The Muslim News - Prison service must recognise concept of ‘institutional religious intolerance’

Issue 207, Friday 28 July 2006 - 3 Rajab 1427

Prison service must recognise concept of ‘institutional religious intolerance’

By Elham Asaad Buaras

A High Court judge and author of the public inquiry into the racist murder at Feltham young offender institute recommended earlier this month, that the Home Office and Prison Service should recognise the concept of “institutional religious intolerance” to help combat prejudice against Muslim inmates.
Nineteen-year-old Zahid Mubarek was murdered by his cell mate Robert Stewart, a known racist, on March 21, 2000, just hours before he was due to be released. Mubarek, a first time offender, was made to share a cell with Stewart, who had “R.I.P.” and crucifix tattooed on his forehead. Stewart hit Mubarek with a table leg repeatedly on the head.
Justice Keith said, “Definition of institutional racism adopted by Stephen Lawrence Inquiry focused on discrimination because of a person’s colour, culture or ethnic origin and did not refer to their religion. I have recommended that thought be given to the recognition of the concept of institutional religious intolerance.” He added, “I have considered the position of Muslims in prison, not just because Zahid was a Muslim, but also because of the significant increase in Muslim prisoners in recent years, and the increased levels of Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11 and last year’s London bombings.”
Prison officials named in the inquiry have subsequently been promoted. Niall Clifford was the Feltham Governor at the time of the murder. He was promoted to an area manager’s position shortly after the death of Mubarek.
Former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham, criticised the Government for not immediately suspending relevant staff. He also criticised the Government for not allowing him to hold an immediate inquiry into the murder. Mubarek’s family had to battle in the High Court for the right to a public inquiry. The family said the catalogue of failures in the Prison Service exposed “institutional murder”. Twenty people faced criticism for mistakes leading to the death of Mubarek.
The 700 page report outlined a series of 186 failures allowing the crime to take place. Lord Ramsbotham warned that ministers must find extra money to cope with growing prison numbers and called for the Prison Service to eliminate forced cell sharing.
Mubarek’s mother, Sajida, broke down during the press conference held to launch the report on June 29. She said “the family miss him so much.”
Mubarek’s uncle, Imtiaz Amin, said, “We make no bones about the death of Zahid Mubarek. He died because of institutional murder. The report exposes a litany of failures from prison staff to senior management, all of which are culpable for the circumstances in which Zahid was placed in a cell with a known racist and psychopath. It was obvious what would happen.
“The report represents a devastating critique of the whole prison system, and it is important that something like this does not happen again.”
Solicitor for the family, Imran Khan, said, “The family will be now looking at what action can be taken against those individual officers, especially if nothing is done by those in power. The family will also be looking for personal injuries from those managers in charge of the Prison Service at the time this preventable death took place.”
The judge said there was a “bewildering catalogue of shortcomings” in Feltham at the time. He added that he had been “uncompromising” in naming those who had failed to do their duty, but it was for the Prison Service to decide if “heads should roll”.
The two-year inquiry had heard that prison officers played a game called Gladiator by putting racist inmates in cells with ethnic-minority prisoners and put bets on the outcome. Inquiry Chairman, Justice Keith, said there was a “real possibility” that a similar game did exist at Feltham, in which prison officers placed unsuitable inmates together to “wind them up”. But it found no evidence of betting or of officers acting malignantly.
The possibility that Stewart was influenced by a violent film about neo-Nazis he watched two days before could not be ruled out. The film, Romper Stomper, starred Russell Crowe as a skinhead gang leader who orchestrates battles with Asians.
In a message to the Government, Justice Keith said, “You are only going to get the prisons you are prepared to pay for. Either you keep the prison population down by changing sentencing policy, or you accept that the prison population will increase, and you inject sufficient funds into the system to ensure that prisoners are treated decently and humanely.”
The Home Secretary, John Reid, said he agreed in principle with 50 of the 88 recommendations made, which would be considered carefully. The Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said, “The sheer number of failures identified is a shattering condemnation of the way the Prison Service has been run under this government.”
The Muslim community welcomed the findings of the public inquiry. “This was a wholly preventable death caused by the lamentable decision of the staff at Feltham Young Offenders Institution to house Robert Stewart - a known racist with a violent past – in the same cell as Zahid Mubarek. Many other prisoners from minority backgrounds have long experienced the institutional racism of the Prison Service. We now urge the Home Office to urgently act upon the inquiry’s recommendation to recognise that institutional religious intolerance also needs to be actively combated. There should be a zero tolerance policy towards both racial and religious prejudice,” said Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari.

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