Muslim prisoners in England extra prone to be subjected to drive, charity finds

Muslim prisoners are disproportionately subjected to drive together with pain-inducing strategies by jail workers, in line with new knowledge.

Freedom of data requests discovered that in eight out of 9 prisons with excessive Muslim populations, Muslim males have been extra probably than the common inmate to be confronted with batons, made to put on inflexible bar handcuffs, or intentionally held in a painful place.

The figures have been disclosed amid calls for for a crackdown on Muslim gangs inside the jail property, after claims they’re successfully working some prisons.

In a single incident, the Manchester Enviornment bomber Hashem Abedi attacked three officers with sizzling cooking oil and home made knives, leaving two of them in hospital.

Maslaha, a social justice charity, requested knowledge from 9 prisons with larger than common Muslim populations. The request coated 2023 – the most recent full 12 months obtainable – and known as for statistics protecting the usage of batons and inflexible bar handcuffs.

The charity additionally requested figures protecting pain-inducing strategies akin to thumb flexion, wrist flexion, inverted wrist maintain and “mandibular angle” – placing stress on a nerve beneath the ear.

• At Belmarsh, a jail in south-east London usually used to carry terrorist suspects, Muslim prisoners made up 32% of the inhabitants in 2023. Over the identical interval, Muslim males have been subjected to 43% of incidents involving the usage of inflexible bar handcuffs and 61% of incidents involving the usage of pain-inducing strategies.

• At HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, Muslim prisoners constituted 43% of the jail inhabitants. However greater than half – 55% – of the usage of inflexible bar handcuffs and pain-inducing strategies over the 12 months was on Muslim prisoners.

• At HMP Isis in Thamesmead, south-east London, Muslim prisoners made up 45% of the inmates. However batons have been used on Muslim prisoners in additional than 57% of the incidents the place batons have been drawn, and 56% of incidents of pain-inducing strategies concerned Muslim prisoners.

• At HMP/YOI Feltham B in west London, Muslim prisoners have been 42% of the inhabitants. Figures confirmed they have been subjected to 53% of the makes use of of inflexible bar cuffs, 57% of the cases the place batons have been drawn and 64% of pain-nducing strategies.

• At HMP Woodhill, in Milton Keynes, Muslim prisoners constituted 37% of the inhabitants however have been subjected to 49% of the makes use of of inflexible bar handcuffs, 63% of cases of batons being drawn and 64% of incidents utilizing pain-inducing strategies.

Solely in one of many 9 prisons – HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire – was the usage of drive decrease for Muslims in contrast with the general inhabitants.

Raheel Mohammed, the director of Maslaha, mentioned the info “lays naked the realities of life” for Muslims in jail. He claimed they have been “being focused by means of drive, subjected to harmful pain-inducing strategies, and singled out for intentionally humiliating therapy”.

Mark Fairhurst, the nationwide chair of the Jail Officers’ Affiliation, disagreed with that interpretation of the info. “Employees solely use drive on the final resort when obligatory and when it’s used, it’s all the time proportionate and affordable,” he mentioned.

Ministry of Justice knowledge exhibits there have been 15,594 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales in September final 12 months, accounting for 18% of all inmates regardless of comprising solely 6.5% of the inhabitants.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has claimed Islamist gangs are “ruling the roost” in UK jails after the Abedi assault. He informed GB Information: “There shouldn’t be these Islamist gangs taking management of our prisons.”

In April final 12 months, HM Jail & Probation Service made it a nationwide precedence to handle racial disproportionality in the usage of drive. This included a brand new framework that measures disparities in the usage of drive between white and ethnic minority folks in jail, which is able to permit for elevated accountability and optimistic adjustments on a prison-by-prison foundation.

A Jail Service spokesperson mentioned: “We recognise the usage of drive in prisons wants larger supervision and have already launched mechanisms to scale back the disparities in how it’s used. Our new race disparity unit will assist sort out racial discrimination additional.”