Liberty’s Legal Officer Alex Gask, who brought the legal challenge, said:
“It is difficult to determine which is more shameful - that already poorly treated and vulnerable detainees were brutally humiliated for two days or that the Home Office refuses to adequately investigate what happened. The Government must establish what led non-criminal detainees to be locked in overcrowded rooms and denied water and toilets while the centre was on fire.”
Liberty is acting on behalf of individuals whose evidence about their treatment during the Harmondsworth disturbance includes being denied food and water for up to 40 hours; being locked in overcrowded, pitch-black rooms flooded with water for more than 24 hours; being forced to urinate and defecate in front of each other; and being strip searched in front of several officers.
One detainee told how he was taken to the centre's medical clinic suffering from a bad back. 'They just abandoned me,' the man said. 'There was no doctor and, when I asked where the doctor was, the detention officers laughed at me ... One of them stepped on the hem of my trousers to make me fall over. He then started laughing and called me a "fucking negro".'
The disturbance in November 2006 allegedly began when detainees were not allowed to watch news coverage of a damning report on conditions in the centre by the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMIP). Several detainees challenged the prison guards and damaged property, forcing the centre to be temporarily locked down.
Liberty is also challenging the Home Office and Kalyx Ltd (the contractor running the centre) over the appalling conditions of detention prior to the disturbance taking place. Evidence from the individuals about the conditions in Harmondsworth substantiate the HMIP report, including: • an individual with HIV/AIDs being “outed” by prison officials and subsequently abused by other detainees • an individual with diabetes being denied insulin treatment • an individual with a visible skin disease bullied by prison officials • arbitrary solitary confinement • no effective complaints procedure • guards using racist taunts and beating detainees without provocation • detainees beaten by guards for such behaviour as requesting the faxes sent them by their lawyers.
Contact: Jen Corlew on 0207 378 3656 or 0797 3 831 128 Notes to Editors 1. Liberty filed an application for judicial review in the High Court of Justice on 17 July 2007 on behalf of three claimants who were detained at Harmondsworth detention centre in November 2006 against the Secretary of State for the Home Office and Kalyx Limited (formerly “UK Detention Services Ltd.”) Liberty argues that the Home Office is in violation of Article 3 of the Human Rights Act which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by failing to conduct an independent inquiry into the disturbance. For a copy of the application contact Liberty's Press Office on 020 7378 3656.
2. Liberty has compiled Harmondsworth detainees’ witness statements about the conditions in Harmondsworth both during and before the disturbance. The statements reveal that solitary confinement as a punishment for speaking out at Harmondsworth is common, according to Liberty’s witnesses. 'If we made a complaint we would be given a warning,' one man known as 'K' told Liberty. 'If we were given three warnings, we would be put in an isolated cell. We were scared of making complaints against officers because we expected to be treated badly if we did. We were treated like pigs and very unfairly, as if we were serious criminals.'
3. Anne Owers, Chief Inspector Prisons, visited Harmondsworth for an unannounced inspection on 17-21 July 2006. Her report on this inspection, published on 28 November 2006 was “undoubtedly the poorest report we have issued on an IRC”. This report is available
here. 4. On 4 June 2007 the Home Office confirmed receipt of Liberty’s letter calling for a public inquiry including witness statements and supporting material. After one of Liberty’s clients was returned to Africa, a further letter was sent by Liberty on 14 June requesting a swift response ensuring that no additional clients and witnesses would be removed. On 2 July, Liberty received a response from Lin Homer on behalf of the Home Office refusing a public inquiry because an internal investigation into the Harmondsworth disturbance was already being carried out. The internal investigation results have yet to be published.
