Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I commend Deputy Clare Daly on introducing it. It is one that we in Sinn Féin will be supporting. Like Deputy Clare Daly, I would also like to see the outright banning of solitary confinement. As the Deputy outlined, for reasons in respect of which we cannot really legislate, we will be fully supporting the recommendations within the Bill.

As republicans, prisons hold a special resonance for us as they have been associated with colonial rule and the legacy of conflict for hundreds of years on the island of Ireland. They were sites of execution, torture and ill-treatment for many thousands of political prisoners down through the decades. They were also used as inhumane warehouses for the destitute in a society that was very unjust and unequal. It is in this context that Sinn Féin has taken the decision to support this Bill.

Prisons in this State have been synonymous with solitary confinement and slopping out for many decades. In the North, solitary confinement was regularly used against republican prisoners. I particularly recall its use against female prisoners in Armagh jail who refused to be strip searched. They were placed in prolonged solitary confinement as a form of punishment. If the Government needs any further evidence, it need only to look at the conditions in prisons in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the treatment of the blanket men who were placed in cells for 23 or 24 hours a day. Those cells had urine flowing out under their doors and prisoners had to cover the walls in their own excrement. The punishment diets that those prisoners had to endure were also a harsh reality of prison life within the Six Counties.

In terms of the current situation, international human rights law states that prisoners have the right to be treated with dignity. They have the right to safety and security, to humane treatment and to freedom from torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. On any given day in the Irish prison system, upwards of 150 prisoners are being held on 23 hour lock-up for reasons of protection, with a further unspecified number on 23 hour lock-up for other reasons, including those relating to discipline. I received an e-mail today from the Irish Penal Reform Trust, IPRT, which indicates that 24 prisoners in this State have spent more than 100 days in solitary confinement, while nine have spent more than one year on a 22 hour lock-up regime.

We recognise that within the prison system there is a need to strike a balance between prisoner safety and providing a humane regime. However, the potential harm that can be done to a person's mental health by extended periods of isolation means that holding any category of prisoner on 23 hour lock-up must only ever be done as a temporary measure. That is what this Bill proposes to do. Even at that, solitary confinement cannot be a solution in itself to prisoner safety concerns. Robust safeguards must be put in place regarding the use of solitary confinement.

International human rights law is very clear on this matter. It prohibits, in absolute terms, the use of torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Both the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee Against Torture have stated that, in certain cases, prolonged solitary confinement of imprisoned persons can amount to a breach of their human rights. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has said that holding anyone in solitary confinement in excess of 15 days amounts to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that can rise to the level of torture, as can any time in solitary confinement for juveniles or people with psychological disabilities. The UN Committee Against Torture has proposed that, at a minimum, any isolation of prisoners be strictly and specifically regulated by law, in terms of maximum duration, conditions and so forth, and should be exercised under judicial supervision.

The European prison rules also clearly state that solitary confinement should only be used in exceptional cases and for a specified period that should be as short as possible. In addition, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has repeatedly called for the abolition of such regimes. It has argued for limiting of the use of solitary confinement to exceptional circumstances and for increasing the level of meaningful social contact available to isolated prisoners. The European Court of Human Rights has also recognised that prolonged solitary confinement is a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and recently reaffirmed that solitary confinement cannot be imposed indefinitely and should not be applied to prisoners who are not dangerous, disorderly or who do not pose a security risk.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has warned that the effects of solitary confinement may be worse for pre-trial detainees as they have an increased rate of suicide and self-harm within the first two weeks of isolation. Solitary confinement is also thought to create a situation of de facto psychological pressure which can influence pre-trial detainees to confess or plead guilty.

Regarding children and detention, the Council of Europe has set out rules permitting separation only in very exceptional cases for security and safety reasons. Such separation must be carried out by a competent authority and be based on the procedures laid down in national law which specify the nature, maximum duration and grounds on which solitary confinement may be imposed.

Prolonged solitary confinement is very damaging to the psychological well being of individuals. In one study of California's prison system, researchers found that from 1999 to 2004, prisoners in solitary confinement accounted for nearly half of all suicides within the prison population. A 1995 study of the federal prison system in the US found that 63% of suicides occurred in inmates who were in what is known as "special housing status", such as solitary confinement or psychiatric seclusion cells.

There is currently no bar in Ireland on placing people with mental health issues in isolation. It is fair to say that a person with no mental health difficulties who is placed in solitary confinement has a significantly increased chance of exiting such a regime with issues of that nature. Given the massive psychological and emotional risks posed to a person's well-being following time spent in solitary confinement, there have been long running campaigns for complete abolition of such confinement. That is something that we should be working towards and is an objective that I support.

Solitary confinement can be looked at as a microcosm of the entire penal system. It is, in fact, a prison with a prison, considering that a term in prison is a form of isolation from society. How can we expect to achieve any kind of rehabilitation in the context of the isolation that happens within our penal institutions? This is a much-needed Bill. It provides a starting point for the wider reform of our prison service. I am disappointed that the Government will not be supporting it. Sinn Féin will certainly be supporting its passage to Committee Stage. If the Government has any concerns about the Bill, it can deal with them on Committee Stage. Not allowing this legislation to progress sends out the wrong message to those individuals who are spending months, if not years, in solitary confinement. It suggests that this Government stands over that regime and is not intending to change it any time soon.

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