BackThe Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison has made significant progress towards improving prisoners’ safety but has been slow to improve conditions for remand and at risk prisoners.
Mr Boshier has published his findings after an unannounced inspection of the prison in November last year. The report is a follow up to an inspection conducted in December 2016.
"It is a fundamental tenet of democracy that prisoners should be detained in humane conditions, appropriately supervised and treated fairly in a manner consistent with their legal rights," says Mr Boshier. "If this is not occurring, I make recommendations for improvement and return to the prison, repeatedly if need be, to check that progress is being made."
In 2016, there was a clear and urgent need to address levels of violence and intimidation. "This time I was pleased to find tension levels have dropped, particularly in the high security areas of the prison," says Mr Boshier.
Please refer to the section below to download the full media statement and the follow-up report.
Source: Ombudsman, New Zealand
