Council calls for vigilance on Garda use of force

A council of Europe committee has expressed concern about Garda violence against persons in custody.

In a report published today, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment asks that members of the Garda Siochana be reminded that "no more force than is strictly necessary should be used when effecting an arrest".

The report also asks that gardai be told again that once people arrested "have been brought under control, there can be no justification for police officers striking them".

The report says a significant number of people the committee interviewed about their experiences in Garda custody alleged they had been "physically ill-treated" by gardai . This included slaps, kicks, punches and blows with batons.

The report says: "The persistence of such allegations regarding the use of excessive force by police officers highlights the need for the Irish authorities to be particularly vigilant in this area".

The committee also complains that "little or no effective action" has been taken against prison officers at Mountjoy and Limerick Prisons who are known by senior staff to treat inmates badly.

It recommends that prison officers be trained in interpersonal communication skills which would enable them "to deal with the difficult situations which may arise in prisons without resort to violence".

The committee says "the great majority" of prison officers already attempt to deal with prisoners in a humane manner.

The renovation work carried out at Mountjoy and Limerick Prisons is welcomed by the committee, but the report says that "the potentially positive impact of such measures continues to be undermined by overcrowding".

The committee notes "the ambitious scale" of the prison-building programme but says "it is unlikely that providing additional accommodation will alone provide a lasting solution to the problem of overcrowding". It calls for "a multifaceted strategy designed to bring about a permanent end to overcrowding".

The fact that "so many inmates are essentially left to their own devices for months at a time" is deplored by the committee.

The Irish authorities should aim for a situation where prisoners spend eight hours a day or more "outside their cells engaged in purposeful activities of a varied nature", it says. The regime offered to prisoners serving lengthy sentences should be "even more favourable".

Significant increases in the staffing of prisoner medical centres and a broadening of the services available are also recommended. The Irish authorities have "a duty of care" to prisoners who should be "properly medically screened on reception" and are entitled to "an adequate quality of medical care".

"As matters stand, the medical service in the male accommodation areas at Mountjoy Prison signally fails to meet these criteria", the report says.

The committee also recommends that "the cleanliness and state of repair of cellular accommodation" at Henry Street Divisional Headquarters in Limerick and at Fitzgibbon Street and Finglas Garda stations in Dublin be improved.

In its response to the report, the Government welcomed the fact that the committee had commented favourably on some improvements since its last visit six years ago.

However, it acknowledged that "in spite of these positive comments and ongoing developments, there is still need for further action to improve the condition of those held in custody, whether in prisons, Garda stations or mental hospitals".

It shared the view "that no individual who comes into contact with the i (sic) Garda should become the victim of police ill-treatment" and said it was committed "to preventing all such activities".

On prison officers' training, the Government said all recruits since 1986 had undertaken a two-day training course in communications and interpersonal skills.

The issue of ongoing training in these skills "is intertwined with the whole issue of overtime which is currently costing £33 million per year in the prison service".

No charge of ill-treatment by a prison officer had ever been upheld, the Government said. Efforts were being made to improve the activities available to prisoners and the medical service they received.

The Government said cells in Henry Street Garda station in Limerick were "cleaned daily using anti-bacterial agents . . . The cell block had only just, in fact, been steam-cleaned by a contract cleaning company in the days prior to the visit by the committee".