Muslim prisoners are disproportionately subjected to force, including pain-inducing techniques, by jail staff in eight out of nine prisons with high Muslim populations. Freedom of information requests found that Muslim men in these prisons were more likely than the average inmate to experience forced confrontations with batons, rigid bar handcuffs, and painful positions. The data has been disclosed at a time when there are calls for a crackdown on Muslim gangs within the prison estate, following claims that these gangs are effectively running some prisons. In one incident, the Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi attacked three officers with hot cooking oil and homemade knives, leaving two of them hospitalized.
Maslaha, a social justice charity, requested data from nine prisons with higher than average Muslim populations to study the use of batons and rigid bar handcuffs. The charity also requested figures on pain-inducing techniques such as thumb flexion, wrist flexion, inverted wrist hold, and “mandibular angle” (applying pressure on a nerve below the ear).
At Belmarsh, a prison often used to hold terrorist suspects, Muslim prisoners made up 32% of the population in 2023, yet were involved in 43% of incidents involving rigid bar handcuffs and 61% of incidents involving pain-inducing techniques. At HMP Whitemoor, Muslim prisoners constituted 43% of the prison population but were subjected to 55% of musculoskeletal forceful techniques. At HMP Isis, Muslim prisoners made up 45% of the inmates but were the victims of 57% of incidents where batons were used and 56% of pain-inducing technique incidents.
At HMP/YOI Feltham B, Muslim prisoners were 42% of the population, yet were involved in 53% of rigid bar cuff uses, 57% of baton uses, and 64% of pain-inducing techniques. At HMP Woodhill, Muslim prisoners constituted 37% of the population but were subjected to 49% of rigid bar handcuff uses, 63% of baton uses, and 64% of pain-inducing technique incidents.
The only prison out of the nine studied where Muslims experienced less use of force was HMP The Mount. Raheel Mohammed, the director of Maslaha, criticized what he describes as Muslims in prison being targeted with force, subjected to dangerous techniques, and deliberately humiliated. The Prison Officers’ Association’s Mark Fairhurst disagreed, arguing that staff only use force as a last resort, when necessary, and that such force is always proportionate and reasonable.
Ministry of Justice data showed that in September of the previous year, there were 15,594 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales, making up 18% of all inmates despite Muslims making up only 6.5% of the general population. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed that Islamist gangs were “ruling the roost” in UK jails. In response, HM Prison & Probation Service introduced a national priority to address the use of disproportionate force among ethnic minorities and a new race disparity unit.
In summary, Muslim prisoners are disproportionately subjected to force and pain-inducing techniques in eight out of nine prisons with high Muslim populations. There is a call for a crackdown on Muslim gangs, and efforts, such as a new race disparity unit, are being made to address the issue and increase supervision and accountability.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/muslim-prisoners-in-england-more-likely-to-be-subjected-to-force-charity-finds
