Greater oversight needed in places of detention: Senate COVID-19 Committee told

An alliance of civil society and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and senior academics have told the Senate Committee tasked with investigating the Morrison Government's response to COVID-19 that there must be greater oversight of places of detention both during the pandemic and beyond.

In a joint submission, the alliance said that the Morrison Government’s COVID-19 response is failing to protect the rights of people in places of detention. The alliance calls for transparency in all places of detention to ensure that solitary confinement, lockdowns, and other practices that amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, are not being used as part of the response to COVID-19.

The submission is informed by the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), an international treaty which aims to prevent mistreatment and promote humane conditions in places of detention by establishing systems for independent monitoring and inspection.

Australia agreed to implement OPCAT in December 2017 but, disappointingly, governments across Australia have been slow to establish and resource a network of independent inspectors to undertake preventative monitoring of places of detention.

The joint submission calls on governments across Australia to take immediate action to reduce the number of people held in places of detention. This should include responsibly releasing people who are at risk of significant harm should they contract COVID-19, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, refugees and people seeking asylum.

The evidence from around the world is clear – once COVID-19 enters a place of detention, it will spread like wildfire. The Morrison Government must take heed of the lessons learned overseas and recognise that the health and safety of everyone is inextricably linked to the health of people in places of detention.

Nerita Waight, the Co-Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS):

Around the world, governments are releasing imprisoned people to stop the deadly spread of COVID-19. We are calling for the immediate release of First Nations people. Priority needs to be given to those most at risk like our elderly, sick, people with disability and those with mental health issues. This is necessary to contain the spread of coronavirus so we are all healthy and safe.

Cheryl Axleby, the Co-Chair of Change the Record:

Our people don’t belong in prison, they belong in our communities. During this pandemic the lives and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are at an even greater risk – that’s why we’re calling on state and federal governments to take action now to release people – who pose a low-risk to the community if released – and those with chronic illness or other vulnerabilities to COVID-19, and to immediately instate independent oversight, in compliance with OPCAT, of conditions within prisons and youth detention centres.

Monique Hurley, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre:

Abuse thrives behind closed doors, and COVID-19 cannot be an excuse to resort to fundamentally harmful practices in all places of detention. Governments across Australia should also be focused on reducing the number of people trapped in prisons, youth justice centres and immigration detention facilities, rather than harming them in solitary confinement or subjecting them to torture or other cruel or inhuman treatment. Now is the time to fully realise the vision of OPCAT and ensure that there is greater oversight and transparency in all places of detention, both during the pandemic and beyond.

Professor Thalia Anthony, of the University of Technology in Sydney:

COVID-19 presents acute health risks to people in places of detention. However, rather than ensuring protection and safety through removing people from these places, governments across Australia have made these closed environments unprecedentedly restrictive and harmful to the wellbeing of people inside.

Read the submission to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19: Pre-Committee Version here.

The submission has been endorsed by an alliance of civil society and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations including: Change the Record, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, Danila Dilba, Prisoners Legal Service Inc, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Amnesty International Australia, People with Disability Australia, Queensland Advocacy Incorporated, Australian Lawyers Alliance, Justice-Involved Young People Network, Making Justice Work Coalition, Civil Liberties Australia, Centre for Adolescent Health, Human Rights Council of Australia, Refugee Council of Australia, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Media contact:

Michelle Bennett, Communications Director, Human Rights Law Centre, 0419 100 519