The Justice Gap blog in the UK reports….
Most prisoners had spent at least 23 hours a day locked in their cell since lockdown and, in one prison, shielding prisoners had only one and a half hours out of their cells a week for two months. A recent report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the impact of COVID-19 both commended and condemned what was described as the ‘very restrictive approached’ implemented throughout establishments. Whilst in one breath praise was given to prisons and immigration removal centres responding ‘swiftly and decisively’, in another Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, denounced the ‘degrading’ living conditions found in many.
Published towards the end of last month, the analysis reviews 35 so-called short scrutiny visits which took place between April and July in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. You can read the report here. The aim of the programme was for inspectors to focus on issues essential to the safety, care and basic rights of those detained at the height of the pandemic as opposed to more exhaustive full reviews normally carried out.
Peter Clarke flagged concerns over the living conditions for the detained across the prison estate. Frequent lapses in cleanliness standards were noted by inspectors. Those in cells with no toilet or sink had been left in ‘unacceptable and degrading’ conditions. Acknowledging that the system was overwhelmed, Clarke relayed that some prisoners had had to wait hours to be let out of their cells, meaning that they had resorted ‘to urinating or defecating in buckets or bags’. He further explained that the prisoners ate in those same spaces and did not have access to hand-washing facilities or hand sanitiser at that time.
Read more at. http://www.feedspot.com/?dadi=1#feed/fof_fo_875778__f_4708625/article/6412547985?dd=4311523221328616
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