Category Archives: Prisons

LNP leader launches Queensland election campaign with promise of mandatory isolation for child offenders who assault guards

Posted on by

David Crisafulli pledges minimum isolation periods for youths who attack staff despite evidence of dangers of solitary confinement

The Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, has promised to introduce “mandatory isolation periods” for children who assault workers in youth detention, as the Queensland opposition formally launched its state election campaign on Sunday.

Speaking to a crowd of LNP candidates and party faithful in Ipswich, Crisafulli focused much of his remarks on what he has dubbed the state’s “youth crime crisis”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Alleged domestic violence perpetrators to wear ankle bracelets under NSW bail reforms

Posted on by

Corrective services will electronically monitor whereabouts of people released from custody while charged with serious offences

Alleged perpetrators charged with serious domestic violence offences in New South Wales will wear ankle bracelets and have their movements tracked around the clock if they are granted bail.

The NSW government announced the changes would take effect on Friday, and would involve corrective services electronically monitoring alleged perpetrators against geographic bail conditions using GPS technology.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Urgent’ action needed after Melbourne woman’s near decade in solitary confinement in mental health facility, judge says

Posted on by

Woman remains in seclusion after being found not guilty of assault due to mental impairment in 2015

A Victorian judge says the state’s health and attorney general’s departments must act urgently in the case of a woman who has spent almost a decade in solitary confinement at a forensic mental health facility.

Guardian Australia revealed in July that the Melbourne woman is being held at Thomas Embling hospital, a secure forensic mental health facility, after being found not guilty because of mental impairment on assault charges in 2015.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Serco must be punished for ‘oppressive’ treatment of prisoners at Australia’s largest jail, legal experts say

Posted on by

Potential class action against private prison operator raised after 175 inmates at Clarence correctional centre locked in their cells for days after assault by a single prisoner

Private prison operator Serco should face sanctions for punishing nearly 200 inmates at Australia’s largest jail in an “unreasonable and oppressive” manner after a guard was assaulted by a single prisoner, legal experts say.

Lawyers are investigating a potential class action against Serco on behalf of affected inmates at Clarence correctional centre after the New South Wales ombudsman determined the company’s conduct was contrary to law.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Fears grow for women’s rights activists jailed in Iran after 87 executions in one month

Posted on by

Prisoners including Nobel prize winner Narges Mohammadi were reportedly beaten for protesting against a recent execution

There are fears for the fates of women’s rights activists imprisoned in Iran after a surge in executions since the election of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in July.

At least 87 people were reportedly executed in July, with another 29 executed on one day this month. The mass executions included Reza Rasaei, a young man sentenced to death for his participation in the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Human rights organisations fear further executions in the lead-up the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody and the unprecedented nationwide protests that followed. Amini, who was 22, had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code before she died in September 2022.

Continue reading...

NSW inquiry into death of Indigenous man shot while fleeing custody calls for urgent review of gun laws

Posted on by

Mother of Dwayne Johnstone urges government ministers to ‘take note’ of coroner’s recommendation ‘so no one else has to go through it’

The death of an unarmed Indigenous man who was shot while fleeing custody has prompted a coroner to recommend an urgent review of laws governing the use of firearms by correctional officers.

Dwayne Johnstone, a 43-year-old Wiradjuri man, was shot dead outside Lismore Base hospital as he ran in leg shackles and handcuffs from a prison van after receiving medical treatment on 15 March 2019.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Betrayal’: Indigenous and legal groups condemn Victoria’s backflip on raising the age

Posted on by

Jacinta Allan says age of criminal responsibility won’t be raised to 14 amid concern about youth crime

Indigenous organisations, legal experts and human rights groups have condemned the Victorian government’s decision to abandon plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, describing it as a “betrayal” of vulnerable children.

As revealed by Guardian Australia, the premier, Jacinta Allan, made the major policy reversal on Tuesday, as she announced several changes to the government’s 1,000-page youth justice bill.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Youth bail and anti-protest motion voted down at NSW Labor conference

Posted on by

Critics argued laws were ‘rushed through parliament’ and will result in more Aboriginal children becoming incarcerated

A motion to repeal controversial youth bail and anti-protest laws in New South Wales was defeated at the state Labor conference on Sunday.

The motion was the first opportunity for the youth bail laws, passed by the state government earlier this year, to be debated amongst rank and file party members. The laws make it harder for reoffending 14- to 18-year-olds who commit serious break-and-enter or motor vehicle theft offences to get bail.

Continue reading...

‘Harrowing’ footage sparks calls for Queensland government to remove children from police watch houses

Posted on by

Exclusive: Labor MP Jonty Bush among those speaking out about state’s youth justice policies after Guardian Australia investigation

Queensland’s most prominent victims’ rights groups say the state government must remove children from police watch houses after the release of confronting footage showing the “brutal” treatment of children in the adult holding cells.

The videos, published after a year-long investigation by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed, showed young people locked in “freezing” isolation cells, becoming panicked and struggling to breathe.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

Posted on by

Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NT supreme court shown footage of Don Dale tear gassing and hosing down of teens

Posted on by

The recording forms part of the territory’s appeal of over $1m in compensation awarded to four teenage inmates

Disturbing footage of teenagers being handcuffed and hosed down after being teargassed at the notorious Don Dale Detention Centre has been seen as evidence in an Northern Territory supreme court case.

The vision, which will not be released to media, is part of the NT government’s appeal over nearly $1m compensation awarded last year to four teenagers who were unlawfully teargassed at Don Dale detention centre in 2014.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Chinese prisoner’s ID card apparently found in lining of Regatta coat

Posted on by

Derbyshire woman who bought item said she felt uneasy at find that raises concerns over possible prison labour

An ID card that appears to belong to a Chinese prisoner was found inside the lining of a coat from the British brand Regatta, raising concerns that the clothing was manufactured using prison labour.

The waterproof women’s coat was bought online by a woman in Derbyshire in the Black Friday sale. When it arrived on 22 November, she could feel a hard rectangular item in the right sleeve, which restricted the movement of her elbow.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: devastation revealed in Queensland bushfire aftermath

Posted on by

There is ‘a lot of anxiety’ in the Western Downs where at least 16 houses have been destroyed, the mayor says. Follow the day’s news live

Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.

The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.

Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.

In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.

Continue reading...

Selesa Tafaifa had spent significant time in solitary confinement before altercation that led to her death, inquest hears

Posted on by

The 44-year-old Samoan died in Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre after being restrained in handcuffs and placed in a spit hood

A mentally ill woman who died in custody after a confrontation with prison officers had experienced a decline in behaviour around the period she was isolated in the jail’s detention unit, an inquest has heard.

Selesa Tafaifa died in Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre in November 2021 after being restrained in handcuffs and placed in a spit hood. The 44-year-old Samoan woman had become engaged in a physical altercation with guards after becoming upset at not being able to call her family.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Woman in spit hood told Queensland prison guards four times she couldn’t breathe before dying, inquest hears

Posted on by

Selesa Tafaifa, 45, died in November 2021 after being restrained by staff at Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre

Selesa Tafaifa told Queensland prison guards four times that she couldn’t breathe and pleaded for her asthma medication six times before dying in custody, a coronial inquest has heard.

Tafaifa, a 45-year-old Samoan woman, died in November 2021 after being restrained by staff at the Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre and placed in a spit hood.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Guards and police released after being held hostage in Ecuadorian prisons

Posted on by

Fifty-seven law enforcement officers held in six prisons amid sharp rise in gang violence ahead of election

Fifty guards and seven police officers have been released, Ecuadorian authorities said, after being held hostage in several prisons for more than a day.

The country’s corrections system, the National Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, said in a statement that the 57 law enforcement officers, who were held in six different prisons, were safe, but did not offer details about how they were released.

Continue reading...

Senior prison official’s court testimony at odds with government spin on Queensland youth detention

Posted on by

For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, judges and children documenting problematic practices

In a Townsville courtroom last month, a senior manager at the Cleveland youth detention centre sat in the witness box to answer questions about the prison’s systematic use of solitary confinement.

For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, teachers, youth workers, court documents, judges and children documenting problematic practices.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Lawyer claims she wasn’t told for months that Aboriginal teen tried to take her life in youth detention

Posted on by

Incident at South Australia’s Kurlana Tapa centre was downplayed, lawyer claims, but government says safety and wellbeing of children is ‘highest priority’

A lawyer representing children detained at South Australia’s only juvenile justice centre claims she was not informed for almost two months when an Aboriginal teenager attempted to take her own life in custody.

The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) lawyer who represents the girl in her early teens said the seriousness of the incident in early 2023 at Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre was not conveyed until eight weeks later.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Prison inmates to be charged 24c a minute for phone calls as NSW scraps cheaper providers

Posted on by

Decision could make inmates’ contact with family and friends unaffordable, despite studies showing it reduces recidivism

For two years Lisa Maloney has paid about $40 every four months so her son can call her every day from a prison in New South Wales. Now she will be paying about $300 after the state’s correctional services banned affordable phone call options run by third-party services.

“I’ll keep paying but I’m worried about others who won’t be able to afford to contact their loved ones as much,” said Maloney, who lives on a pension in north-west Victoria and can’t afford to visit her son in Lithgow.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Gang members locked women in cells before Honduras prison riot fire

Posted on by

Armed people went into rival gang’s cell block, opened fire and doused survivors in flammable liquid, officer says after 46 killed

Gang members at a women’s prison in Honduras slaughtered 46 other female inmates by spraying them with gunfire, hacking them with machetes and then locking survivors in their cells before dousing them with flammable liquid, a senior police officer has said.

The carnage in Tuesday’s riot was the worst atrocity at a women’s prison in recent memory; the intensity of the fire left the walls of the cells blackened and beds reduced to twisted heaps of metal.

Continue reading...