ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relationship between political prisoners, imprisoned for their political beliefs or political actions, and the 'ordinary' prison population, as well as the question of whether the former group should be treated differently. In Northern Ireland political prisoner status – a key demand in the conflict – also meant improved treatment in contrast to the Gulag. The Northern Ireland conflict also highlighted the issue of whether the activities of paramilitary groups, whose actions are motivated by political objectives, should be dealt with by ordinary criminal law, rather than emergency measures or counter-terrorism law. The imprisonment of women political prisoners has a long history as women have waged their own struggles and participated in major conflicts. Women political prisoners constituted 5 per cent of political prisoners during the conflict and the majority were Republican. In some respects the experience of imprisonment for women political prisoners may be even harder than for men.
