A Crisis Behind Bars – England and Wales’s Prisons and the Alarming Human Rights Implications

England and Wales are grappling with a prison crisis of proportions that few could have predicted – Except all the relevant departments and monitors who have predicted this for the past few years, including HM Inspectorate for Prisons who stated that:

“Many reports from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) have pointed out that, all too often, prisoners are held in conditions that fall short of what most members of the public would consider as reasonable or decent.”

The European Prison Observatory who noted of one incident:

“An inspection of privately run Thameside prison, carried out in January 2013, revealed alarming conditions. Staff were inexperienced and often resorted to physical force. The prisoners had no confidence in them. Despite enforcing one of the most restricted regimes ever seen by inspectors, they found that this large prison was ‘out of control’. Violence was so common that the Serco management had put the prison in a state of lockdown, and yet this extreme measure had done little to bring down the number of attacks.”

The Independent Monitoring Boards who reported:

“…their [BAME prisoners] accounts of direct and indirect racism and poor treatment are shocking and distressing. Even more upsetting is their sense of fatalism – they see this treatment as part of their everyday lives. The women lack trust and confidence in the complaints system, do not trust that they will be treated fairly and are often unaware of how prison monitors can help.”

And even the House of Commons themselves who reported in 2019 that:

“Many prisons across England and Wales are struggling (to varying extents) with overcrowding, high levels of violence, easy access to drugs and squalid physical conditions”

The staggering conditions and overcrowding in prisons have not only drawn the ire of local communities and human rights organisations but have also raised serious questions about the long-term sustainability and morality of the current system of justice in the UK. New reports and statistics are highlighting the severity of the situation, casting a spotlight on the urgent need for systemic reform.

The Overcrowding Predicament

A recent exposé by The Observer/Guardian, underscored by government reports, paints a grim picture. Three-quarters of prisons in England and Wales are described as having “appalling conditions”, with concerns over overcrowding reaching fever pitch -With there being only 947 free cells in the entirely of England and Wales. Such conditions aren’t just about space. They influence every aspect of prison life: health, safety, hygiene, and the ability to rehabilitate inmates.

This issue has exacerbated to such an extent that nearly 4,000 inmates are currently in establishments where they outnumber the official bed capacity. This overcrowded environment is not only physically constraining but is also a breeding ground for hostility, resentment, and tension among the prison population and increases the risk of further offending within the prison estate and puts prisoners at risk of breaching The Prison Rules.

The Death and Self-Harm Crisis

Compounding the issues further are the recent death statistics from prisons. In the year up to June 2023, prison custody saw a distressing total of 313 deaths. This represents a 9% escalation from the 288 deaths reported in the preceding year. Tragically, and of significant alarm, 88 of these deaths were self-inflicted, marking a 26% jump from the previous year’s 70 self-inflicted deaths.

Moreover, there’s a harrowing surge in self-harm incidents, particularly in female establishments. The past year recorded a total of 59,722 self-harm incidents, an 11% increase from the previous 12 months. Female establishments reported a heart-wrenching 52% rise, revealing the dire state of mental health support for inmates, especially women. Self-harm within the prison estate exists almost 600% more than in the incarcerated population and extensive psychiatric reviews have found over 40 risk factors faced by prisoners likely to increase the risk of self-harm.

Assaults and Staff Safety

The prison environment has been increasingly characterised by violence. A total of 22,319 assault incidents were reported in the 12 months leading to March 2023, marking an 11% increase from the previous year. Serious assaults, making up 11% of these figures, surged by 23%. While prisoner-on-prisoner assaults climbed by 32%, assaults on staff witnessed a 3% increase.

Yet, there’s a silver lining, albeit slight. Assaults on prison staff decreased by 2% year-on-year, with a total of 7,461 reported incidents. Nonetheless, the most recent quarterly data showed a concerning 7% uptick in such assaults.

Considering the overcrowding, decreasing care and support, and the overall appalling conditions across prisons, such assaults and tensions increasing is not only unsurprising, but it would also be an anomaly if such incidents did not increase.

The Human Rights Perspective

All these disconcerting trends bring to focus the broader implications on human rights. Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights explicitly prohibits torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Given the conditions described in the prisons of England and Wales, there are severe concerns that this core article is being violated.

Further underscoring these concerns are the United Nations’ Mandela Rules (Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners). The Mandela Rules emphasise the importance of ensuring prisoners’ safety, upholding their fundamental rights, and treating every individual with respect and dignity. The rise in self-inflicted deaths, soaring self-harm incidents, and increased assaults go against the very essence of these guidelines, hinting at a systemic failure to abide by internationally recognised standards – Though, such ignorance is not a new or surprising position for the government to be in.

The conditions in prisons across England and Wales, as evidenced by these figures and personal accounts, present clear violations of these human rights conventions. Self-inflicted deaths, soaring self-harm incidents, and rampant assaults expose a stark failure in the duty of care owed to prisoners.

Final Thoughts

As alarming as these statistics are, they represent not just numbers and percentages and raw data, but each number and each incident represents real lives and real experiences behind bars. The prison crisis is not just an administrative challenge that requires an economic or statistical approach; it is a moral, social, and human rights crisis that demands immediate attention.

Reform is not merely about creating additional spaces or increasing bed capacities. It’s about envisioning and building a system that respects human dignity, ensures safety, promotes rehabilitation, and upholds the values we hold dear in a just society.

Prisoner rights are not just a legal imperative, they’re a reflection of our collective humanity and our belief in redemption. Viewing prisoners, as many in society do, with a mindset of “just let them rot” or assuming “they deserve this” is not only counterproductive but neglects the underlying goal of a prison system — rehabilitation. Globally, countries like Norway and Denmark, which prioritise inmates’ dignity, personal growth, and education, boast MUCH lower recidivism rates. Their penal systems highlight that treating prisoners with respect and humanity not only aligns with our ethical obligations but also leads to safer, more harmonious societies. It underscores the idea that by ensuring a prisoner’s well-being and fostering an environment of growth, we, in turn, cultivate a safer, more understanding society for everyone.

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Avaia was formerly appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice as a human rights monitor within HMP Lancaster, he worked within the prison estate for a year, monitoring compliance with domestic and international law and contributed to recommendations to the government on prison reform.