BackThe Chief Ombudsman says the Department of Corrections must stop the way it’s running the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit (PERU) because the unit’s prisoners are being ill-treated. Peter Boshier has released a report that outlines serious concerns about human rights abuses at the unit which is based at Auckland Prison.
“The conditions and treatment in the PERU are cruel, inhuman and degrading and in breach of the United Nations Convention against Torture,” Mr Boshier says. “I visited the PERU four times over the past 18 months as part of my role in examining and monitoring the treatment of people in prison. Every time I’ve come away with significant concerns about how the prisoners are being treated.
“I acknowledge there are people housed in the PERU who have committed serious crimes, and I know it may be difficult for some to understand why we should care about their treatment and conditions. “My job is to go into places that are kept under lock and key and shine a light on how human beings are being treated by state institutions like prisons. I strongly believe that if you protect someone’s basic human rights, you are protecting society as a whole.
“In the PERU, I saw the detrimental impact of a state system operating without a clear focus on how it treats people. The treatment and conditions that I observed are not what I expect of our country. “Corrections is obliged by law to make sure prisoners’ basic human rights are protected and to provide them with rehabilitation opportunities. The vast majority of these men will be re-joining our families, workplaces and communities at the end of their sentences. Ill-treatment in prison does not support their rehabilitation or successful reintegration.”
Mr Boshier says prisoners at the PERU are being subjected to prolonged and potentially indefinite solitary confinement as well as oppressive living conditions including limited access to natural light and fresh air. “Most people in the PERU have been there for many months, sometimes several years. They routinely spend 24 hours a day locked up alone and are denied meaningful human contact for long periods of time. This is a blatant breach of international human rights conventions.
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Source: The National Ombudsman New Zealand
