UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO PRISON REFORM

It was Nelson Mandela who put it best. A long time prisoner himself, it was
he who spoke most eloquently about their plight.

He said: ``No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.
A nation should be judged not by how it treats its highest citizens, but
its lowest ones."

Prisoners' rights are set out in United Nations treaties, Council of Europe
conventions and the Prison Rules. If these instruments were operating
effectively they would offer an impressive array of mutually reinforcing
safeguards.

However, despite all the formal guarantees the treatment of prisoners falls
far short of an acceptable standard, as a special Irish Independent report
has demonstrated.

Poor medical services and insanitary physical conditions are causes of
concern. Few prisoners have the opportunity to engage in meaningful work.

This means that corrupting lethargy takes the place of constructive
activity. There is no proper system of parole or sentence planning. Too few
treatment programmes are available.

Many prisoners are held in overcrowded cells with a stinking bucket for
company. Accumulated faeces and urine are slopped out each morning.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was ratified by
Ireland in 1989. Article 7 states that: "No one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

A Human Rights Committee, made up of 18 independent experts appointed by
the United Nations, monitors the extent to which countries are living up to
expectations. Ireland will be examined by the Committee in Geneva next
month and tough questions will be asked about the sincerity of our
commitment to basic human rights.

It is unlikely that the government will emerge from this encounter with its
reputation intact.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment visited Ireland in 1993 and 1998. Reports
from these visits highlighted areas where urgent action was required.

Senior prison staff openly acknowledged the existence of ill-treatment of
inmates by certain prison officers and the lack of any mechanism to deal
effectively with such behaviour.

The CPT reported that education, training and recreation facilities were
limited and physical conditions were poor. Medical and psychiatric services
were severely stretched. There were great difficulties transferring
mentally ill prisoners to more suitable environments. Complaints procedures
were inadequate and prisoners facing disciplinary action for breaches of
the prison rules lacked a number of safeguards.

The public is unaware of what goes on behind the closed gates of our penal
institutions. It is only when there is a suicide, riot or visit by an
international human rights group that prison conditions become matters for
debate.

Regular and impartial monitoring of prison conditions are essential
features of any democracy. In Ireland this should be the job of Prison
Visiting Committees. At the moment these committees have little
credibility. By and large they are seen as uninterested and uncritical.
Their structure and functions must be reviewed so that they can become
effective watchdogs.

The work of Visiting Committees would be enhanced if there was a prison
inspector. The arguments in favour of such a position are overwhelming.

However, the government appears reluctant to make an appointment. The
current delaying tactic is the suggestion that this office will be
considered as part of the Prisons Bill, which is still being drafted.

Another area where there has been little movement is the revision of the
1947 prison rules, which at this stage are almost entirely obsolete. They
give few clues about the purpose of imprisonment or the rights and
responsibilities of prisoners and staff.

If the rules are to have any real meaning they require modernisation and
consistent application.

Revised draft rules were published in 1994 and a further version has for
some years been "imminent". Once again the pace of change is frustratingly
slow.

Despite its fundamental shortcomings the system manages to stumble along,
at enormous expense to the taxpayer, and with little effect on the crime rate.

At best, prisons are an expensive way of making damaged people worse.

At worst, they are places where the human rights of our most vulnerable
fellow citizens are regularly violated.

One wonders whether future generations will look back with horror at
today's penal priorities. If this neglect is allowed to persist will it
become yet another source of scandal and shame?

* Dr Ian O'Donnell is Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.