In a prominent place in every British prison you will see a sign which bears the following legend:

ìHer Majestyís Prison Service serves the public by keeping in custody those committed by the courts. Our duty is to look after them with humanity and to help them live law abiding and useful lives in custody and after releaseî

So remember fellow - hostages the next time youíre strip-searched, insulted, humiliated, threatened, assaulted, transported around the country in a tiny steel box, made to urinate in a plastic cup, forced to eat in a toilet, or locked in a cell for 23 & a half hours out of 24, youíre being treated with ëhumanity.í

Thereís so much ëhumanityí here at HMP Parkhurst, that those visitors who are able to successfully negotiate the nefarious visits booking system, and actually manage to get here, make it through the numerous searches and humiliations, and into the visiting area, may if they so wish, and have an ìopen visitî, kiss the prisoner theyíre visiting for 6 whole seconds! Though they should be warned that if this is misinterpreted by the over zealous custodians of ëhumanityí they may be attacked, throttled, assaulted, arrested, strip-searched, and/or ejected. All presumably with what the Prison service obscenely calls ëhumanity.í

The only humanity that exists in these place is that which prisoners manage to keep alive in their hearts, the humanity that refuses to be crushed by a system that is anything but humane. As with most of the proclamations of the British Prison service, their ëmission statementí is utter bilge.

Officially, the Prison Serviceís attitude to miscarriages of justice is an entirely impartial one, they simply exist to keep those of us committed to prison by the courts, rightly or wrongly, in ëlawful custodyí. But as every victim of a miscarriage of justice well knows, any supposed impartiality by the Prison service on this issue is as much a falsification as the myth of their vaunted ëhumanityí. In reality, those protesting miscarriages of justice are regarded as subversive (which is fair enough in my case), they are consistently victimised, and every possible effort is made to interfere with their lawful right to contest their convictions.

In my own case the victimisation started even before the cops had finished fitting me up. While I was still on remand, and on the very day that I was due to be visited by my barrister, and shortly thereafter by medical and forensic experts. I was ghosted out of Doncaster Prison to Lincoln Prison. Prior to my being moved I managed to get word to my solicitor, who faxed the prison saying that any transfer would have a highly detrimental effect on the preparation of my defence, but the fax was ignored. In terms of my defence the transfer was devastating, my London-based barrister refused to visit me altogether at Lincoln, as did the forensic experts, other reports were substantially delayed, visits from my solicitor were fewer, and of course things were made much more difficult for my family. Also, prior to the ghosting, evidence was stolen from my cell at Doncaster (along with nearly £1000ís worth of property.)

The above was only a foretaste of what was to come after my wrongful conviction. At HMP Full Sutton, for example legal files contained on computer disk were destroyed on more than one occasion by Security. My legal papers have frequently been ransacked, damaged, documents have been stolen, and they have been withheld form me for periods of weeks or months. Not only has legal mail been opened contrary to Prison Rule 39, but it has been delayed, withheld, or simply ëdisappearedí altogether. And of course all legal phone calls are unlawfully monitored.

In terms of my campaign, the Prison Service have done everything possible tp prevent me fighting my miscarriage of justice. At HMP Full Sutton, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Cardiff, there has been a massive amount of interference with both incoming and outgoing mail. At Full Sutton, I was forbidden to write anything for publication on my case, for example an act which is in direct contravention of Prison Standing Order (5b). At Long Lartin, all incoming campaign material was simply stolen, even when it was sent by ërecorded deliveryí. At Cardiff there was a systematic attempt tp prevent me communicating with my campaign, my MP, MOJUK, and with journalists investigating my case.

In this year alone I have been ghosted 4 times so far, to prisons which are ever less accessible to my family, solicitor, and in the case of HMP Parkhurst to just about everyone. I had barely got off the ëCategory A vaní when I was being quizzed about my campaign. My legal papers have been withheld from me for more than 3 months, making it impossible for me to work on my case.

These are just a few brief personal examples, but I know that many other miscarriage of justice victims have suffered similarly at the hands of the supposedly impartial Prison Service.

Something that certainly affects every one us is the so-called ëincentives and earned privileges schemeí, which specifically discriminates against those who continue to protest their innocence. So because we are appellant, we are entitled to less visits, less ëprivate cash,í and are penalised in a whole number of other ways.

Parole is another obvious area where miscarriage of justice victims are discriminated against. Such is the system that most of us will spend longer in prison than if we were ëguilty.í

Nobody should harbour any illusions that the Prison Service, as an arm of the State is in any way fair or impartial. It is just as much a part of the crooked system as the cops, Crown Prosecution Service, and judges , and will use every dirty trick in the book to deny us justice in just the same way as its co-conspirators. We are hostages of the class war, and we should expect no favours from the hired lackeys of the opposing side.

What we should be able to expect though is at least some level of honesty, and not to have our intelligence insulted by ridiculous ëmission statementsí which fly in the face of all the evidence, and have about as much moral integrity as the notorious sign over the gates of Auschwitz proclaiming ëArbeit Macht Frei,í (Work will make you free) which I suspect Jack Straw may introduce before too long. And no doubt all in the interests of ëhumanity.í

Mark Barnsley, HMP Parkhurst, Thursday 10 August 2000

First published in 'Inside Out' No 12