suggesting homosexuality was a way-of-life in the prison.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette at the Dockyard prison, six inmates also said Mrs. Cooper's recent claim that up to 60 percent of prisoners carried the AIDS virus was unfounded.

They said the claim had created unnecessary anxiety among their families and would make their return to society more difficult.

"The deck is already stacked against us,'' said one prisoner. "When you leave Casemates, getting a job is not the easiest thing to do. This makes matters worse.

"Her statement affects all inmates. It will make for more discrimination against us.'' The interview was arranged in the midst of controversy over Mrs. Cooper's statement before the Criminal Justice Review Board and as reported in the Mid-Ocean News .

The prisoners, who said they'd been picked by prison officials at random, were serving time for armed robbery, theft, robbery, smuggling, drug smuggling and indecent assault.

They said Mrs. Cooper was off-base in drawing conclusions about Casemates using her knowledge of prisons in other countries.

"Bermuda's prison is one of the least prisons in the world where you find violence, homosexuality or drug use,'' one inmate said. "If it takes place, it takes place on an isolated scale.

"That's one thing Bermuda's prison should pride itself on.'' "You can't look at prisons around the world and draw conclusions for Casemates,'' said another inmate, who has been in an out of prison since 1972.

"Sheelagh Cooper was wrong. She should come here and spend a day.'' The prisoners were critical of Mrs. Cooper's "stereotypical thinking'' in supporting her AIDS claim by citing the rate of HIV carriers outside prison.

"Homosexuality is almost impossible to practice in prison,'' one inmate said.

Almost all Casemates prisoners are housed four men to a small room. "Even if you got two homosexuals in a room,'' the inmate said, "the two straight guys are not going to let the activity take place.'' Homosexuality "is frowned upon here,'' said a New York man who is serving time for drug smuggling.

"If you wanted to you really could, but it's looked down upon. She based her statement on Canadian prisons. If she knew Casemates, she wouldn't have said it.'' One prisoner, who was interviewed separately, said Mrs. Cooper had scared the families of inmates.

"She's made a lot of people very frightened saying 60 percent. People are asking: `Are you infected? Are you going to pass it on to me?' "It's also making a stigma for us. You know: You're from jail, you've got the virus.'' Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness has countered Mrs. Cooper's "irresponsible'' assertions, saying 13 of the Island's 259 prisoners were HIV-infected and three have AIDS.

He also said people "closest to the inmate population believe firmly'' that homosexuality and intravenous drug use are not significant problems. Despite the rebuttal, the prisoners interviewed said the Minister had not effectively answered Mrs. Cooper.

"The incident will continue to go on unless the Minister himself comes out with statistics that effectively put down the impression this woman is creating,'' one inmate said.

The inmates agreed with Mr. Edness that there should not be mandatory testing for AIDS. But three said they thought their blood should be tested in their required medical examination on entry to the prison.

Each one said they would like to know if their blood was contaminated. "But it should be confidential,'' one said.