Civil Service in the news
Securing prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan
21/11/2007 - Ministry of Justice [External website] 
Secure prisons have been crucial to rebuilding the civilian infrastructure in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prison Service helped the reconstruction effort by providing training support. We talked to Paul Biddle about his team's work in both regions and how it helped prevent a bloodbath during a prison riot in Kabul.
Calming influence in Kabul
A riot at Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif prison ended in hundreds of deaths and made the wrong kind of headlines for the country. And a similar incident five years later at Kabul's Pol-e-Charki prison might have ended the same way were it not for the courage and subtle diplomacy of Paul Biddle and his fourstrong HMPS unit. The Prison Service staff went to Afghanistan as part of a UN mission to help train prison officers at the 60,000 capacity prison, but hadn't been there long when they found themselves in the middle of a full-scale riot.
A protest about prison uniforms led to 1,300 prisoners attacking guards, wrecking cells and setting light to bedding. They also took 75 women prisoners hostage. When Paul arrived, five prisoners were already dead, shot by young and frightened Afghan soldiers brought in to support the guards. He explained: “We found complete and utter chaos. The soldiers were panicking and firing randomly and my team were pinned down several times.” Paul and his colleagues stood between the soldiers and the prisoners to stop the shooting, despite the glass and other missiles raining down on them from the cells.
Moving the army out
“The first thing I did was tell the unit commander that the world was watching and it could look very bad for Afghanistan. They were planning to fire rocket-propelled grenades into the prison until the prisoners surrendered,” said Paul. 
He convinced the Afghan authorities to put the prison's civilian governor in charge and move the army out to the perimeter. During the first day Paul managed to persuade the prison management to restore the water supply in return for the prisoners ending their violence. By the third day he had opened negotiations with the riot leader, a former Taleban education minister.
The hostages were freed soon after and, a day later, the riot was over without further casualties. Paul, who is now working at HMPS headquarters on population management, was full of praise for his team: “By their gallant conduct, professionalism and hard work in developing the confidence of our Afghan counterparts the team helped the riot to end peacefully.”
Inside the prison he worked with Steve Collins (HMP Lancaster Farms), Bill Murray (HMP Frankland) and Mat Barton (HMP Swaleside), while Ade Fry (HMP Lewes) provided communication support during the incident, which took place in February 2006.
Afghan prisons
Paul was impressed with the senior prison staff he found in Afghanistan, including many who had trained at Russian academies, and also the lengths they went to resettle prisoners. “Staff will go to a prisoner's village to make sure they have somewhere to live, and because they need to be supervised by the village elders,” he said.
Training in Basra
One reason why the team worked so well together in Kabul was that it had bonded while working in Iraq against a background of deteriorating security 18 months earlier. The team's task was introducing and supervising a training regime in Basra that, among other priorities, created an awareness of human rights issues.
Paul gained a huge respect for the Iraqi guards he had recruited. “In the face of death, they would cheerfully go off and do their duty. They had a fantastic sense of the will of God, duty, and serving their country. It was very inspiring,” he said, before describing the very real threat. “I often heard stories of prison officers not turning up for work, and their bodies being found later.”
And his own team were often attacked: “The lads at the training college were car-bombed and rocketed on an almost daily basis.” Despite the massive obstacles, the training regime was a success. “There was a 100 per cent improvement. We began education for young offenders, encouraged an understanding of basic human rights, got work for prisoners and created a better standing for prison staff in society,” said Paul.