A special investigation conducted by the Office of The Inspectorate (OOTI) in New Zealand revealed in a report published on Wednesday that prisoners at the Auckland Prison were denied their minimum entitlements required under the Corrections Act 2004 for a prolonged period of time. The report found that prisoners were denied entitlements such as minimum time out of their cells, bedding and laundry, as well as food and medical provisions.
An OOTI inspection team conducted the investigation into the operating unlock regime and provision of minimum entitlements received by prisoners between October 2022 and April 2023 in three units of Auckland Prison. The prison contains New Zealand’s only specialist maximum-security prison unit. The inspection team made several visits to Auckland Prison and interviewed prisoners.
The team ultimately found that the prison failed to comply with the “statutory minimum entitlements” related to the minimum time out of cell, bedding and laundry, provision of food and medical care for prisoners.
Inspectors pointed out that there has been a staff shortage in the prison since COVID-19 pandemic, but this was not the cause of the violations revealed. While the Auckland Prison had to follow restrictive measures during COVID-19, the prison never returned to the required minimum entitlements when the pandemic ended. In other words, the exceptional measures became “normalized.”
According to the investigation, prisoners were deprived of having one hour of physical exercise out daily, as prescribed in section 70, and were unlocked only every second day for over 100 days. The lack of unlocking made some prisoners go through solitary confinement, which is prohibited by Mandela Rules, for a period exceeding 15 days. On top of that, the Auckland Prison did not meet the minimum entitlement to sufficient bedding and hygiene, as required by section 71. Inspectors noted that prisoners had incomplete packs of bedding that lacked mattresses and blankets, and some did not have their bedding laundered.
As for the provision of food, there was a long time between breakfast and dinner—ranging from 15 to 17 hours—which made prisoners complain of hunger during the night. Prisoners also weren’t able to have in-person visits with family members and had difficulty contacting their lawyers. Moreover, inspectors highlighted that the Auckland Prison faced many challenges in providing proper healthcare for prisoners who had difficulty accessing and receiving care for their health problems. This impacted, not only their physical and mental health, but the prisoners’ “general wellbeing.”
The inspection team ended their report with recommendations on how to tackle the non-compliance with minimum entitlements and ensure such non-compliance does not happen again in the future. Mainly, inspectors recommended authorities put in a “national response plan to help the site address the underlying causative factors” of the mentioned violations. This plan has to go under scrutiny by “an internal assurance mechanism” to supervise its progress. Besides, any future decision to limit or deny minimum entitlements must be documented in writing by the decision maker who has to specify its justification. Additionally, the decision to continue to deny minimum entitlements must be reviewed daily by the prison director, and a record of this decision with its rationale must be kept.
