The horrors of New Zealand’s Supermax prison where prisoners are tortured

We torture prisoners in our SuperMax…

Prisoners held in solitary confinement for 900 days, report finds

Some prisoners in the prison’s Extreme Risk Unit have spent more than 900 days in solitary confinement, a violation of international human rights law as the maximum sentence is 15 days.

It is the first time the unit, which was established in 2019 following the Christchurch terrorist attacks, has been inspected by the Bureau of Inspectorate.

PERU, Auckland Prison, houses prisoners who the Prison Service considers to be high risk, some of whom pose a very high risk of violence and others who are involved in transnational organised crime.

There were currently 13 people being managed in PERU

…prolonged solitary confinement is considered torture, and the maximum sentence should be 15 days.

We have locked prisoners in solitary confinement for 900 days.

We are a downright cruel people in this country and we have no qualms about torturing people when we feel comfortable doing so. If you disagree with me, look at the Royal Inquiry into Historical Abuse of Children in State Care. We actively tortured children with electricity and dared to claim that we were ‘helping’ unruly children, but in reality we were torturing them.

Because we refuse to tax the rich, our underfunded social infrastructure leaves people in terrible positions where there is no hope of recovery, only more suffering.

We are so angry about the media coverage of crime that far-right politicians use our anger to claim that we need to fight crime, only to make the situation more toxic and damaging.

We are a people of little imagination, fixated on rugby, cow udders and the denial of alcoholism. I fear we lack the cultural and spiritual maturity to have a mature discussion about criminality that goes beyond shouting for public hangings.