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Republican Socialist Prisoners of War have moved into residence at their new permanent wing, wing "A," located in H-6 of Long Kesh prison. The drive for a wing of their own began in mid-1994, when a series of insults by prisoners associated with the Republican Movement culminated in a senior IRA prisoner referring to 1981 hunger strike martyrs Patsy O'Hara, Kevin Lynch, and Michael Devine as "civilians." This was followed by hostility over refusal of RSPOWs to fill out a questionaire for the Sinn
Fein POWs Department, which contained information such as addresses, marital status, and wives' maiden names, despite the fact that the RSPOWs do not receive any assistance from Green Cross or Sinn Fein's prisoners department. Three RSPOWs were forced off their wing when they refused to complete the questionaire.
When the three were temporarily relocated to wing B of H-6 (a punishment wing), the remaining RSPOWs joined them there, as did several non-aligned and IRA prisoners, in protest of action by the IRA prisoners' leadership. While residence in the temporary facility greatly improved their circumstances, the punishment wing lacked a number of facilities associated with ordinary wings. In December of 1994, the RSPOWs were granted formal recognition by the NIO and, in the last month, they were granted their own residence in a normal wing of the prison. The relocation has allowed the RSPOWs to organize an IRSP cummann within the jail, and to begin organizing a series of educational meetings, as well as to undertake better coordination of craft production. It is hoped that the four Republican Socialist Prisoners of War recently transferred to Maghaberry Prison will not be subjected to conditions like those confronted by the RSPOWs in Long Kesh before acquiring a separate wing. |