Security risk raised by lack of Muslim staff at terror jail
Lack of Muslim and Arabic-speaking staff at jail that detains terror suspects creates security risk.
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Wednesday, 27, Feb 2008 07:56
A government report will claim that a lack of Muslim and Arabic-speaking staff at a jail that detains terror suspects is creating a security risk.
According to a report by Anne Owers, the chief prisons inspector, staff's inability to understand what is being discussed by detainees could raise security fears in the specialist unit for extremist prisoners at Long Lartin prison.
And though the report, seen by the Reuters news agency, says officers in the special terrorism unit had requested cultural training to combat societal gaps, insufficient efforts had as yet been made by prison authorities.
Ms Owers' report recommends that the Worcestershire jail seeks to employ Muslim or train Arabic staff, as well as providing training regarding awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder.
"A concern was that (apart from the Muslim chaplaincy) there were no Muslim or Arabic-speaking staff who had first-hand appreciation of important cultural differences or who could understand what the detainees... were saying to each other," the report reads.
"This made it more difficult to manage the detainees on a daily basis, as well as presenting some security concerns, as staff could never be certain what was being discussed between detainees. There was currently no training for unit staff, though staff, managers and the Muslim chaplaincy all said they felt (it) was essential."
The specialist unit at Long Lartin currently holds seven detainees, less than half of its capacity to detain up to 20 suspects who are thought to be "involved in terrorist international activity and are said to be a threat to national security".