Special Category Status
In July 1972,
Special category (or "political") status was de facto prisoner of war (POW) status, providing them with some of the privileges of POWs, such as those specified in the Geneva Conventions.[3] This meant prisoners did not have to wear prison uniforms or do prison work, were housed within their paramilitary factions, and were allowed extra visits and food parcels.[4][5]
SCS was introduced in 1972 by
Certain convicted prisoners in Belfast Prison who are located separately from other inmates are now allowed to wear their own clothes. They will be allowed to receive at least one visit and a food parcel each week and to spend their own money in the prison canteen. Their allocation of letters will also be increased... I have made it perfectly clear that the status of political prisoner is not being granted. What has been granted is similar to the facilities provided in the Parkhurst and Leicester wings in this country.[6]
In January 1975 the Gardiner Committee, which looked at how the government should deal with "terrorism and subversion in Northern Ireland" in the "context of civil liberties and human rights", recommended the ending of SCS.[7] It argued that SCS undermined the role of the prison authorities in maintaining discipline.[citation needed]
The government accepted the recommendation and on 1 March 1976, the new
By late 1976, the new cellular prison accommodation recommended by Gardiner was ready to receive its first prisoners. In the week that
The protest was followed by the 1981 hunger strike when ten republican prisoners starved themselves to death in the Maze. The privileges were gradually phased back in afterwards, with the core demands of protesting prisoners in place by early 1983.[9]
References
- ^ Kieran McEvoy (2001), Paramilitary imprisonment in Northern Ireland: Resistance, management and release, p.216. Oxford University Press
- ^ "The Troubles, 1963 to 1985".
- ISBN 9780198299073.
- JSTOR 44027778.
- ISBN 978-1403981936.
- ^ "Hansard Commons Chamber Volume 840: debated on Thursday 6 July 1972". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Report of a Committee to consider, in the context of civil liberties and human rights, measures to deal with terrorism in Northern Ireland". cain.ulst.ac.uk.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Prison Service". Archived from the original on 9 August 2006.
- ISBN 978-0-7165-3301-6.