THE European Parliament, in its annual human rights report, called yesterday for the provision throughout the EU of appropriate facilities for pregnant women held in detention.
The recommendation, which also embraces the case of mothers with young children, was adopted as a consequence of a visit by Irish MEPs to Belmarsh Security Unit in Britain, where Ms Roisin McAliskey, who is due to give birth shortly, was detained.
Ms McAliskey is being held pending possible extradition to Germany to face charges relating to the bombing of a British army barracks in Osnabruck.
Mr Niall Andrews (FF) said the recommendation was a very significant element of a report which also cited shortcomings in the Irish prison system in the provision of medical care and a lack of treatment for detained drug addicts.
In addition, the report condemns "the restriction on freedom of opinion in Ireland, where a law prohibits publication of any material in favour of abortion".
Mr Pat Cox (Ind), speaking through the parliamentary Liberal group, failed in an attempt to have this deleted on the grounds that it was "factually in error".
The Socialist group ensured its inclusion by a small majority, while the Christian Democrats and the Union for Europe, which includes FE members, voted against. Several Irish MEPs said the issue was a matter for the Irish Government.
The report made justifiable criticism of the treatment of people on remand at the hands of the forces of law and order, Mr Andrews said. Prisoners at Belmarsh, he told the parliament, were being kept "in a virtual concrete tomb for long periods".
"Women in prison must be treated properly and with dignity. The way Roisin McAliskey, an unconvicted prisoner and pregnant woman, has been treated is outrageous," Mr Andrews said. "It illustrates how remand prisoners are often treated worse than those who are convicted."
He welcomed an undertaking by the president of the parliament's civil liberties committee, the Dutch MEP Ms Hedy d'Ancona, to visit Holloway Prison in London, where Ms McAliskey is currently being held, on Monday. He also thanked the German government for undertaking to allow Ms McAliskey to take her baby with her if she is extradited.
The draft report, which relates to human rights matters dating back to 1995, issued its usual "regret" that the British government had renewed the Prevention of Terrorism Act. But this was later voted down.
A German MEP, Ms Claudia Roth (Green), who presented the report, said this was an unfortunate outcome, which had been prompted by the Socialist group, including British Labour MEPs.
While the report welcomed Ireland's ratification of the European Convention on Prisoner Transfers, it regretted that its application had been confined to "a very small number of Irish prisoners serving sentences in Britain". This finding was also voted down at the behest of Labour, according to Ms Roth.
The need for greater protection of minorities, including travellers, was underlined by Ms Bernie Malone (Lab).
The treatment of Irish travellers in relation to the provision of adequate medical services, education and accommodation "cannot be said to meet internationally accepted standards", she said.
The report cites unacceptable conditions in Irish places of detention, in particular "serious overcrowding and the abject material conditions and circumstances deleterious to health". It notes the finding by the European committee on torture that Irish prisons have a "lack of adequate medical care".
IN a move to reduce the bureaucratic impact of the EU's single market on small manufacturing enterprises, the European Commission has launched a new initiative called SLIM.
Details of the scheme were outlined to the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday by the Irish MEP, Mr Brian Crowley (FF), who called on member-states to support it. "Most of the unnecessary bureaucracy occurs at national level. Simplification is intended to avoid high costs, which jeopardise competitiveness and job-creation potential, particularly as far as SMEs are concerned."
It is envisaged that SLIM will have an input from business interests and representatives of consumers' associations, and examine coordination and simplification of regulations on construction products, academic qualifications, trade statistics and food law. Mr Crowley recommended that it include financial services and the marketing of dangerous substances.
