Waikeria Uprising: New Call for Government to Negotiate Prisoner Siege

Maori Party Co-Director Rawiri Waititi has called for the Corrections Minister to intervene immediately to resolve the ongoing clash with inmates in rioting at Waikeria Prison.

Waititi is issuing an urgent plea this morning to Kelvin Davis to remedy the situation for the safety of all involved.

Waititi visited the prison last night to meet with the remaining 16 men who had taken control of the prison’s main jail in a fiery uprising Tuesday afternoon. It occurred when another prisoner surrendered to the authorities.

After meeting with the men, Waititi warned that things would get worse in prison if there was no high-level intervention.

“When injustice becomes law, defiance becomes duty. These men are at the limit of their wits.

“This situation is indicative of a dysfunctional justice system that has been failing our people for years.

“Until resources can be transferred to the Maori to be designed and implemented by the Maori for Maori approaches, things are going to get worse.”

He said that for a government that prided itself on its kindness, it had allowed an inhuman environment to rot.

“They are willingly allowing violations of basic human rights to occur. They need to fix it now,” he said.

A spokesman for the Minister of Corrections said today that he would not comment until the situation was resolved.

Rawiri said the men faced dire and inhumane conditions inside the jail.

“The environment in the Waikeria prison is dehumanizing. The water they are expected to drink is brown. They do not receive adequate clothing or bedding. They are expected to wash their clothes in the patio shower.”

He said yesterday’s meeting with the prisoners besieging the now extensively damaged upper jail was to hear from his korero.

“They are clear that this is not a riot, it is a protest for their human rights for all prisoners, past and present.

“They are protesting for their right to basic human needs.”

He said some degree of negotiation with Corrections would be needed before the men came down from the roof.

“I feel sorry for those who work in that particular space and also for our whānau who have to live in it. Our people have done wrong, yes, and they have to accept that, but at the end of the day 2020 in Aotearoa people have to be treated by a human being and not an animal. “

It came about when a manifesto was released yesterday detailing the dire conditions inside the Waikato jail, including dirty drinking water and inmates are expected to eat food in paper bags next to shared open bathrooms.

The document also alleges that inmates have had to use towels for three weeks in a row, and some have not changed bedding in five months.

A Corrections spokesman said the situation was unchanged this morning.

Yesterday, Corrections said that the prisoners remained within the security perimeter of the “upper jail” facility and that “there is no risk to public safety.”

“We continue to engage with the prisoners to encourage them to cease their actions,” a Corrections spokesman said.

“We are concerned that they are putting themselves at significant risk by staying where they are. The damage to the building is significant.”

He followed men who previously broke an agreement that they would surrender if they could speak to kaumatua.

“However, an operation involving the support of our advanced control and restriction personnel was planned to allow this to happen safely. [it] it did not resolve the situation, “the spokesperson said.

“We would like to express our appreciation to the Kaumātua for their efforts and their willingness to help with the safe resolution of the incident.”

Initially, 21 prisoners were on the roof of the prison after the riot, but four have since surrendered.