§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners currently in prison, and in which prison, in the Six Counties, were convicted 662W under the scheduled offences provisions of the Emergency Provisions Act; and how many were convicted on their own uncorroborated confession.
§ Mr. AlisonStatistics do not separately identify prisoners in Northern Ireland who have been convicted of the offences referred to in schedule 4 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978. However, of a total of 2,144 sentenced prisoners in custody on 28 June 1981, it is believed that just under 1,600—approximately 75 per cent. of the population—are serving sentences for terrorist-type offences. The large majority of these prisoners are held in Maze prison, but there are some in other establishments.
It is not known how many prisoners were convicted as a result of statements made by them or to what extent such statements were corroborated by other evidence. That information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.