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Law must be changed to reduce suicide deaths in British prisons, say MPs

Xinhua, May 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

New laws are needed to tackle the growing number of suicides by prisoners in British jails, a report by MPs said Tueday.

The British parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights issued an interim report calling on the government to bring forward legislation in the next parliament to address what it described as a shocking rise in self-harm and suicide in prisons.

The number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales has risen steadily from 58 in 2010 to 119 in 2016, with a particularly sharp increase in the number of self-inflicted deaths amongst female prisoners, said the report.

Labour MP Harriet Harman, who chairs the committee, said: "The introduction of legislation would do something that should have been done a long time ago but that is now urgent, which is to end the death toll of people with mental health conditions who take their own lives in our prisons.

"When the state takes someone into custody, we have a duty to keep them safe, their life becomes our responsibility, yet prisons are not a place of safety.

"Last year, 12 women and 107 men took their own lives while in prison in the custody of the state. Every single one of these deaths is an absolute tragedy for each individual and their family.

"Successive governments have welcomed reports and proposals on this issue. They have changed policy and issued new guidelines, but nothing changes, except the death toll, which rises. It is not that we do not know what needs to be done; it is just that we have not done it. We must recognise reality.

"There is no point in having more reviews, new policies or new guidance; we must make sure that the changes we all know are needed actually happen in practice. For that to happen, we need a legal framework to be introduced in the next parliament that will ensure that the necessary changes take place because they are required by statute."

"Any new legislation should also make explicit that one of the purposes of prison is to treat prisoners with humanity, fairness and respect for their dignity," added the report. Endit