####18/02/2012###
MAGHABERRY – Britain’s Guantanimo Bay
The Irish Republican Socialist Party was disgusted but not surprised at the news that terminally ill Republican prisoner Brian Shivers had suffered a savage and relentless beating from the Loyalist Prison Officers Association in Maghaberry on Wednesday 15 February. In a typically sinister move, the screws began the vicious beating in a private area of the prison, away from prying eyes and CCTV cameras. However such was the extent of this attack that it escalated into the viewing gallery in front of other prisoners and their families.Brian Shivers is still recovering in hospital from this brutal onslaught.
This incident is not isolated and is a regular occurrence in Maghaberry –Britain’s Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Guantanamo Bay was set up in 2002 by former US president George W.Bush for the express purposes of interrogating and detaining political prisoners. This facility has now become synonymous with torture and brutality. But this exact oppressive regime exists in Ireland today in the form of Maghaberry detention camp. This smashes the illusion of Normalisation that the British government and their allies in Stormont have been trying to convey. How can a society be reformed if people are imprisoned by a sectarian Police force and then tortured by sectarian thugs employed as Prison staff? The cowards who beat Brian can do so to anyone in Maghaberry with complete immunity.
The silence from the media over this attack has been deafening. This is because it is part of the British government’s control of the media. This means that we, the Irish working class, must become the prisoner’s voice outside. We will continue to do all we can to help the prisoners by highlighting their situation in Maghaberry. We strongly urge people to become involved by drawing attention to the barbaric regime in Maghaberry in any way that you can. This can involve writing a letter to your local paper or organizing a picket. Show the British government that they will not torture Irish working class people with impunity. We wish Brian a quick recovery and his family and friends have our full support.
Support the Maghaberry Political Prisoners- Break the silence!
###ENDS###
Belfast IRSP
Costello House
392b Falls Road
Belfast,
BT12 6DH
