UK shrinks to ‘cure’ fanatic Muslim prisoners

Psychologists will ‘de-programme’ radical Muslims using controversial techniques

LONDON: Since the London bombings in 2005, British prisons have seen an unprecedented surge of Muslim inmates, and the British government fears they will spread ‘extremist beliefs’ among other prisoners. The Home Office’s secret response to the ‘threat’ is to use psychologists in the prison service to ‘cure’ Muslims of their beliefs using therapies similar to those used to ‘de-programme’ members of religious cults.

The experimental treatments are being developed by a special Extremism Unit set up by the Ministry of Justice in January last year. Psychologists working with the Extremism Unit plan to use ‘cognitive-behaviour’ methods based on the notion that it is possible to change people’s behaviour by altering their perceptions and attitudes.

“It’s pretty clear it wouldn’t work with everyone. But our view of extremism is that, at the centre, the views of the hardcore, high-profile leaders will not be subject to change. But for those further out, it may be quite effective,” one source told The Mail on Sunday.

There are only 90 Muslim prisoners serving time for terrorist offenses in British prison, the rest are there for other offenses like their co-patriot non-Muslim inmates. About 11% of prisoners are Muslim—three-and-half times the proportion in the UK population.

In Whitemoor, a maximum security Category A jail, the number of Muslims prisoners has jumped from 15% in 2006 to a staggering 35% in 2008. A third of them have converted to Islam in jail in the last one year. The government is worried that these conversions are to ‘extremists ideologies’.

At the forefront of the strategy are the 150 prison imams, who are expected to challenge extremist beliefs on the basis of their own religious knowledge. “We’re looking to them to shoot down the religious justification for violence. They have to be able to stand up to those who support killers and say they are wrong,” said an official.
However, the allegations of ‘forced conversions’ has aroused resentment among the inmates. “Islam attracts other prisoners because it is a beautiful religion. You can’t force someone into it,” said one. “But it’s got to the stage where we can’t talk to non-Muslim prisoners, because if we do, they say we’re trying to convert them. But if we ignore them, the officers say we must hate them. We can’t win,” he added.