Detained-Lives-report1

Interviewees described passing through a criminal justice
system which maintained a reasonably transparent correlation
between offences and punishments, to a detention
system apparently devoid of limits, causality and comprehensibility.
The basic injustice of their exceptional treatment
was clearly a major reason for their perception of the
illegitimacy of detention. Three interviewees described
their situation as discrimination, while five compared their
treatment to that of animals.
“ ”
We all bleed red. There is
no one of us bleed gold.
Karim Benhamou, detained 8 years
“
”
But the day is long, 24 hours,
so no matter what you do you
will get fed up with it… We’re
not talking about days, we’re
talking about weeks, about
months, and now we are talking
about years.
Achene, detained 21 months
Three interviewees referred eight times to the cost of holding
them, to no apparent purpose and their own misery,
“wasting our lives and wasting their money”.
“ ”
You know what is astonishing about
this Eventually we get out. So all the
strategy is a waste of taxpayers’ money
and people’s life behind bars.
Karim Benhamou, detained 8 years
Small positives were provided by the opportunities to work
for pocket money as cleaners, which were mentioned by
three interviewees. There was dissatisfaction at the limited
nature of the work available in comparison to prison
regimes. But the prevailing impression was that no regime
could be adequate for indefinite detention.
“
Living in
the dark
”
life detained
“ ”
I used to speak French better than I speak
English. I’ve been trying to sit down and
polish it, but I just can’t concentrate to do
it. I used to enjoy painting, but I cannot put
pencil to paper… The things we do here,
anything you do, you need to have peace of
mind, a free mind to do it.
Interviewees felt that conditions and facilities in detention
were not adequate for those forced to live there for years.
They described using fully the facilities, including education,
English lessons, computers, internet chat-rooms, the
gym and TV. The phrase “killing time” recurred. Five interviewees
felt that there was nothing to do.
“ ”
People watching TV 24 hours. I hate
the TV, there’s nothing else.
Mohammed Ali Saad, detained 24 months
Lawrence, detained 15 months
“
I’m not happy the way I live.
I want to be at home every
second. Every day, every hour
I’m stressed. I’m missing a lot of
things… I’m living in the dark.
Dark
”
life.
Daniel, detained 20 months
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