The Waikeria Protests Point to Issues with Prisons
Geneviève Nolet, Online Staff Writer
February 1, 2021
Image Credit: Robert Crow / Creative Commons via American Oversight.org
Tuesday December 29, 2020, 17 inmates at the Waikeria prison in New Zealand started fires in some of the facilities to protest the conditions in which they were kept. Complaints included inmates being forced to eat from paper bags, drink brown water and sleep on unclean bedding. Former inmate and activist Tame Iti described the conditions as “not fit for a dog”.
The Waikeria prison, established in 1911, is one of New Zealand’s largest prisons with its 1200 hectare site hosting 700 minimum- to high-security male prisoners. Of the prison population, 67% is Māori. The fires set by the protesters lead to the forced evacuation of 200 prisoners from the top jail, which is now destroyed beyond repair.
The protest lasted six-days, during which the prisoners camped out on the roof of one of the units, raided an equipment room for armours and batons, and fabricated makeshift weapons. The inmates also fired missiles at staff and are thought to have stolen drugs from the prison dispensary. One member surrendered on Thursday, December 31, 2020 while the remaining 16 men surrendered in the early afternoon on Saturday, January 2, 2021. As had been promised, they received water, food, medical support, and the ability to speak with kaumātua (Māori elders) before being relocated to other prisons.
Prison officials and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis alleged that the prisoners had never raised any concerns about their living conditions prior to the riot.
This comes after an Ombudsman report titled Final report on an unannounced inspection of Waikeria prison under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989 was released in August 2020. This report clearly details the failure of the prison to meet several minimum UN standards, and describes the accommodations of the high security complex as being “unacceptably cramped,” “poorly ventilated and uncomfortably hot.” The report also recounted how prisoners in those units were often forced to eat meals in close proximity to uncovered toilets, which was deemed “unsanitary” and “culturally inappropriate” for Māori people, whose culture calls for the separation of sacred and ordinary things - toileting being considered sacred while food is ordinary. Family members of the protesters also maintain that the men had made complaints but that these had been continuously dismissed prior to the protests. Even prison guards admitted that the conditions in the unit were improper.
Corrections Chief Executive Jeremy Lightfoot announced that two reviews have been commissioned to investigate the riots, while the New Zealand Human Rights Commission has also requested an inquiry to look into the matter. Meanwhile, criminal justice advocacy groups are urging the authorities to exonerate the men from charges since they were protesting breaches or their rights.
It is important to recognize that conditions such as the ones seen at Waikeria are not unique to New Zealand prisons. In fact, the situation inside many Canadian prisons is similarly problematic as inmates lack access to basic healthcare, including mental health support, and they often spend unreasonable amounts of time stuck in their cells due to arbitrary protocols defined by the standing orders of the institution. The power held by the standing orders of the prison creates a greater potential for abuse, as these authorities may take advantage of their power to foment violence and mistreat prisoners.
The parallel between the New Zealand and Canadian criminal justice systems does not stop at the poor conditions in the prisons. Both systems also perpetuate similar problems such as the endorsing of unnecessarily long sentences for prisoners, the discrimination against Indigenous peoples and the failure to provide adequate rehabilitation programs for inmates.
The Waikeria prison unrest not only highlights the mistreatment suffered by numerous prisoners in prisons across the world; it also points to the fundamental issues with prisons. Prisons are built to punish inmates rather than provide them with support and rehabilitation programs that would allow them to reintegrate into wider society. Research by British criminologist Alison Liebling demonstrates that inmates who feel like they have a greater “moral quality of life” tend to have better outcomes upon reintegration into society. As Tania Mead, director of Just Speak explains, locking people up is simply “a deeply ineffective solution” that does not address the causes of people’s crimes. Prison reforms (and overall criminal justice system reforms) are long overdue, and not only in New Zealand and Canada. It is time to stop overcrowding prisons with people who need help but are instead treated inhumanely and scorned by society. Rehabilitation through compassion is fundamental to better support prisoners and help them positively impact society upon their release.
While violent and destructive, the Waikeria unrest achieved its aim by bringing awareness to the inhumane conditions in New Zealand’s prisons and in prisons throughout the world. As Rawiri Waititi, MP for Waiariki, articulated, “when injustice is normalised, defiance and protest is necessary.” After all, inmates are human beings too and they deserve to be treated as such.