Deaths of minority prisoners in UK point to racism, report finds

The deaths of black and mixed-race people in UK prisons are among the most violent and prevalent. 

INQUEST’s new report, “Deaths of racialized people in prison 2015-2022: Challenging racism and discrimination”, makes a powerful intervention as it uncovers new data and tells the stories of 22 racialized people and how they died preventable and premature deaths in prison.

The report revealed new Freedom of Information Act data, which shows 2,220 people died in prison between January 2015 and December 2021. The largest number of deaths (136 deaths) in prisons was among blacks and people of mixed races who witnessed racial discrimination, which according to the researchers “proves with evidence the role of systematic racism in prison facilities,” the Independent reported. 

The report specifically looks at the deaths of black and mixed-race people; Asian and mixed-race people; Middle Eastern and mixed-race people; people of Eastern European nationality; white Irish people and white Gypsy or Irish Traveller people. 

Deborah Coles, Executive Director of INQUEST, said, “The failure of post-death investigations to examine the potential role of racism or discrimination in deaths renders racialized issues invisible. As a result, the opportunity to acknowledge and address racial injustices and inequalities is lost,” INQUEST reported. 

“In order to end deaths of racialized people in prison, in the short term we need more focused investigation, oversight and action on these deaths,” Coles said, adding, “In the long term we must halt prison building and redirect resources from the criminal justice system to welfare, health, housing, education and social care.”

The percentage of blacks and ethnic minorities in prisons exceeds their actual percentage of the population, representing 28 percent of the prisoners, while they represent only 13 percent of the general population. In youth penitentiaries, blacks, Asians, and mixed-races collectively represent 53 percent of detainees, while black youth alone constitute 29 percent of the population, according to the Independent. 

The Independent reported that the British government laid out plans for the largest prison-building project in more than 100 years, with the government intending to create 18,000 new places and 2,000 temporary places, which will bring the prison population to nearly 100,000 by 2026. It is worth mentioning that the number of detainees in UK prisons has increased by 70 percent over the past 30 years. At the end of 2020, government spending on prisons had exceeded £18 billion, and the total cost per prisoner was £42,670 ($47,705).

According to INQUEST’s data, the number of deaths in prisons in 2021 was about 371 people, which is the highest number of deaths in prisons in England and Wales ever recorded, even without counting deaths related to Covid-19. 

On October 20, INQUEST will hold an online seminar to further discuss the report alongside the researchers and families involved.