Corrections is torturing prisoners again

In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and no toilet paper. Over 200 people were treated like this, all for a minimum of 2 weeks, and some for years. If this sounds like cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, you're right - the Supreme Court found that it was, and the government had to pay out nearly a million dollars in compensation. No-one in Corrections ever faced any employment consequences for this (let alone criminal ones) - which might be why, twenty years later, its all happening again:

The 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.

The full report is here. It details "prolonged and potentially indefinite solitary confinement" (which international law recognises as torture), "oppressive living conditions", "disproportionate use of force", and "excessive and unjustified" searches and surveillance. All run by a semi-autonomous unit within Corrections with little oversight and poor reporting and record-keeping.

These are the exact problems found with the BMR, and they likely mean significant liability for the government. The Ombudsman has recommended that the entire regime be stopped immediately, but that's not enough - because this isn't just a matter of civil liability; it is a crime. Torture is a crime. Assault is a crime. Failing to keep proper records is a crime. Our prison guards are criminals. And it is time they were properly held to account.