attempted murder, conspiring to attack civilians, and aiding the enemy.

[All charges are just plain US rubbish and propaganda.]

His father, Terry Hicks, has received a letter from his son written in August, which he says shows that solitary confinement has affected his son's state of mind and he can no longer make sound decisions.

Mr Hicks says his son's defence team will be fighting a decision to remove three members of the military commission panel without replacing them.

"My honest opinion is it should be scrapped, put them through a proper legal system and deal with it that way," he said.

"Not this farce that they call hearings and trials. A 10-year-old kid could probably conduct a better hearing than what these people are doing."

The, [war criminal], Federal Government is being urged to lobby the, [war criminal], Pentagon to appoint more panel members to the military commission.

Australian Democrats Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja says three of the panel officers were recently removed because of concerns about bias.

"These hearings are a joke, they're an abuse of process," she said.

"We've called on the Australian Government not only to lobby the US Government in relation to bringing David Hicks home, but at a minimum they should be enforcing different processes so that they're fairer, so that we actually see a proper legal trial or hearing taking place."

Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than two-and-a-half years.

By Kangaroo Caught 2 November 04

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By the fact...in & of itself...just the facts..?
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The father of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee, [prisoner], David Hicks says it would be wrong for, [war criminal], Prime Minister John Howard to take any credit for speeding up the legal processing of his son.

Howard double standard on prisoners
The [war criminal], Prime Minister's claim in Los Angeles overnight that "if an American commits a crime in Australia, that person is tried in Australia' falls flat in light of his decision to let the US try two marines alleged to be involved in attempted murder in Townsville, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.

Labor, Greens criticise prisoner abuse probe
The Federal Opposition and the Greens have little confidence in an internal Defence Department investigation into the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

Hicks, Habib detail abuse to Aust officials
A federal government department has revealed both Australians being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have raised allegations of abuse with Australian officials.

I was misled on abuse: Howard?
[War criminal], Prime Minister John Howard says he did not mislead the public about when Australian officials became aware of allegations about the serious abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Amnesty report criticises Aust, US
Amnesty International has accused Australia of using national security to justify the erosion of human rights and says the United States has proved "bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle" in its fight against terrorism and invasion of Iraq.

Australian officer visited Abu Ghraib
An Australian Army legal officer who served at the coalition's military headquarters in Baghdad visited the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on a number of occasions, a Senate committee has heard.

Family worried about son in Iraqi prison
The South Australian family of a man detained in Iraq says it is becoming increasingly concerned about his welfare. Ahmed Aziz Rafiq, 26, was born in Iraq, but has been living in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

Hicks interrogator features in CBS broadcast
An American television program has broadcast an interview with a man who interrogated Australian terror suspect, [scapegoat for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

HRMU: Harm-U for Hicks, Habib?
[War criminal], Prime Minister John Howard, NSW Premier Bob Carr, Justice Minister John Hatzistergos and other State and Territory prison ministers have set out a grim blueprint of life in an Australian jail.

Hicks's lawyer welcomes prison decision
Guantanamo Bay detainee, [prisoner and scapegoat for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], David Hicks's lawyer has welcomed federal Parliament's decision to allow any prison sentence he may receive to be served in Australia. Mr Hicks and fellow Australian Mamdouh Habib have been held in Cuba without charge for more than two years.

Hicks trial won't be fair: US lawyer
The military lawyer assigned to Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate, [prisoner and scapegoat for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], David Hicks has launched one of the most serious attacks yet on the legal process surrounding his client.

US military criticises legal process for Guantanamo prisoners
Military lawyers assigned by the Pentagon to detainees, [prisoners], at Guantanamo Bay are planning to present a brief to the US Supreme Court tomorrow, criticising the fairness of the legal process.

Guantanamo detentions slammed
A leading human rights group has denounced the United States Government for continuing to hold prisoners without charge two years after it set up the detention, [prison], camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Vigil: Season's Greetings for David and Mamdouh
The objective is to continue to inform the public; and maintain the issue alive. There will be information on both David and Mamdouh to hand out to the general public. There will also be two Season's Greetings cards for the public to sign which will be presented to Alexander Downer - as Parliament will be on recess by then, I will ask the Fair Go for David Group in South Australia to present these to Downer.

US court delivers blow to Guantanamo policy
In a stinging rebuke of the Bush Government, a United States appeals court has ruled the US cannot imprison "enemy combatants," [scapegoats and patsy's for the Coaltion of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], captured in Afghanistan, [held], indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay and deny them access to lawyers.

Hicks's lawyer hopeful of meeting before Christmas
Adelaide lawyer Stephen Kenny says he hopes to meet with United States military captive David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay before Christmas.

Red Cross warns resource wars in the Middle East are eroding human rights The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that the worldwide campaign against terrorism [the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East], must not be used to breach peoples right under international law.

Lawyers differ on Guantanamo deal
The lawyers for the two Australian men being held, [tortured in solitary confinement], at Guantanamo Bay have had different reactions to the, [war criminal], Federal Government's agreement with the, [war criminal], United States over procedures for any 'military trials'.

US 'political prisoners' demand rule of US law
FOREIGN prisoners, [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], held in Cuba, including Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, will never have played their legal card until they're freed!

Government should fund 'free Hicks' doco
TAXPAYERS have forked out $185,000 for a documentary promoting the release of David Hicks - because the Coalition of the Killing used him as a scapegoat for their illegal and degrading resource war's in the Middle East.

A STRUGGLE ON TWO FRONTS: PRISONS & IMPERIALIST WAR
After a war waged by the U.S. military against Vietnam which took the lives of more than 3 million Vietnamese people and more than 58,000 GIs, the U.S. finally withdrew in 1975. It had suffered its first official major military defeat by a united people struggle led by the Vietnamese, along with a mass U.S. anti-war movement.

Supporters doubt PM's efforts to release Habib, Hicks
The supporters of two Australian detainees [prisoners] being held [tortured] by the United States at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba say they draw no comfort from [war criminal], Prime Minister John Howard raising the men's plight with [war criminal], US President George W Bush.

Greens For Freedom of Political Prisoners
The Greens politicians refused to be ejected and attempted to deliver a letter and photograph to the president. But Kerry was literally dragged away and that behaviour in Parliament was worrying.

Habib's wife to join Greens Protest during Bush Visit
The wife of an Australian man imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay has urged the Prime Minister to seek her husband's release when the United States President visits Australia this week.

Red Cross Criticizes Indefinite Detention in Guantanamo Bay
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Oct. 9 A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday that the holding of more than 600 detainees [prisoners] here was unacceptable because they were being held for open-ended terms without proper legal process.

Australia: Crean backs war criminals
The Federal Labor leader, Simon Crean, has tried to head off planned protests by some opposition MPs when the US President addresses Parliament next week.

Bush's Vanished Prisoner
He Wonders Whether He Will See the Light of Day Again October 10th, 2003 6:00 PM

Guantanamo Bay treatment: Limbo
Former federal judges, diplomats, military officials and human rights advocates in the United States have urged the Supreme Court to review the cases of detainees [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East], being held without charge at Guantanamo Bay in the name of terrorism.

Australia: Justice for Hicks & Habib
The public forum Justice for Hicks & Habib was quite a success. Approximately 130 people attended the event, a big number for a Saturday eve!

Pilger said White House knew Saddam was no threat
Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie which could cost George W Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.

Illegal and degrading war crimes: Society on the New World Order (OWN)! While Australia and the US are very distinctive societies war criminal, Prime Minister John Howard and war criminal, President George Bush share core values.

Civil Liabilities: Howard's diversity? I had a dream?
The war criminal, Prime Minister, John Howard, who only yesterday was claiming he was showing diversity has stepped up pressure on the states to support plans to increase the war criminal, Federal Attorney-General's powers to ban terrorist organisations, [scapegoats and patsies for the Coalition of the Killing's illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.]

Terry Hicks Odyssey for Justice for his Imprisoned Son
Terry Hicks, David Hicks father, one of two Australian [scapegoats] held imprisoned [and tortured] at Guantanamo Bay, arrives tomorrow Saturday 20 September in Sydney. He will hold a Press Conference at 2pm at Breakout, 65 Bellevue St. Glebe.

Evidence that Howard was complicit in CIA, false flag, call to arms, Bali bombings War criminal John Howard was complicit in the call to arms - false flag operation - Bali bombings - instigated by the CIA - and the Coalition of the Killing - to bolster support - and quell dissent for their illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.

State terror units caused the terror!
The level of suspicion and surveillance created by the [US false flag operation and call to arms] Bali bombings, created by [ the Coalition of the Killing and Australian's complicity to go to war on Iraq] means that all Australian's suffer the loss of their human rights, civil rights and their democratic rights, as well as those Australian's who lost their life in Bali.

Australia backs CIA Reichstag, Downer's propaganda
The Foreign Affairs Minister says the latest message from Osama bin Laden is worrying. [Just plain rubbish!]

Bin Laden calls? CIA blind man's bluff!
A [US propaganda, fear-mongering] taped message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq but has branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.