2023-02-21
Tuesday 21 February 2023
Australia has now joined Rwanda as the only other country to have prison inspections terminated by the United Nations, after the international body was denied full access to detention and mental health in-patient wards in New South Wales and Queensland.
The visit by the UN committee investigating torture in prisons was suspended on 23 October 2022 and completely terminated on 20 February 2023 because the subcommittee was refused access to NSW and QLD detention centres.
The lack of leadership from the Federal government, and its failure to use Federal laws to force recalcitrant states to allow UN inspectors access to prisons, has allowed this outcome to happen.
Australian Greens Senator and Justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said:
“Despite assurances from the Federal Attorney General’s Department in Estimates last week that they were seeking to have the visit resumed, this has failed and the opportunity for really important transparency in prisons has been missed.
“Two states have refused to give UN torture inspectors access to prisons to undertake their work, which really raises the question of what they are hiding?
“The Federal Government signed the anti-torture treaty and it’s their job to ensure compliance, not let States hide facilities from inspections.
“From repeated deaths in custody and the exposure of awful treatment of children in places like Don Dale and Banksia Hill, we know prisons in Australia are places where torture and torture like treatment occur.
“It’s time for the Albanese Government to step up with a plan to ensure torture and inhumane treatment aren’t happening in any place of detention and that any future visit of UN torture inspectors will get full access to all Australian prisons and detention centres,” Senator Shoebridge said.