IRSCNA: Segregation/Political Status Petition

[Danielle Ni Dhighe <danielle@xxxxxxxx>]

Segregation and Political Status for Republican POWs Petition
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/petition/

Sponsored by the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North
America
http://www.irsm.org/firsca/irscna/

In Maghaberry Prison in the North of Ireland, members of
organisations participating in the national liberation struggle are
being held in unsafe conditions and denied status as political
prisoners. The prison struggles of the 1970s and 1980s, during which
ten men died on hungerstrike, won political status, but this was lost
following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Now Republican
prisoners of war are held in the same blocks and cells as loyalists
and other criminals. Incidents of violence against Republican
prisoners in Maghaberry are becoming more frequent. Republican
prisoners are currently engaged in a dirty protest and are
considering undertaking a new hungerstrike.

The IRSCNA fully supports the right of the Republican prisoners in
Maghaberry to segregation. We clearly recognise that they are
political prisoners involved in a legitimate form of protest within
the jail. The prisoners' actions were politically motivated, they
were charged with scheduled offences and tried in political non-jury
courts. They are political prisoners. We appeal to all concerned
individuals and groups to support their demands before we are faced
with the daunting prospect of another hunger strike. We are not
asking you to agree with their political opinions, we're simply
asking that you support their basic rights as political prisoners. We
will not allow Britain to criminalise Republican prisoners or their
struggle for freedom. We intend on making this issue into a major
campaign over the coming weeks and months.

To sign the petition online, click on the link at the top of this e-
mail. You can also print the petition for gathering signatures
offline.