June 29, 2006: Zahid Mubarek Inquiry - Howard League Responds

Howard League Director Frances Crook as responded to the publication of the report of the Zahid Mubarek Inquiry:

"I welcome the Zahid Mubarek Inquiry report and hope that it will have a similar impact on the prison service as the Macpherson report had on the police service. I also welcome the recognition in the report that prisons are grossly overcrowded and cannot provide effective public protection. However, it is a shame that the terms of the inquiry were drawn so narrowly by the Home Office to prevent the Inquiry from examining the issue of the inappropriateness of short prison sentences."

"Zahid Mubarek was sent to prison for a minor offence when he should have been given a community sentence which would have allowed him to make amends for his offence, and where he would not have been exposed to the dangerous circumstances identified in the report which led to his tragic death. Prisons remain inherently racist and unsafe. For example, on a prison visit this week I saw a group of young Asian prisoners being held in a cell for their own protection in order to escape from racial abuse by other prisoners. Recent research published by the Howard League for Penal Reform exposed the futility of locking up so many young men in prisons which merely compound their problems and increase the likelihood of them committing further offences upon release, putting both the public and themselves at risk."