[Imc-uk-features] featue propsal: It is no crime to escape an illegal prison!

[playscheme]

The legality of a prison is different of the morality of a prison. Some of us think all laws and prisons are immoral.  Some even use the title 'prison is criminal'.  I'm not criticising the article or the cause obviously, just the title, maybe you could take ten minutes to think of a better one. You could also suggest ways to help people who have escaped from immoral detention, or even how to help them escape ? 



Genny <vg at genny.force9.co.uk> wrote: Yeah, I think this should go up asap.
Some suggested edits below.

Cheers

Genny

Shiar wrote:
> Title: It is no crime to escape an illegal prison!
> 
> Author: No Borders
> 
> Image:
> 
> Abstract:
> 
> Around 10.30pm on Saturday, a riot broke out in Campsfield immigration
> prison, Oxfordshire, leading to 26
> migrant prisoners escaping. 12 have since been recaptured, while the
> rest are still on the run. It followed a yard protest on Tuesday night
> against the appalling conditions inside the detention centre, which is run
> by Global Expertise in Outsourcing (GEO), and the discriminatory decisions
> of Newport immigration court, which is used for bail hearings and appeals
> involving Campsfield detainees. A 

a [remove]

hunger strike was started on Wednesday
> but was put on hold pending a meeting with Home Office representatives on
> Friday. A further yard protest on Friday night was held as the meeting 
> href="/en/2007/08/377519.html">failed to 

meets [replace with meet]

the prisoners' demands.

Maybe reword the above sentence, as 'meeting failed to meet' doesn't 
read very well.
How about 'When these representatives failed to meet the prisoners' 
demands, a further yard protest was held on Friday night.'?

> A solidarity demo at Campsfield House has been called for
> Tuesday, August 7th, from 12 noon to 2pm.
> 

> Last week, a revolt in a detention centre in Bari, Italy, led to at least
> 35 migrants escaping.
> 

> Links: No Borders
> UK |  Campaign to Close
> Campsfield
> 
> Content:
> 
> 

> According to the Campaign to Close Campsfield, detainees were evacuated
> into the yard 

[add 'at']

around 10:30pm on Saturday after a fire in the centre's
> makeshift kitchen (a Portakabin where the centre's detested diet of chips
> is prepared). There was allegedly a risk 

[add 'that']

the large gas bottles stacked
> outside would explode. Then, at about 10:45, reports came in that a group
> of detainees were smashing through the back gate. At about 11:30,
> detainees were being marshalled back into their cells and locked in,

[add a space here]

while
> a police helicopter was circling around. No fewer than eight fire
> appliances 

were there. [replace with 'attended']

  Hoses were being paid out although the kitchen fire
> had reportedly been extinguished.

> 
> A while later a new fire broke out in one of the accommodation blocks and
> detainees were evacuated into the yard again. Meanwhile, another group
> were trying to break out but these did not succeed. About 6 police
> vehicles were already at the side gate, with dogs and some officers
> donning riot gear. There was a moment of
> drama when the "spacemen" approached the penned-in detainees and were
> pelted 

[add 'with']

mud, small stones and insults.

> 
> Around 6:30 on Sunday morning, detainees were taken back inside and were
> "locked down" with police lining the corridors of the centre.

> 
> A statement by detainees at
> Campsfield House on

[remove space before colon] :

[is there something else to go here?]

> 

> 
> Newport immigration court, which is used for bail hearings and appeals
> involving Campsfield detainees, is very discriminatory compared to other
> courts in the UK: the bail application and appeal success rate there is
> less than 5%.


[Not sure about the wording of the above.  Er...  Can't think how to 
reword it... something like: 'Immigrants cannot expect a fair hearing in 
court, where they experience discrimination and injustice.  The bail 
application and appeal success rate at Newport immigration court is less 
than 5%, far lower than the UK average.' or even better 'compared with 
the national average of x% (which I couldn't find!)]

> 
> Living conditions for detainees are appalling. Campsfield is a health
> hazard with 70% 

infection [replace with 'of people infected']

with flu. Paracetomol is the only medicine made
> available; two weeks ago even this ran out. Campsfield was rife with
> scabies, but only staff were issued with gloves. Although detainees are
> held 

[add 'as']

civil detainees, not convicted prisoners or prisoners on remand,
> food, toilets and showers are a lot worse than in prisons. Some detainees
> are being held even though they have won an appeal against deportation.
> Others have clearly stated that they want to go back to their country of
> origin but have still been waiting in Campsfield for months."

> 
> A statement  

[remove one space before 'by']

by No Borders noted
> that police have portrayed the escapees as criminals, urging members of
> the public to "contact us immediately should they see anyone they believe
> could be one of those involved." Seeking asylum, 

it added [because last quote was from the police, it sounds like the 
police are 'it' here.
Change to 'the statement continues,']

"is not a crime
> and these people should not have been imprisoned. We call upon members of
> the public to assist these vulnerable people." The BBC had proudly 
> href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6930000/newsid_6931800?redirect=6931801.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&asb=1">reported
> that a local resident in Kiddlington tackled and detained one of the
> escapee asylum seeker who asked him for help.

> 
> Campsfield immigration prison
> 
> Campsfield House was converted into an immigration detention centre in
> 1993, amid a storm of protest from local residents [history]. The
> so-called Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) is run by American company GEO
> and is surrounded by 20ft fences, with razor wire on top. It holds up to
> 200 male asylum seekers at any time. Within 6 months of its opening, six
> asylum seekers escaped following a rooftop protest. Regular demonstrations
> and pickets outside Campsfield, mainly organised by the Campaign to Close
> Campsfield, have since become a common occurrence.

> 
> In March this year, Campsfield witnessed 
> href="/en/2007/03/365388.html">another riot when detainees tried to
> intervene and stop a forceful 'removal' of a fellow Algerian detainee.
> Following the 'disturbance', Robert Whalley CB was asked by the Home
> Office to extend his
> investigation into the Harmondsworth disturbance on 28-29 November,
> 2006, to that establishment as well. Among other things, Mr Whalley said:
> 

> 
> "The Harmondsworth and Campsfield House disturbances were very different,
> both in causation and in how they unfolded. Both occurred at a time when
> recent population pressures, falling heavily on vulnerable fabric in a
> hard-pressed detention estate, were accompanied by dislocation in casework
> handling, especially in the case of Foreign National Prisoners, which
> caused a build up of latent tensions."

> 
> "It did not take much to trigger these events. When they started, they
> soon escalated, despite best efforts to prevent this happening. The
> underlying causes are still there and, without any changes, the same thing
> could happen again at either establishment."


[As this quote doesn't go on to demonstrate how the disturbances were 
'very different', maybe the beginning could be contracted to read 'The 
Harmondsworth and Campsfield House disturbances... both occurred'.]

> 
> --------
> 
> 
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