LONDON: Prisoners of Muslim faith languishing in different jails across England and Wales were targeted with a pepper spray first introduced to prison officials in 2018.
Maslaha, an organization, gathered the statistics through a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Justice that also showed a sharp increase in the use of Pava in jails.
The synthetic pepper spray can cause injury to eyes, skin and respiratory tract, and can even lead to permanent disability or death. It has been introduced to 89 jails across England and Wales.
According to the Ministry of Justice data shows in 2022, 34 percent of prisoners were targeted by Pava spray were Muslim. In total, Pava was used 188 times against Muslim prisoners in that year.
In the England and Wales jails, however, Christian prisoners, making up 46 percent of the population, were targeted by Pava 43 percent of the time in 2022.
The ministry data shows over recent years, the use of the pepper spray against Muslim prisoners has also increase.
Some Muslim prisoners told Maslaha that they now hide their religious faith for fear of being regarded as an extremist.
They said that even basic elements of Islam such as prayer and Quran study are often seen as suspicious acts by prison officials.
Raheel Mohammed, the organization’s director, added that the uncovered statistics show that Muslims in jails are being unfairly targeted by Pava spray, a harmful tool which can cause injury, disability and death.
He said that Muslims practice their religion and have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. He noted that organization’s work with Muslims in jail makes it clear that harmful stereotypes about Muslims are on the rise in prisons and are putting Muslim prisoners at risk harmful and unfair treatment.
