Category Archives: Prisons

Female prisoner allegedly sexually abused for years by prison guard settles with NSW government

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Woman alleged she was raped when the department of justice already knew Wayne Astill was ‘abusing his position towards female inmates’

A female prisoner allegedly sexually abused for years by a senior prison guard will be paid an undisclosed sum as part of a New South Wales government settlement in an ongoing class action.

Court documents filed to the NSW supreme court reveal that the woman, known as GP1, alleged she was raped when the department of justice already knew Wayne Astill, a prison guard, “was abusing his position toward female inmates”.

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Biased laws and poverty driving huge rise in female prisoners – report

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First such study finds laws on abortion, debt and dress help increase rate of women being jailed twice as fast as for men

Poverty, abuse and discriminatory laws are driving a huge rise in the number of women in prison globally, according to a new report.

With the rise of the far right and an international backlash against women’s rights, the research said there was a risk that laws would increasingly be used to target women, forcing more behind bars.

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Fears grow for health of social media influencer arrested on live TV in Sierra Leone

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Hawa Hunt’s detention a month ago was politically motivated, say daughter and rights groups, who also raise concerns about her treatment in jail

Fears are mounting over the mental and physical health of a social media influencer who has been in prison in Sierra Leone for more than a month after she was arrested on live television.

Hawa Hunt, a dual Canadian and Sierra Leonean citizen, was arrested on 22 December while starring in House of Stars, a reality TV show, for comments she made on social media about the president of Sierra Leone and the first lady in May 2023.

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Latin America’s rise in tuberculosis linked to imprisonment rates

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Study warns region’s exponential rise in incarceration is fuelling the disease, with cases increasing by 19% between 2015 and 2022

High incarceration rates in Latin America – the region with the world’s fastest-growing prison population – are exacerbating tuberculosis in a region that is bucking the global trend for falling incidents of the disease, experts have warned.

A study published in The Lancet Public Health journal has estimated that, contrary to previous assumptions, HIV/Aids is not the primary risk factor for tuberculosis in the region – as it remains in Africa, for example – but rather imprisonments.

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Iran frees rapper Toomaj Salehi jailed for supporting protests

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Rapper who spoke up for Woman, Life, Freedom movement is released five months after death sentence overturned

The Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in April for his support of anti-regime protests, has been released from prison by the Iranian authorities.

Salehi was sentenced by a revolutionary court in April for backing the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in police custody.

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Women arrested by Taliban for begging report rape and killings in Afghan jails

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Draconian new laws allow mass incarceration of women and children forced to beg because of work ban

Destitute Afghan women arrested for begging under draconian new Taliban laws have spoken of “brutal” rapes and beatings in detention.

Over the past few months, many women said they had been targeted by Taliban officials and detained under anti-begging laws passed this year. While in prison, they claim they were subjected to sexual abuse, torture and forced labour, and witnessed children being beaten and abused.

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

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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”.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Australia news live: devastation revealed in Queensland bushfire aftermath

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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.

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

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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.

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