§ 67. Mr. MYERSasked the Chief Secretary whether he has received any complaints regarding the alleged brutal treatment of men in Cork gaol and detention camp who are recovering from hunger strike and are still in delicate health; and whether he can now state the result of his inquiries into the case of one man named Burke, in which visitors are being refused permission to see him?
§ Mr. HENRYAs regards the treatment of these men up to their transfer from civil to military custody on 29th March last, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his question on the 7th instant. No complaints have been received regarding their treatment while in military custody; on the contrary, Burke stated on the 8th instant that he was perfectly satisfied with his treatment. Burke and another late hunger-striker assaulted a warder in the civil jail on the evening of the 23rd ultimo, when a determined attempt by armed rebels was made to release men from the civil jail. The late hunger-strikers were then removed to the Military Detention Barracks, and Burke and the other man, as a punishment, are at present not allowed to see visitors.
§ 68. Mr. ACLANDasked the Chief Secretary whether, in view of the many statements as to the insanitary conditions of many of the Irish prisons and internment camps and as to hardships inflicted on prisoners, many of whom are untried and uncharged, he will state what arrangements are made for the inspection of prisons by visiting justices or other independent inspectors; whether inspections are carried out in prisons and internment camps which are under military control; whether he has received through inspectors any complaints of hardship or brutality; and, if so, whether any action has been take in the matter?
§ 78. Lord H. CAVENDISH-BENTINCKasked the Chief Secretary whether the internment camps in which untried men and women are detained in Ireland, and the military barracks and bridewells 2048 through which most of them pass to trial or internment, are subject to the ordinary system of prison inspection?
§ Mr. HENRYIn the ordinary course all civil prisons are visited by visiting justices. No complaints as to hardships or brutality have been received from any such justices, nor, am I aware, so far as regards civil prisons, of any such complaints received from any other source. As regards military places of detention and internment camps, these are regularly inspected by senior military officers and medical officers, and an inspector of military prisons and internment camps has recently been appointed. In the last three months eight complaints of ill-treatment have been received. They have been carefully investigated, but the investigation in each case has shown that the conditions complained of were not of the nature alleged. I may add as regards internment camps that many of the internees have written to their friends speaking highly of the good treatment they are receiving.