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Relatives of protesters at Waikeria Prison in Waikato say their complaints about conditions at the prison were dismissed before the protest took place.
Sixteen prisoners surrendered and were escorted around noon Sunday by Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of the Maori Party.
During the five-night standoff, the prisoners lit several fires that destroyed the “upper jail” facilities at the prison and threw debris at the employees from the rooftops.
At a press conference in Wellington on Sunday, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said the men had not made any complaints about living conditions prior to the protest. But whānau of the prisoners says that is not true.
Dominico Zapata / Things
Prisoners could be seen on the roof of a unit in Waikeria prison after the riots that began Tuesday.
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In a statement issued through People Against Prisons Aotearoa, the whānau members said they tried “many times” to file complaints with the prison and the Department of Corrections and were “fired on all occasions.”
“Our loved ones inside also tried many times to file complaints, but were denied access to the PC01 complaint forms.
“With no other options available to them, our loved ones decided to take action and we support their decision.”
MARK TAYLOR STUFF opinions
Sixteen prisoners who lit fires and climbed to the roof of the prison in a multi-day standoff surrendered around noon Sunday.
They claimed that the prison “was not suitable for humans to live.”
“… the jail was unsanitary and the conditions inside were disgusting. The corrections still forced our loved ones to endure this treatment. “
Most of the men involved were members of the Mongols and Comancheros, Davis said. Five were deported from Australia, and three were subject to return orders due to their criminal convictions.
After a haka and a karakia, the men lowered themselves from the roof to a cake and a Coca-Cola, Waititi told media outside the prison on Sunday.
Davis said the men destroyed the main jail facility, and that shouldn’t be glorified.
The Waikeria building “is useless now,” and the remand prisoners who were in that center had to be sent across the country by Corrections, much further away from their families.
“[The men] hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damaged property, putting their own lives and the health and safety of staff and other inmates at risk. “
Police would decide whether the men would be charged for destroying the facility.
KEVIN STENT / Stuff
The men damaged hundreds of thousands of properties and put people in danger, and that should not be glorified, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said at a news conference Sunday.
Two separate internal reviews were commissioned after Davis asked Corrections to investigate how the situation escalated to the extent that it did.
One is an operational review led by the custodial director, which was due to be completed in three months.
A more extensive review would also be conducted through the chief inspector’s office to examine the broader issues that led to the incident. This was expected to take more than six months.
The Human Rights Commission has requested that the Ombudsman carry out a new independent investigation.
Chief Commissioner Paul Hunt said that while there was no shortage of reports and recommendations … progress is glacial.
Davis did not make any public comment during the disorder, but said Sunday that he received reports every hour on most days.
“These men wanted political attention, and unfortunately those who dived into it to generate headlines only helped embolden them, extend the duration of the event, and increase the security risk,” he said.
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
The men were tired and hungry, but still determined to see a change, Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said on Sunday.
Waititi said the prisoners who surrendered were “tired and hungry, but still very determined to see change.”
“They have achieved what they set out to do when they embarked on drawing attention to their mistreatment in prison.”
Even the prison guards acknowledged that the unit was in an unacceptable state, Waititi said.
“While people who commit crimes must serve their sentences, they must also be treated fairly and humanely.”
“These men are not animals, they are human; they are brothers, parents and children and they deserve better treatment ”.
He acknowledged the authorities involved and said he was elated by the outcome, noting that the authorities allowed “the Maori to deal with ours in a Maori way.”
KEVIN STENT / Stuff
Corrections Incident Controller Jeanette Burns thanked the Corrections staff who handled the protest.
At Sunday’s press conference in Wellington, Corrections Incident Controller Jeanette Burns said the prisoners fired missiles at staff and thanked the staff handling the protest.
Corrections previously warned that the situation was “incredibly volatile”, citing tensions between members of the group, access to weapons and possibly drugs from the dispensary.
Prisoners set fires inside the facility overnight, threatened staff and police and threw debris from the roof of buildings, Corrections said.
“There is no excuse for what these men have done,” said Corrections executive director Jeremy Lightfoot.
Burns said the men had been stressed.
Corrections was currently building a new facility to replace the existing upper jail facility, which will be completed in 2022, he said.
TOM LEE / THINGS
Jeremy Lightfoot, Executive Director of Corrections, speaks to the media about the ongoing riots at the Waikeria prison.
Meanwhile, criminal justice advocacy groups have said the men should not be charged.
“We urge compassion towards men who have been protesting violations of their legal and human rights,” said a statement from ActionStation, People Against Prisons Aotearoa and JustSpeak.
Corrections were needed to address systemic issues that made the protest necessary, the groups said.
SUPPLIED
Men demand basic human rights for people in Waikeria, JustSpeak Director Tania Sawicki Mead said.
Earlier, JustSpeak Director Tania Sawicki Mead said the men were “shedding light on … inhumane conditions.”
The basic human rights they demanded included clean drinking water, hygienic eating facilities, toilet paper and clean clothes, Sawicki Mead said.
The “abject conditions” were recently highlighted in a report by the Chief Ombudsman after an unannounced inspection of the prison, Sawicki Mead said.
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand echoed the calls.
“We don’t want a system that ignores people in prison so much that they end up resorting to desperate measures to be heard,” said CEO Me De Ronde.
MARK TAYLOR / Stuff
We don’t want a system that ignores people until they resort to desperate measures, said Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand Executive Director Meg de Ronde.
The riot began in Waikeria after inmates started several fires Tuesday and later took control of the prison’s main jail.
Photos taken by Stuff it showed an entire wing, at least 100 meters long, destroyed with the roof like a tangle of rubble.
A man surrendered on the third day of the incident.
