At-risk Invercargill prisoners still being placed in dry cells, despite warnings

RNZ News

12 hours ago

File photo.
Photo:
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Corrections has continued locking suicidal Invercargill prisoners in rooms with no toilet or drinking water, despite being reprimanded for the practice six years ago.
In 2019, then-Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found it breached United Nations standards meant to prevent the torture of prisoners and to ensure their dignity.
Since then prisoners identified as at-risk were placed in so-called dry cells at least 14 times, data obtained under Official Information Act showed.
Dry cells, located in the prison's Intervention and Support Unit (ISU), were designed for monitoring prisoners suspected of hiding contraband.
Corrections said at-risk prisoners were typically put in a different area of the unit, known as the 'safer cells' - rooms with no ligature points which allowed for close monitoring and access to specialist care.
On 13 of the 14 occasions at-risk prisoners were placed in the dry cells since 2019, Corrections said the safer cells were full.
Most of the instances occurred in 2023, and the most recent was in November 2024.
Deputy Commissioner for Men's Prisons Neil Beales said staff were left with little choice.
"We still have a responsibility to make sure that that person is properly looked after and we can't put them in a cell where there may be ligature points. It appears that what they've done there is they've used what was available to them," he said.
"Nobody is saying that is optimal and preferable, but unfortunately it's unavoidable in those circumstances."
When at-risk Invercargill prisoners were put in dry cells, they were still closely monitored and had access to specialised care, Corrections said.
Beales said the duration of the stays varied - sometimes overnight and sometimes a few hours.
Multiple watchdogs had warned Corrections about the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners.
The
Ombudsman highlighted the issue in 2019
after an unannounced visit to Invercargill Prison.
At the time Boshier visited, he said Invercargill Prison's three ISU safer cells were full, and two at-risk prisoners were being held in dry cells.
They had been given cardboard receptacles instead of a toilet, he said.
Boshier found that contravened Rule 15 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which stated "sanitary installations shall be adequate to enable every prisoner to comply with the needs of nature when necessary, in a clean and decent manner".
In 2021, Boshier also
warned against the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners
at Christchurch Men's and Whanganui Prisons.
"Dry cells are a desolate and barren environment for prisoners who are already vulnerable. I do not consider it is ever appropriate to put at-risk people into cells with no toilets or drinking water," he said.
In 2023, the Office of the Inspectorate also warned Corrections against the practice.
Chief Inspector of Corrections Janis Adair spelled out her concerns in a
report on Separation and Isolation
across the country's prison system.
"We observed that the dry cells were sometimes being used outside their intended purpose, for example because there were insufficient at-risk cells. This is not appropriate as the dry cells are especially restrictive," she said.
"Dry cells also have no furniture, and the mattress is placed either directly on the floor, or on a low concrete base."
Amnesty International New Zealand advocacy and movement building director Lisa Woods said the continued use of dry cells for at-risk Invercargill prisoners was an utter failure.
"People being placed in such conditions, especially after the Ombudsman has made it clear it goes against international human rights standards - it's beyond appalling," she said.
"This ... shows the system is utterly broken."
A breach of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, should be treated seriously, Woods said.
"Over and over again, the criminal justice system is failing to treat people in its care with dignity, and this is unacceptable," she said.
"Everyone has the right to dignity. That's inherent and important."
Howard League for Penal Reform spokesperson Cosmo Jeffery, who was placed in a dry cell himself in the early 2000s, said he would not wish it on anyone, let alone someone in a vulnerable mental state.
"It's totally inhumane. It's going back to the dark ages," he said.
He questioned the lack of action to prevent the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners.
"There doesn't seem to be any resolution. There's no appetite for change," Jeffery said.
Since 2019, the population of Invercargill prison had fluctuated between 110 and 182 inmates, including people on remand.
Beales said there had been a notable rise in the number of arrivals with significant mental health, drug and alcohol issues.
"I know that our managers at those sites will do everything in their power not to use those cells. But when you're stuck with nowhere else to put them that is safe - we can't put people who are at risk on a bus and send them up the road, because that can be equally as damaging, as dangerous," he said.
"They have to make the best decisions for safety of the people that we're managing and also the safety of our staff."
RNZ asked Beales why Corrections had not increased the number of ISU safer cells in Invercargill Prison.
He said given the nature and age of the building, Corrections had decided to invest its money elsewhere in the prison network.
"What we've done is focus resources where they're going to give us better bang for buck."
Corrections opened 500 new high-security beds at Waikeria Prison last month, and 96 dedicated mental health and addiction beds, he said.
"If we utilise those facilities better, we take the pressure off the rest of the network," Beales said.
Asked if dry cells would continue to be used for at-risk prisoners at Invercargill Prison, Beales said that would come down to capacity.
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