Prisons - new material (51)
01 August 2002
Punishment & Society vol 4 no 3 (July) 2002. This is a special issue on prison privatisation with contributions on legitimacy and accountability (Elaine Genders), prison commodities advertising 1949-99 (Mona Lynch), nonprofit privatisation in juvenile punishment (Sarah Armstrong) and race and crime (Michael A. Hallett). Available from SAGE Publications, 6 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4PU.
Preliminary observations made by the delegation of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment which visited Turkey from 21 to 27 March 2002 and Response of the Turkish authorities. CPT (CPT/Inf 13, Strasbourg) 23.7.02. The CPT delegation's visit to Sincan F-type prison and other detention facilities in Diyarbakir (part of the State of Emergency Region) welcomed the development of communal activities in F-type prisons, although it recommended that prisoners should enjoy "the possibility of participating in association (conversation) periods", regardless of participation in other communal activities. The conversation periods would be for a mere five hours per week, but according to the delegation, "dropping the link" would provide "a solid counter-argument to those who claim a system of isolation is being applied in the F-type prisons". The Turkish authorities insist on maintaining an isolation regime, unless prisoners participate in communal programmes by arguing that "if terrorist offenders ... come together purely for conversational purposes, they will clearly use this opportunity to do organisational work in an ideological context rather than for rehabilitation purposes". Further complaints from the CPT delegation relate to prison staff presence during medical examinations of detainees, evidence gathered confirming accounts of ill-treatment in Diyarbakir Provincial Gendarmerie Command and the failure to ensure access to a lawyer for detainees in the Anti-Terror Department and Narcotics Sector in Diyarbakir Police Headquarters. Available from: Secretariat of the CPT, Human Rights Building, Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg CEDEX, France.
The GOM - Gruppo Operativo Mobile (Operative Flying Group). This text is available on the filiarmonici website, which specialises in the penitentiary system, includes many documents written by prisoners and advocates an end to prisons in Italy. The article outlines the GOM´s origins as a replacement for the SCOP (Servizio Coordinamento Operativo) in 1997 after instances of brutality against inmates. Two major investigations into abuses in Secondigliano (Naples) and Pianosa prisons resulted in 65 prison officers facing charges. The duties of the 500-strong GOM are to maintain order and discipline in prisons, with priority given to "serious situations of turmoil". They must also guarantee safety during transfers, and the surveillance of persons deemed to be dangerous or at risk, as is the case of collaboratori di giustizia (informers), or inmates serving sentences under a hard prison regime. The GOM were accused of setting up the temporary detention area in Bolzaneto carabinieri barracks during the G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001 where violent abuses were perpetrated on protestors. Information and web links on the GOM available on www.ecn.org/filiarmonici