This week's stories: Jails Creating Criminals...New York Firefighters
Get Words But No More...Selective Compassion After Bali Bombing...
A former nurse at a jail has said that criminals are routinely
brutalised to the point that jail makes them far more likely to commit
serious crimes, not less.
The former nurse, identified only as Jenny, told one story of a man in
his 20s who was raped by other prisoners. She went to his cell where he
was curled up in a corner.
"I have never seen anyone so scared. It was one of the most horrific
things. He could barely speak. I was trying to comfort him, and in the
background the guards were laughing, as if it was a joke. I managed,
after a while, to coax him from his cell - he was like a pup that had
been badly beaten. As we were walking across the yard, they [the
guards] were mimicking how he was walking, crouched over, and laughing
at him. He'd been so badly raped that his bowel had ruptured. That
seemed to provide an additional element of humour. He was just a boy".
A prison officer working in the same jail has confirmed Jenny's story.
The victim, who was serving a short sentence for drug offences, had been
placed in a cell with a man who was in for 15 years for a series of
violent armed robberies, and who had a history of standing over younger
prisoners.
The victim had filled in two complaint forms saying that he feared he
would be raped and asking to be moved to another cell. They had been
ignored.
The victim was too scared to say anything for fear of retribution. A
prison official told Jenny that "it is not a rape in that case. It is
just institutional sex" and refused to have him taken to a sexual
assault unit. Jenny even had to argue for him to be taken to hospital.
The rapist also had a 'notifiable disease' - possibly AIDS.
Jenny said that "the prisoners are treated as being beneath animals by
the guards".
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Yolande Lucire told a similar story.
An inmate had been "banged up between two sadistic psychopaths who had
beaten him up and thrown hot water over him. They knew he had money in
a bank account on the outside and were threatening to send people over
to his sister's house to rape her unless he handed over the money". Dr
Lucire says prison authorities knew about it but did nothing.
Dr Lucire interviewed the prisoner and made a submission to prison and
health authorities.
Ron Woodham, then senior assistant commissioner of the NSW Corrective
Services Department, and now Commissioner, wrote to her saying that "it
is my intention to deny you access to every NSW correctional centre".
The majority of prisoners are drug addicts and are sentenced for
drug-related crimes. They are placed on methadone for their prison
term. One officer said "with methadone, we are just keeping them
addicted to drugs for their sentence, making them easier to handle, and
then they get out and go straight back on heroin". Another officer said
that "there are inmates who would genuinally like to use their time
inside to come clean, but there is nowhere for them...But there is a
pervading attitude in the Department that drugged prisoners are easier
to deal with".
One expert said that "the only real difference between the 19th century
prisons and the today's is that the toilets flush. They're just as
brutal as they've ever been".
An officer at a Sydney jail said "you hear all these people talking
about how jail is a holiday...but gee, if they only knew. I alwasy
think about what it would be like if my son got sent to jail - I mean,
there are plenty of good kids who, for whatever reason, can go a bit off
the rails. If he was a rough-and-tumble sort of bloke I suppose he
could survive. He'd be scarred forever - he'd never be the same. But
if he was in any way soft or weak and he got more than, say, four or
five years, I'd almost wish him dead rather than see him go through that
system, knowing what happens. I really would".
Today there are more than 21,000 people in jail at any one time - almost
double the number a decade ago. Over the last 15 years the rise in the
number of people in jail has been matched by an equivalent increase in
the numbers of crimes. This seems to contradict the 'law and order'
theory that tougher sentences and more jails will reduce crime.
(Good Weekend, Oct 19).
New York firefighters, despite being hailed as heroes for their role
after the World Trade Centre bombing, have been refused an adequate wage.
Steve Cassidy from the Uniformed Firefighters Association says
firefighters appreciated the praise they had gotten from politicians,
but "we need a living wage".
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has asked all city agencies to prepare
for deep cuts in next year's budget.
(The Age, Oct 12).
Nearly half the victims of the Bali bombing were local Balinese -
despite the presentation of the bombing in the media as an 'attack on
Australia'.
The Balinese victims have not been airlifted to Western hospitals, but
have been left with the local hospital system, which is inadequate at
the best of times.
(email from an Australian working in Bali, who is coordinating a relief
effort for local Balinese - email Imgoen at [EMAIL PROTECTED]).
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Some other Australian anarchist websites:
www.angry.at/racists - Anarchist/anti-racist music site with free mp3s, Real
Audio, Real Video, band interviews etc.
www.dolearmy.org - information for unemployed people.
www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed at teenagers.
..
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