'REIGN OF TERROR' CLAIM IN TOP SECURITY PRISONS

'B' wing at the notorious top - security Gartree prison in Leicestershire is being used to subject inmates to a reign of terror, a prisoner has claimed.

The man prefers not to reveal his identity for fear of reprisals from the prison authorities.

He alleges • that for 23 hours a day prisoners are locked in solitary confinement in cells only seven feet square.

Since the riot last November the walls of cells in 'B' wing have been strengthened with wire mesh and the beds have been cemented into the floor.

There are no curtains on the windows and there is no escape from the powerful arc lamps which flood the cells with perpetual light and make sleep difficult.

A table has also been cemented into the wall and the prisoner says that for all but one hour a day men in 'B' wing have a space no bigger than the floor area of two telephone boxes to move about in.

For one hour they are allowed to walk in a circle affording them the only exercise they would otherwise get.

But the special character of 'B' wing does not end with the environment. Prisoners there are apparently given 'special treatment' as well.

The letter smuggled past the prison's rigid censorship system is now with Tory Home Secretary Mr Robert Carr after finding its way into the hands of Leicestershire MP Mr John Farr.

No luxuries It alleges that warders punch and slap prisoners, that food is of the minimum and served up within four yards of an open lavatory and that there is a 'barbaric' punitive regime.

Extra food and clothing and personal plates and cups are taken away from all those sent to the isolation wings. Prisoners with savings are not allowed to buy such small luxuries as jam or syrup. Our informant claims there are no education classes, no films, no library MONDAY CLUB CAMPAIGN The Monday Club, the rightwing Tory group, , has set up a special executive to coordinate its 'Halt Immigration Now Campaign'.

The director of this operation is Mr Ronald Bell, QC, the Tory MP for Buckinghamshire South, who is notorious for his anti-immigrant views.

The man responsible for running the campaign on a day-to-day basis is Tony Van der Elst, an actor.

The idea of setting up a special co-ordinating body first became clear two months ago when 'Monday News' advertised for 'A full national member of the club to fill an honorary position (reasonable expenses would be paid to undertake a task of a highlyimportant nature. In the first instance applicants for the post should write to the director, giving an outline of their political experience.

No one is quite su re about Mr Van der Elst's previous Tory Home Secretary, Robert Carr who has the letter and has so far refused to hold an inquiry into the conditions it described. and, worst of all, no associaEven though there are washbasins available, he claims they are forced to wash in a plastic jug and so cannot keep clean.

He says that although the Home Office says bread and water punishment is no longer used in British jails, several prisoners' are in fact on such a diet.

political experience', but he started the job this month.

The campaign has three main objectives: • A halt to immigration. • A realistic repatriation scheme. • The repeal of Relations Act.

The campaign was launched at a mass public rally at Central Hall, Westminster, on September 16 last at which members of the National Front acted as stewards.

At a march following the meeting the NF-with banners -were prominent on the walk to No 10 Downing Street to present a protest letter against the arrival of Ugandan Asians expelled by General Idi Amin.

Max Hanna, a former Monday Club member, says in this month's issue of 'Race Today' that there was an ugly side to this 'patriotic rally'. During the singing of 'Land of Hope and Glory' and 'Jerusalem' ther: were shouts of 'Wogs Out' and similar remarks. 0563 In addition to all of this, there are a host of 'restrictive petty rules' which inmates can be punished for disobeying. Uniform They can be punished for failing to wear a tie when asking for a letter, failing to wear the grey uniform when called to the office and failing to put on shoes on a visit to the toilet. POLITICAL PROFILES ES rotsky Now available from New Park Publications 186a Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UG LMONKENHOLT Our informant alleges that during last year's riot, extra oficers were called in from borstals, detention centres and jails. Three months later, he says, they are all still there.

He claims they are used in large numbers to intimidate prisoners.

For the first time he dis'oses that the November riot 'vas first sparked off by poor iood.

But, more important, he claims prisoners' tempers broke when they saw foiled escapees 'surrounded by scores of prison officers' hit with batons and then one of their number struck by an officer over the head with a claw hammer.

The letter says 'As the inmate fell down unconscious the officer was seen to strike him again and again with the hammer. The watching inmates thought the man had been killed.

'All the prisoners had been on low morale because of the food and to them this was the last straw. The prison blew But the letter claims that those who took part in the riot have been punished 'crushingly' long ago.

The writer insists that his letter to the outside world is not a plea to help them and he goes on:

•It is an urgent plea to help the non-rioters, many of whom are undergoing severe punishments, yet who have never been charged with any breach of the rules.' Committee He alleges that under rule 43 of the prison rules no evidence or charge is needed for men to be incarcerated in the feared 'B' wing. He accuses the prison authorities of 'grossly abusing' this rule.

More serious still, he claims that many of the 40 currently in "isolation' are ex-members of the inmates' food committee disbanded by the prison authorities before the riot.

The committee was axed after the Home Office upheld its complaints about prison food brought to the light of day as result of requests from within the prison to Mr John Farr for help.

The letter says that they have been put into the wing 'without true justification' and on 'trumped-up excuses'.

'This is our last hope,' thc letter ends. I beg you on behalf of the other inmates and myself to insist on a free inquiry here?

Mr Farr has asked the H ome Secretary for an inquiry. So far without success.

There has already been an investigation into the riot, but despite repeated requests, Mr Farr has been told he car not see the report.

Property tycoon Harry Hyams,