Prison Covid restrictions could trigger Waikeria riots repeat, warns partner
Monday, 7 March 2022
Prisoners under Covid-prompted lockdown at one of the country’s biggest jails are close to a repeat of riots that turned part of Waikeria Prison into a smoking ruin, warn family members.
Jayanna Edge, 26, whose partner is serving time in Auckland's Paremoremo prison said inmates there were facing conditions that could ignite another stand-off and prison staff were not doing enough to avert the crisis.
However, Corrections said the spread of Covid in prisons gave them little choice but to keep inmates in their cells to stop transmission, for their own safety. Staff shortages due to guards isolating had also stretched them thin in managing prisoners.
In December 2020, Edge’s partner was one of the 17 Waikeria inmates, who through-out a six-day stand-off, set the country’s oldest jail unit ablaze while protesting alleged inhumane prison conditions.
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Corrections’ annual report showed the cost of the six-day riot was $46 million. Prisoners involved are due to face trial in 2023.
“Since the Waikeria uprising, I fear that the prisoners’ complaints and the issues regarding the prison haven’t been heard…. I fear that the mental health of the prisoners will mean that another protest could be on the cards,” she said.
“I am one of the concerned whānau members screaming out for Corrections to listen,” said Waikato-based Edge.
Edge claims her partner and other inmates in Paremoremo are being confined in their cells for between 22 and 60 hours at a stretch, which she was told was due to under-staffing at the prison.
Physical visits with family members have also been stopped she said, with the option of digital calls being restricted to ten-minutes, every two weeks if available.
Corrections said no-one was available for an interview but, in a statement, Deputy National Commissioner Leigh Marsh told Stuff their top priority was to protect the safety of the public, staff and people in prison.
“In situations where a significant number of prisoners are being managed in quarantine … or have been in close contact with someone with CovidCOVID-19, it is very difficult to provide unlock time without creating an opportunity for the virus to spread to staff or other prisoners, and it is not possible to safely facilitate this for every prisoner every day”.
As of March 1 there were 248 cases of CovidCOVID-19 across the country’s prisons, including 24 at Paremoremo.
They said 207 prison-based staff have CovidCOVID-19, including 26 at Paremoremo.
“Everything we have put in place to manage the threat of CovidCOVID-19 has been based on prioritising their safety and wellbeing” said Marsh.
“Our custodial staff are skilled workers who have undergone specialist training, and we need to do everything we can to prevent a significant number having to isolate at any one time, therefore reducing the number of available staff to run our prisons”.
Edge urged Corrections to address the well-being issues of the inmates to avoid another incident.
“Corrections needs to understand that these men have rights, people who love and care for them and children that still want to see them and partners that want to hug them,” she said.
-An earlier version of this story included information regarding prisoners’ intentions which has since been removed. Amended 4pm, March 8, 2022.