Republican inmates have accused prison authorities of rejecting Red Cross proposals designed to ease tensions at Maghaberry Prison.
Details of the failed International Committee of the Red (ICRC) plan to break the deadlock in the prison emerged on Monday night.
The proposals were tabled by the ICRC after it agreed to a request by justice minister David Ford to independently chair a prison forum earlier this year.
Last month the Irish News revealed that the forum had ended without agreement being reached.
Republicans say the process, which had a six-month time limit, ended after the proposals were rejected by Prison Service chiefs.
The forum was recommended by an independent 'stocktake' published last year and was headed by senior ICRC official Geoff Loane.
The stocktake was carried out by an independent assessment team to examine a 2010 deal to relax strip searches and controlled movement in the prison.
Republican prisoners have accused authorities of reneging on that deal.
Under the scrapped proposals the ICRC had wanted to observe how strip searches are carried out in the jail.
They suggested that officials propose a mechanism for prisoners to access information about electronic equipment, such as scanners, which would do away with strip searches.
The ICRC also proposed carrying out an analysis of "soft law recommendations and positions" in respect of the use of solitary confinement in the jail and wanted to visit the prison to carry out an assessment.
The proposals also suggested that the Prison Service provide clarification regarding an appropriate appeals process for prisoners held in isolation and independent assessment of the rationale for the ongoing isolation of prisoners in the jail’s punishment unit.
Proposals were also made to increase the number of inmates allowed on the landings at any one time.
It has emerged that prisoners suggested appointing independent observers to monitor day-to-day conditions in Roe House.
These included former Human Rights Commissioner Monica McWilliams and Queen’s University academic Phil Scraton - who is an expert on prisons.
Prison authorities have previously said the stocktake agreement can only be implemented in an environment where staff "are free from threat and intimidation."
The ICRC proposals note that republican prisoners maintain that claims of intimidation and threats are a "red herring" and that "any end to intimidation or threats should be a mutual principle."
A spokesman for republican inmates held on the prison’s Roe Four landing said: "It seems that whoever is pulling the strings as regards republican Roe House do not want scrutiny and will only ever feign movement while remaining static in order to maintain the status quo."
A spokesman for the ICRC said it became apparent last month that agreement on how to proceed "was no longer possible."
A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said: "As ICRC stated in their recent comment - it was agreed by all parties from the outset that the content of the forum discussions would not be shared publicly."
