Look.
This isn’t a left wing or right wing thing.
This is a human rights issue.
No one is suggesting what the prisoners did was right, no one is suggesting they shouldn’t be in prison, but you treat humans like animals, they will become animals.
We are a liberal progressive democracy that believes in human rights and the conditions described inside that prison are deplorable and shameful…
Our drinking water in prison is brown. We have used our towels for three straight weeks now. Some of us have not had our bedding changed in five months. We have not received clean uniforms to wear for three months – we wear the samer dirty clothes day in and day out. We have to wash our clothes in our dirty shower water and dry them on the concrete floor. We have no toilet seats: we eat our kai out of paper bags right next to our open, shared toilets.
…Corrections are currently attempting to claim there were no complaints made by prisoners for the appalling conditions and human rights abuses that led to the Waikeria Prison riot.
This is simply not true.
Prisoners have repeatedly and for decades been compiling about the conditions at Waikeria and what is most concerning is that Corrections sound like they pretended there was a threat of weapons being used to call in the Armed Defenders Squad in a desperate attempt to use over whelming violence to quell this riot…
Corrections making ‘untrue’ comments about Waikeria Prison protest, inmates’ families allege
Last night, Corrections claimed inmates had makeshift weapons intended for use against staff, and had busted into a room containing power tools, shields, batons and body armour.
However another woman spoken to by 1 NEWS today, who did not want to be identified, says that’s not the case.
Her cousin is one of the protesting inmates, at the prison on remand and waiting to be sentenced.
She says the inmates broke into the room not to arm themselves, but to make “armour to defend themselves against the bullets that they’re being shot at with”.
She says they received a call last night alleging that inmates had been shot at by the Armed Offenders Squad inside the prison walls and windows had been smashed, adding that the inmates were “actually quite scared because they didn’t want any violence”.
When contacted by 1 NEWS, Corrections wouldn’t directly comment on the allegations of shots fired at the prison last night.
…the investigation is 6 months away, but expect that to be pushed out to just before December 2021 so that the appalling manner in which Corrections created this event and then attempted to used the Armed Defenders Squad to smash it is hidden by Christmas.
For Kelvin Davis to place all the blame on the prisoners is deeply problematic…
He added that there are “many legitimate avenues for prisoners to raise concerns about their conditions, including through the Independent Corrections Inspectorate and the Corrections Ombudsman,” but that the prisoners “used none of those avenues and never raised any issues prior to this event”.
…The Ombudsman report on Waikeria found that 77% of prisoners did not have faith in the complaints process, and that a third of the time the prison did not respond to complaints within the time frame alongside issues with access to complaint forms.
Waikeria have gone out of their way to ignore complaints and over the Covid period clearly had allowed things to deteriorate to the point Prisoners rioted.
Kelvin’s only hope is a white wash report released on the last day of Parliament just as the Press Gallery are going on holiday.
It was bad when Kelvin didn’t front.
Now he’s fronted, he’s saying things that are going to be proven false.
Why is he blindly accepting everything corrections are telling him?
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.
I note the irony regarding Kelvin Davis. When in opposition he was the prisoner’s advocate. Now…..not so much.
Frank the Tank: “When in opposition he was the prisoner’s advocate.”
Well of course he was. It’s what all pollies do when they’re in opposition. They can say what they like, because they don’t have ministerial responsibility. Nor do they have the whole story in all of its messiness; but once they’re in government, and they’ve seen the files, and they’ve got advisors, they have to be much more circumspect. The other lot would be exactly the same.
“Now…..not so much”.. If this is going to become the trigger for meaningful reform and hopefully, a comprehensive overhaul of what the colonial bitches had turned into a “dungeon” system that any medieval King would have been proud of, then we can’t be half arsed, or remotely polite about it… When have the colonial whores, or their trolls in the “news media” ever been polite when telling blatant lies which would have us at each others throats, purely as a distraction from their rape and pillage of our money, security, and aspirations for our children… Since when has that been the right way to oppose this mistreatment of any of us who aren’t “their” people? Simple answer…. NEVER!! that’s when.. I watched with growing disgust at the craven toadying of labour politicians towards the alleged “journalists” who were paid to make those same politicians look weak and indecisive… Now I watch with growing anger at how this crop of “labour” politicians turn their backs on those that voted for them out of desperation after nine years of relentless attacks on their livelihoods, their self worth, and their of their ability to stay out of harms way when the weaponised justice system came calling… I will never, ever, vote for a national/colonial power hungry cabal, that doesn’t even try very hard to hide their real agenda, which has sweet FA to do with governing in a liberal democracy, and everything to do with tilting the playing field in favor of yet more rape and pillage of the peasantry, whilst sucking up to our next colonial usurpers.. (pick one. It’s either China, or the USA, depending on who gets here first to establish a base of operations across the pacific).. I know I’m not alone when I say that there are thousands of people (growing every day) becoming really angry at what they rightly see as the ultimate betrayal… Fuck you Kelvin the nothing, and fuck you Jacinda the tory wannabe… It’ll be back to Australia for me the second WA opens its borders… Not wasting any more time on losers..
‘I know I’m not alone when I say that there are thousands of people (growing every day) becoming really angry at what they rightly see as the ultimate betrayal… Fuck you Kelvin the nothing, and fuck you Jacinda the tory wannabe…’
I’ve been saying it for years: betrayal [by politicians] is the byword of the age we live in.
Politicians are servants of banks, corporations and opportunists, and the unseen ‘old money’ that controls practically everything in the western world.
If anyone is expecting anything other than betrayal (and incompetence) from our elected leaders, they are deluded.
Deceit is another word everyone should have on their minds when assessing politicians. Other words and phrases that come to mind are slippery, self-serving, overpaid, unaccountable, and in many cases just plain sociopaths, unable and unwilling to empathise with the plight of the masses. That’s why the real ‘powers that be’ allow them to remain in office.
There have been plenty of examples of what happens to people who GENUINELY CARE about the what is being done to people and the environment by the looters and polluters, and where this is all leading: they either get politically terminated or literally terminated.
It’s called democracy for a reason: to fool everyone who can be fooled into believing ordinary people have a say.
‘It’ll be back to Australia for me the second WA opens its border’s
I must add that if you think Australia offers better opportunities than NZ, you are deluded. The loot-and-pollute and poke-a-stick-at-China mentality that characterises Australia is in the process of reaping plenty of very nasty outcomes, not least of which is that Australia is towards the top of the queue, if not first in line, to become uninhabitable for humans via Planetary Meltdown that is due to the ‘Australian way of life’, i.e digging up coal and burning it, and building cities of urban sprawl in semi-deserts that have inadequate water supplies, and driving and flying huge distances using petroleum-powered transport etc.
Anything else from Kelvin would be out of Character.
Like so many of the MP’s who hold ministerial position, nothing but spineless lackeys for the bullies and thugs attracted to run government departments these days.
A endless cycle of sick puppies ruining people lives, all in the name of protecting the state. He ihu kurī, he tangata haere
“Why is he blindly accepting everything corrections are telling him?” Because he’s a sellout, pure and simple… He shows himself to be nothing but a shit stain on the body politic.. Fuck him off before he does irreparable damage to the labour party… Let’s be frank here.. His leader isn’t showing anything like being the sort of leader this country needs, now that there aren’t any drastic emergencies to give her “empathy” a showing… Granted, the government dealt really well with those emergencies, but we now have real governance in the real world to get on with, and they are showing themselves to be nothing short of “national light”.. The only positive I can come up with now, is that the current government is the “lesser of two evils”, considering what an utter clusterfuck the nats, or, god forbid, the act party would have rapidly devolved to had they had control of the levers…. Notwithstanding the huge efforts that would be made by what passes for a fourth estate here to cover up for them….
Again, though, what about the Nats? Surely they deserve to be held accountable for the absence of a coherent, balanced criminal justice policy over the course of their decade in power? While Kelvin Davis should also be held accountable for his role as current Minister of Corrections, the Opposition’s law and order rhetoric and extended tenancy of prisons, as well as its marginalisation of rehabiliitation, has to be taken into account.
The prison riot has finished without anyone being physically harmed. If police etc were shooting at rioters wheres the evidence? I.e. injuries. Any of the rioters in hospital with their wounds?
There was a great deal of violence committed against property by these men. Fortunately they are now all safe. Believe the tactic of depriving them of food and water was correct as it ended the stand off. If someone was threatening and had burnt my house down I would do what it took to stop them. None of these prisoners were treated with violence. Could have gone this way.
Ok rights? Do think prisoners should have their human rights looked after. BUT! responsibilities???? No. Very few take personal responsibility. I know most people on this blog site hate this idea, but nothing changes until these men take personal responsibility.
People here seem to overlook that this govt is building a new prison which includes a significant mental health unit. Oh yeah they should have built it last week.
I think it will come as a surprize to most people on this website that the general public don’t really care about these guys.
While it has not been conclusively proven that shots were fired, neither has the contrary been established. Irrespective, your assumption that because no-one had gunshot injuries, it didn’t happen. Obviously, the maiming or killing of prisoners would have undermined the narrative of responsible management which presumably will be trumpeted in the two ‘enquiries’ but shots fired as a form of intimidation cannot be ruled out. After all, there were no qualms about the use of legally suspect denial of food and water. Also, it is noted that there has now (am 7.01.21) been a report of an injury that may have been caused by a firearm.
While it is obvious that a great deal of damage was done to property as a result of the actions of the 17, there are a few questions that should be posed. Had the reasons for the ‘riot’ been established and acted on in a less confrontational manner from the outset, would the outcome have been different? It is evident that the real hero was Rawiri Waititi MP who proved that the Corrections strategy was at best, misguided. Predictably, your focus is on the damage to property. If one changes the focus on the basis of the complaints that gave rise to the event, the dismal observations of Ombudsman’s report and the well established links between past State abuse of children and young persons through the current enquiry, it is evident that damage to persons was a seriously contributing factor.
Undermining the rights and responsibility issues by playing the deprivation of internationally accepted human rights was acceptable under the circumstances is egregious. The standards are incorporated in NZ’s legislation as well as even the Departments own rules. As regards the responsibilities of the ‘penal protestors’, the right of protest has been well established as the signature of a democracy. Obviously the more serious the reason for the protest, the more serious the outcome is likely to be. Think back to 1981 and other ‘more socially acceptable’ protests. On the responsibility side, it would be fallacious to think that the 17 would have acted in anticipation of there being no cost to them. Consequences are always part of any protest equation. The fact that they considered the reasons for their actions spurred such destruction of property should be an indicator of how inhumane out penal policy has become. Of course, this is not the first time that human despair has resulted in the ransacking of prison property in New Zealand. This is the third such event in a little over two decades and no doubt reflects a violent law and order escalation in the minds of those who influence the lawmakers.
One wouldn’t be surprised if the general public ‘don’t really care about these guys’ as you claim. As long as the ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ mentality is enculturated, our prison musters will continue to grow despite reducing reported crime statistics. It even seems the Governments ‘kindness’ has its limitations when it comes to meaningful respect for an increasing number of ‘have nots’ which our current social structures and policies exacerbate. Clearly votes are more important than principles.
Addendum:
And now – all these days later, “Officers fired sponge rounds at the men on the roof of the burning high-security building during the standoff at Waikeria Prison, police have confirmed to RNZ.”
Armed Defenders Squad???? Armed Offenders Squad!!! I know it sounds petty but it really pisses me off when journo’s can’t get this right!!!
Comments are closed.