Fighting Racism
Close Rochester close all detention centres
ROCHESTER PRISON has been the subject of many protests since it was declared a Detention prison in 1995. On average there are 190 immigration, detainees in Rochester. Now the way they are treated by the Prison Service has been condemned by the offical Inspectorate of Prisons. The report followed an unannounced inspection last year.
Sir David Ramsbotham said Rochester prison was found in a worse state than when it was last inspected. He questioned the legality of treatment applied to these unconvicted prisoners.
Drug tests
For example they have been subject to mandatory drug testing, and punishment through prison disciplinary procedures if they fail to cooperate. No legal justification for this could be provided.
This lack ,of concern for due process extends to the very fundamentals of the detention of these people they were not provided with any written explanation as to why they were being detained.
Ramsbotham’s report makes clear that this was a wider concern on his part, which had also arisen from inspections of other centres, such as Campsfield in Oxfordshire.
Despite his urging, no coherent set of guidelines, regulations or statutory rules has yet been formulated for all detainees.
When subjected to prison procedures adjudication documents used were only in English, which many of the detainees do not understand.
Induction procedures and documentation were available only in English, although detainees who did not understand them were still required to sign them as if they did.
In general, although many of the detainees speak little or no English, facilities to communicate with them in other languages were not employed: "remarkably there had been no instances in which the Language Line had been used at Rochester during the past year"
Ramsbotham also criticised the Prison Service for treating detainees as if they were unconvicted prisoners when their needs were markedly different. There was little activity for them and little work, although they needed money to have access to various facilities.
Hostile
Some staff were clearly hostile, and resented the presence of detainees, although others wished to be able to provide a better regime. Critiicism was made of the general regime.
Overall Rochester Prison was dirty. This particularly extended to the toilets used by detainees, and he remarked two cells had been left bloodstained for weeks after incidents in which a detainee cut himself.
These criticisms are official, but the detainees in Rochester have themselves repeatedly protested the conditions. Numerous suicide. attempts, hunger strikes and official complaints have gone unheard. The response of the prison authorities and immigration is forceful removal of the individual to the segregation unit, restrictions under prison regulations without hearing or trial pending removal to another prison.
In some extreme cases individuals have been removed to hospital without their consent so as to shift the prison’s responsibility for action and medicalise the problem.
However the campaign outside must continue. The answer is not mild reform and better management of this cruel and degrading treatment but ending it.
As a first step the National Coalition of AntiDeportation Campaigns is calling for the closure of Rochester, but all of these centres must go ... and the sooner the better.