Medical Justice sent a joint submission with Bail for Immigration Detainees to the Ministry of Justice’s Prisons Strategy White Paper. Our comments focused on concerns around the normalisation of a more restrictive regime in prisons, drawing on our joint report “Every day is like torture”: Solitary Confinement & Immigration Detention.
The White Paper suggests that more autonomy will be given to prison governors to set prison regimes. Although it is not explicitly stated in this White Paper, we understand that the Prison Governors’ Association, as well as the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), and Ministers, attribute the fall in violence during the pandemic to the stricter lockup regimes in prisons enforced by Covid. We referenced this and highlighted the harm that solitary confinement has caused to our clients in prisons.
Read our submission here
