Prisoners deserve basic rights too

I WAS deeply distressed to read your report on the Council of Europe’s findings on prison conditions in Ireland.

I had always assumed that people are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. Though one may make a convincing argument to support the view that prisoners’ should forfeit their civil rights, there can be no grounds for insisting that they forfeit their human rights.

The most fundamental right for all convicted offenders is the freedom from torture and degrading treatment. The treatment of prisoners, as described in the report, is a sad reminder of the harrowing stories of ill treatment that emerged from the investigation of child abuse; institutions for the treatment of young offenders were discovered to have been brutal and inhumane. The outrage that this generated should now be extended to the fate of the prisoners in our care.