Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Corrections lies to the Ombudsman

When the Department of Corrections was caught subjecting a prisoner to cruel and degrading treatment by routinely tying him to his bed, they promised they'd stop doing it. They also promised they'd provide regular reports to the Ombudsman on his treatment, to ensure there was no re-occurance.

They lied:
The Ombudsman raised concerns in May about the length of time the prisoner was tied down and the Corrections' chief inspector launched an investigation, promising to provide the Ombudsman weekly updates.

However, chief Ombudsman Judge Peter Bouchier has told RNZ that Corrections took three weeks to release its first and only weekly update.

When the Ombudsman queried the progress of the investigation on 23 June, Corrections said it would be completed by the end of the month.

But the Chief Ombudsman is yet to receive a copy of the investigation's findings.


Withholding information from the Ombudsman is unprecedented. So what are Corrections hiding? Or are they just so used to unaccountability that they're willing to piss all over a core part of our constitution to maintain it?