End arbitrary indefinite jail terms, says UN torture tsar

A United Nations torture tsar has said British prisoners trapped on indefinite jail terms are probably “being detained arbitrarily” after The Independent revealed six in 10 are being blocked from moving to open jails.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Dr Alice Jill Edwards, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has said those languishing on imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences are being subjected to “psychological torture” and warned that the government is “very likely” to be breaching their human rights by international standards.

Dr Edwards and Amnesty International have issued fresh calls for the government to reconsider resentencing more than 2,600 prisoners serving the “simply inhumane” prison term, which has left many incarcerated for decades for minor crimes.

These include injustices highlighted by The Independent such as James Lawrence, 38, who is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell after serving 12 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery.

Another IPP prisoner, Yusuf Ali, 50, was left skeletal and fighting for his life after spending 61 days on hunger strike over his jail term. On Friday, it emerged that White is now too unwell to leave his cell and has cut off contact with his family after his mental health deteriorated.

Dr Edwards told The Independent: “Keeping them locked up indefinitely, without a clear path to release, is simply inhumane. Some of the IPP prisoners are very likely being detained arbitrarily, by international standards. Notably, those who have been incarcerated for longer than they would have been on the ordinary definite sentencing system.”

The indefinite jail terms, which saw offenders handed a minimum term but no maximum, were introduced by New Labour in 2005 in a bid to be tough on crime.