Lobby group Sensible Sentencing Trust says the six-day stand-off at Waikeria Prison wasn’t a genuine process of complaint and that the group needed to be “held to account by the full force of the law”.
It comes as 16 prisoners surrendered yesterday after destroying the “top jail” facility at the prison. The prisoners said they were protesting inhumane conditions at the prison, including unsafe drinking water and unsanitary conditions.
Department of Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot refuted the prisoners’ allegations yesterday .
Corrections also said during the protest that the prisoners lit fires, made threats towards staff and police and threw debris at them from the roof of the buildings. It said the protestors had access to weapons and may have taken drugs from the dispensary.
Darroch Ball, spokesperson for Sensible Sentencing Trust and former NZ First MP, said the group was “taking advantage of a circumstance to run criminal riot”.
“A genuine protest does not include violence, assaults, threats, drug-taking, manufacturing of weapons, or arson. This is unsolicited criminal behaviour plain and simple,” Ball said.
“Prison is not meant to be a holiday camp. Drinking the same ‘brown water’ as the corrections officers do, having ‘delays with clothing’, and ‘not liking the graffiti’ on the walls of the facilities is no justification for their violent thuggish behaviour.
“These acts need to be met with the full force of the law.”
Yesterday, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said the inmates were responsible for “reckless criminal acts”.
The Corrections Minister said it was his view the “reasons for their actions” was not due to the conditions at the prison.
“No one should glorify the actions of these prisoners. They damaged property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and they put their own lives and the health and safety of staff and other prisoners at risk.
“There is never an excuse for resorting to violence and destruction."
Potential charges for the destruction will be up to police, and Corrections will undertake a "comprehensive review" into how the situation was able to evolve, Davis said.
Police said today a “complex investigation” that could take “several months” had begun into the incident at Waikeria.
“As such, police is not in a position to comment on charges at this stage,” a spokesperson said.
In a joint statement yesterday, ActionStation, People Against Prisons Aotearoa and JustSpeak said charges against the inmates shouldn't be laid and Corrections and police should "review this situation in the context of ongoing breaches of human rights at Waikeria".
"These conditions are well documented, and Corrections has an obligation to urgently address these to ensure the safety and wellbeing for the men held in Waikeria, as well as the staff working at this facility," the advocacy groups said.
"We urge compassion towards the men who have been protesting breaches of their legal and human rights.
"Further breaches of human and legal rights of prisoners will only lead to future confrontations until the fundamental issues are resolved."
The inmates’ complaints were backed up by a report published in August last year by the Ombudsman following an unannounced inspection of the facility.
The report said prisoners were being double-bunked in cells designed for one, that there was a lack of natural light and poor ventilation, that inmates lacked access to clean bedding and clothing, and that prisoners were forced to eat near toilets.
The report concluded the high-security unit is no longer fit for purpose.
A new facility at the prison is scheduled to open in 2022.
Department of Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot addresses the complaints of inhumane conditions from the protesting prisoners.
Lightfoot yesterday addressed concerns about the conditions inside the prison, saying a “number of steps to improve conditions in the top jail” since an Ombudsman inspection was carried out in October 2019 and published in a report in August 2020.
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