Landmark ruling exposes existence of Muslim Gulags in UK prisons

London — A High Court judgment finding that the prolonged segregation of prisoner Sahayb Abu breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. CAGE has long pointed to a two-tier justice and penal system and this ruling exposes the inherent violence of the UK’s separation regime for terrorism-labelled prisoners. This is believed to be the first instance of UK ministers being held in breach of this fundamental human rights protection.

Abu, who was already held in a Separation Centre, was moved to even more restrictive isolation for over 4 months, confined for 22 hours a day despite a known history of trauma and mental struggles. The Court found that the state failed to assess his mental health needs or provide any therapeutic support, causing suffering that “went way beyond” what could be considered legitimate. 

This case brings to the forefront the reality of a long-sustained system: segregation and separation units inflict severe psychological harm by design. Their use cannot be separated from the discriminatory counterterror framework that created them. 

Separation Centres and similar units were introduced in 2017 amid political narratives portraying prisons as “breeding grounds for terror”. As CAGE’s TACT 20 year review warned, such units inevitably become Muslim-majority wings, turning an already marginalised population into a testing group for harsh, experimental regimes, that are later normalised across the system. The very concept of “extremist prisoners” relies on racialised and Islamophobic assumptions, where ordinary Islamic practices are deemed proof of “radicalisation”, and prisoners are subsequently punished for participating in them. 

Both the High Court and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have warned that small-group isolation can produce psychological effects akin to solitary confinement. As this judgement demonstrates, even short periods of isolation can trigger trauma, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts - all documented in Abu’s own testimony. 

Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said: 

“This ruling confirms what we have long documented: the UK has built a system that permits severe rights violations in the name of security. These units founded on the premise of ‘combatting terror’, are used to discriminately target Muslims, and cause predictable, severe psychological harm. This judgment makes clear that discriminatory segregation units are incompatible with basic human dignity and must be brought to an end.”

[ENDS]