Sir, - It is somewhat paradoxical to read on the front page of The Irish Times (June 13th) an announcement of President Robinson's appointment to a human rights position in the United nations, while on another page we read of Judge Mary Martin telling a teenager that were she to commit him to St Patrick's Institution he would be raped.
Surely our State cannot permit a situation where those it incarcerates are sexually violated and/or introduced to drugs and in most cases emerge from detention considerably worse than they entered.
Many ex-detainees would appear less well able to fit into society after a stay in one of our penal institutions. In the recent spate of election manifestos a main promise from parties was to create more prison places which should produce more drug abusers, more sexually violated individuals, and probably more Aids victims.
Our State has a long history of indifference to the rights of prisoners with the result that it continues to produce a crop of socially disaffected individuals.
It was this same indifference that led to the abuse of children's rights in orphanages where both the Church and Government co-operated.
Surely it is time to try a new approach. Current policy has been a dismal failure and the rabid utterances of the lynch-law brigade are no solution. Yours, etc.,
Landsbergerstrasse, Munich.