Political Censorship - The Scottish Prison Service and Guantanamo Bay
John Bowden | 21.08.2007 10:30 | Repression | World
While most of the world condemn US practices at Guantanamo Bay, the Scottish Prison Service are attempting to stop prisoners even hearing about them!
POLITICAL CENSORSHIP
A jail manager at HMP Glenochil in Stirlingshire has decreed that any material, written or musical, that is critical of the US detention/torture center on Guantanamo Bay is banned from being circulated within the jail.
Kate Middleton, a senior manager at Glenochil, in a written reply to a prisoner’s complaint that a music c.d. handed in for him by a visitor was being withheld from him on the grounds that it was ‘sectarian’, said: ‘Apart from the issue of the disk being a copy, it contains several very political tracks, e.g. a track regarding Guantanamo Bay, which may cause offence to certain people living and working in this establishment.’ Apart from the obvious question of how many of the Scottish working class prisoners at Glenochil would feel outraged and offended by criticism of the torture regime operating at Guantanamo, an equally obvious question is why Kate Middleton is being allowed to censure information and criticism, in whatever form, concerning Guantanamo Bay, or indeed any major world issue, within the prison?
Unfortunately, within the hidden and totalitarian world of prison, right-wing bigots and confirmed fascists tend to occupy positions of omnipotent power over prisoners, and see their role as one not just of controlling and containing the body of the prisoner, but essentially the mind as well.
When Kate Middleton was challenged by the prisoner to define ‘sectarianism’ in relation to criticism of Guantanamo Bay, she wrote: “I did use the term sectarian instead of political, wrong word.” Obviously wrong politics as well as far as Middleton is concerned, especially when the politics concerned are informed by a concern for human rights.
Criticism of the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is now world-wide and expressed by governments and every leading human rights organisation around the globe, and yet within a state institution staffed by individuals supposedly answerable to the public, an individual such as Kate Middleton has a free, unrestrained hand to ban and suppress any material remotely critical of Guantanamo Bay.
The human right to express and share information and ideas critical of established systems of power, and the abuse of that power, is established in international and UK law, but unfortunately, not here apparently within an institution where a senior manager feels some affinity with her colleagues running Guantanamo Bay.
John Bowden
9 August 2007
A jail manager at HMP Glenochil in Stirlingshire has decreed that any material, written or musical, that is critical of the US detention/torture center on Guantanamo Bay is banned from being circulated within the jail.
Kate Middleton, a senior manager at Glenochil, in a written reply to a prisoner’s complaint that a music c.d. handed in for him by a visitor was being withheld from him on the grounds that it was ‘sectarian’, said: ‘Apart from the issue of the disk being a copy, it contains several very political tracks, e.g. a track regarding Guantanamo Bay, which may cause offence to certain people living and working in this establishment.’ Apart from the obvious question of how many of the Scottish working class prisoners at Glenochil would feel outraged and offended by criticism of the torture regime operating at Guantanamo, an equally obvious question is why Kate Middleton is being allowed to censure information and criticism, in whatever form, concerning Guantanamo Bay, or indeed any major world issue, within the prison?
Unfortunately, within the hidden and totalitarian world of prison, right-wing bigots and confirmed fascists tend to occupy positions of omnipotent power over prisoners, and see their role as one not just of controlling and containing the body of the prisoner, but essentially the mind as well.
When Kate Middleton was challenged by the prisoner to define ‘sectarianism’ in relation to criticism of Guantanamo Bay, she wrote: “I did use the term sectarian instead of political, wrong word.” Obviously wrong politics as well as far as Middleton is concerned, especially when the politics concerned are informed by a concern for human rights.
Criticism of the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is now world-wide and expressed by governments and every leading human rights organisation around the globe, and yet within a state institution staffed by individuals supposedly answerable to the public, an individual such as Kate Middleton has a free, unrestrained hand to ban and suppress any material remotely critical of Guantanamo Bay.
The human right to express and share information and ideas critical of established systems of power, and the abuse of that power, is established in international and UK law, but unfortunately, not here apparently within an institution where a senior manager feels some affinity with her colleagues running Guantanamo Bay.
John Bowden
9 August 2007
John Bowden
Comments
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Free to take liberty
21.08.2007 15:21
Complaint form
First, the CD was accepted at Glenochil reception even though it was expalined it was homemade. The artists written copyright permission which was also proffered was said to be unneccessary, it would be sure to be passed to him.
Then it was later rejected for lack of the copyright notice, so that was sent in.
Then it was said "There is no way we are giving him that - it is sectarian and disparaging of the English prison service" - it isn't, although why the SPS consider Guantanamo part of the English prison service is unclear.
Then Ms Middleton said it wasn't her decision and she would pass me on to the warden in charge of Johns area if I wanted as he was sitting opposite her. When I agreed to speak to that warden, she changed her mind and hung up mid-sentence in annoyance.
Then the Governor claimed there had been an operational emergency at the time that caused Kate to hang up - Kate never claimed that at the time, it sounded like a standard meeting getting underway on the phone. The governor claimed the CD wasn't getting in because it wasn't a 'proper shop bought CD'.
So Avalanche Records agreed to stock a copy of the CD so that it was a 'proper shop-bought CD'.
Then Kate Middleton said to John that it was because it was disparaging of the English prison service and sectarian.
When pulled up about that she cited Seize the Days 'Club XRay' but admitted in writing she meant political rather than sectarian - although still no explanation for why it disparages the English prison system.
The governor has since backtracked shamelessly and said it is because it is a homemade CD, and that homemade CDs are never allowed into prison. It is true, it is homemade. It is also perfectly legal, perfectly inoffensive, and it has since been handed to three other prisoners in three other prisons without any copyright and without any hassle or lies from the prisons. If you know a prisoner who would like an illegal version of Johns legal CD, just leave your email address here.
This sort of duplicitious and petty behaviour should not be acceptable in someone who runs a dog kennel let alone a senior public servant in charge of people in prison. Not receiving a poor quality CD may seem a minor point for John to complain about when he is being denied every freedom simply for refusing to condemn anarchists as terrorists. It is however emblematic of how the prison service harrasses anyone who stands up to their petty vindictiveness, and lies repeatedly and shamelessly to try to break peoples spirits.
If anyone here can print one copy of the CD on a factory press for John then it would be appreciated, the artists involved have no qualms with that. Otherwise, I will be approaching the artists again seeking to release it as a mass-release CD, and I am asking radio stations to play some of the songs at a time John can listen to them.
Cha-cha-cha.
Danny
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22.08.2007 10:16
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MSP not MP
22.08.2007 15:50
The SNPs Keith Brown MSP is a better bet for a reply in my experience, and probably more relevant. He is the Ochil MSP - so is Johns local MSP in effect, an ex-army guy and so somebody I'd expect to be more a right-wing "hang 'em and flog 'em" stereotype. In reality he has been a lot more sympatico than many self-proclaimed, self-promoting, hyper-critical pseudo-anarchists.
Justice is a devolved matter. This is Keiths contituency. So I don't see the local MP as relevant as Keith is. I think we owe him a letter or email or two, for Johns sake.
Personally I'm sticking to Kenny MacAskill as he is the Justice Minister up here. I have to assume if his senior staff have been lying to me, they have also been lying to him. I have no way to know if he actually believes the shit he is fed by his senior employees, though he is employing them. I do know one way to test that though. I emailed him yesterday asking him to either discuss this with ABC or to justify arresting me for the admittedly pitiful NVDA campaign I am about to contribute to.
"Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." -Henry David Thoreau
Danny