The Human Rights Commission urges agencies to reduce, if not completely eliminate, isolation and restraint in detention centers

Children, young people and women, especially Maori, are forced to stay in detention agencies for too long.

These are the findings of a follow-up report that has prompted the Commission on Human Rights to call on detention agencies to reduce, if not completely eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint.

Sharon Shalev from the University of Oxford said it was “disappointing” that the issues highlighted in 2017 had not been addressed.

Isolation in all organisms was used too often and for too long, for a reason that was not always clear, and the data on the use of force and restraint raised concerns.

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Chief Human Rights Commissioner Professor Paul Hunt said the report was “dismantling.” There have been some positive developments, but “there are racial and gender implications that we have to address as a country.”

The Commission on Human Rights is asking agencies to reduce, if not completely eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint.

“We know that seclusion practices and the use of restraints, particularly when worn for extended periods, are inherently harmful,” Hunt said.

“Proactive and preventive alternatives, based on human rights and Te Tiriti and focused on stress reduction and trauma informed practice, must be at the forefront.”

“Dr. Shalev has identified that a significant shift will require a paradigm shift in the practices of seclusion and restraint in places of detention in New Zealand. We urge the Government to prioritize the work necessary to catalyze this. “

Prisons

In 2019, there were 15,225 recorded cases of segregation placements in New Zealand prisons, of which 1,339 lasted more than 15 days.

About 55 percent lasted up to 30 days and some more than six months.

Women were segregated in a higher proportion than men. Maori women were disproportionately represented in longer segregations, accounting for 59% of these stays, 78% of all stays in management units, and 65% in units used for punishment.

“These discrepancies must be urgently explored, to determine whether decision-making processes may be influenced by unconscious biases or other factors related to gender and ethnicity,” the report said.

People Against Prisons Aotearoa spokesperson Emilie Rākete (Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa) said that Maori women were the fastest growing prison population and the report showed general flaws in the government’s equity approach.

“We need to stop believing in pretty words. These have yet to be combined with the action. Solitary confinement is torture and is prohibited by international law. “

Facilities for children and youth

The report found that too many children and young people spent too much time in conditions that could “negatively affect their health and well-being, reactivate traumatic events and damage relationships in residences.”

It also found that the potential for harm may be worse for Maori children.

Between June and December 2019, 76 children and young people between the ages of 14 and 18 were placed in a secure unit 298 times, spending between a few hours and 20 days.

In total, they spent 815 days in Secure Care at the Juvenile Justice center and more than half of those children identified as New Zealand Maori.

During the same time, 14 children between the ages of 12 and 16 were placed in a secure care unit of a care and protection residence 70 times. 62% of those children identified as Maori.

The Oranga Tamariki data found from the six months to December 2019, there were 366 uses of force in the Juvenile Justice facilities and 184 incidents in the Care and Protection residences.

“A distressed child should not be placed in conditions that are known to be stressful. This is contrary not only to international human rights law, but also to common sense ”.

Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said the report shows the urgent need for the gradual closure of the four large care and protection residences, and the reduction of use and eventual abolition of the four juvenile justice detention centers.

“For most New Zealanders, these residences are invisible and operate below our radar. Most of the staff do their best, but in the context of a faulty model.

“Some of the treatments and conditions these children and youth are subjected to are clearly unacceptable, as this report and our residential monitoring show.”

Health and disability facilities

The average number of seclusion events has increased since 2017, but the average duration has decreased slightly. However, he stayed for more than two days.

A man of Pacific descent had spent 10 days in a forensic unit and two Maori men spent 7 and 14 days each in an acute psychiatric unit.

Maori were over-represented in prison units.

Between September 2019 and February 2019, the restraints were used 358 times. One hold lasted 1463 minutes and another 290, 125 and 100 minutes.

“Seclusion should only be used as a very short-term emergency measure, not as a longer-term solution for the most challenging service users, or the lack of more adequate beds or staff shortages,” the report says.

Many of the issues from 2017, such as harsh environments, windows without curtains, rooms without bathrooms, and no access to running water, were still relevant.

Ashley Peacock, 42, lives on the Kāpiti coast; he moved into a home there in 2018, several years after being in a long-term mental health facility.

His mother, Marlena, said there was no doubt that he had suffered damage.

“You don’t recover from years of seclusion,” he said. “It’s very degrading and when someone is in seclusion for years, it gets to the point where it becomes difficult to get out of seclusion. They are so used to being ‘confined, they are scared, it probably took them a year to get them out of that room.”

Her parents were in favor of the Human Rights Commission’s call to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint.

Police

Police did not provide information “in a timely manner and in a format that would allow for rapid analysis” despite repeated requests, Shalev said.

He expressed concern about the impossibility of monitoring the police custody rooms and the use of restrictions, “and the lack of responsibility and transparency that it suggests.”

In a statement, Assistant Commissioner for Response and Operations Tusha Penny said police were working to improve the way they cared for people in their custody.

Report Recommendations

• Stop the use of ‘Secure Care’ rooms for children and young people
• Reduce both the use and duration of seclusion and restraint
• Explore possible racial and gender bias in decision-making regarding reclusion / segregation
• Improve material conditions and access to meaningful contacts and activities in isolation / segregation.
• Provide therapeutic environments for distressed individuals and seek alternatives to isolation and restraint for them.
• Dismantling facilities that are not fit for purpose
• Gather complete and good quality data to monitor the effective implementation of these recommendations