10 December 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Yarl’s Wood detains too many pregnant women, prisons inspector says

originally by: The Guardian
published: 7th Dec 2011

The detention of “too many” pregnant women at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre has been heavily criticised by the chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick. Hardwick particularly highlighted the case of one pregnant detainee who had endured a four-day journey from Belfast to Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire via Scotland and Manchester airport, where she had collapsed.

The privately-run centre was the scene of a major riot and fire in 2002 and is now the main detention centre for women facing deportation from Britain. At the time of the inspection in July, it held 229 women and 27 male partners. Children have not been held there since December 2010.

7 December 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

MPs finally stand up for Gary McKinnon as extradition law reform motion voted through

originally by: Mail Online
published: 6th December 2011

The campaign to change Britain’s unfair extradition laws scored a stunning success at Westminster last night. A motion calling for ‘urgent reform’ to the US/UK treaty which is being used to try to wrestle Asperger’s sufferer Gary McKinnon to America was passed uncontested by MPs. No vote was called when it became clear the motion had overwhelming support after being backed by a string of heavyweight speakers from all parties.

It is a huge victory for those campaigners who urged Parliament to resist American pressure and ‘stand up for Britain’.

Tory MP Dominic Raab, who led the debate, said it was about defending ‘the price we place on the liberty of our citizens and the value we ascribe to that cornerstone of British justice – innocent until proven guilty.’

5 December 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Locking up children for life in the US

originally by: Amnesty International USA
published: 30th November 2011

While their peers are finding dates for prom, submitting college applications, and starting families, over 2,500 prisoners sit behind bars in the US without the possibility of parole.

What makes these prisoners unique is that they were all sentenced for crimes committed while they were children.

The US is the only country in the world that pursues life imprisonment without parole against children – and it does so regularly. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child expressly prohibits life imprisonment without the possibility of release committed by people under 18 years old.

All countries except the USA and Somalia have ratified the Convention.