Assaults in prison often unreported, investigation finds

WELLINGTON: An inpatient at an adult mental health facility was assaulted so seriously he required surgery but the incident was not reported to police by Department of Corrections staff, the Human Rights Commission has revealed.

A report following visits to youth and adult facilities around the country has found ‘‘serious issues’’ with prison and mental health facilities across New Zealand, including underreporting of prisoner assaults, lack of staff supervision and a culture of intimidation at some centres.

The Monitoring Places of Detention report, released on Friday, revealed almost one in two inmates at Invercargill and Manawatu prisons said they had been victims of assault in prison, but more than 80% did not report them.

Further results from a voluntary questionnaire, completed by 266 prisoners at both jails, found it difficult to access complaint forms and had low levels of faith in the complaint system.

That has prompted a recommendation from the Human Rights Commission that all district health boards adopt a ‘‘zerotolerance approach’’ to violence by automatically referring assaults and other incidents to police.

The violence issues extend to other prisons and mental health facilities too, the report coauthored by Chief Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford, Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft and Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier, among others, found.

At He Puna Waiora inspectors discovered a person who had been seriously assaulted 10 days earlier at the Waiatarau Unit mental health facility.

‘‘That incident was not reported to the police, despite the service user’s injuries requiring surgery,’’ the report found.

The clinical director said the man’s mental and physical state, and fitness to participate in an investigation, were all considered.

Prime Minister Bill English said it was important that what happened in prisons was transparently reported.

‘‘We’d have to get advice on the legal detail of what amounts to an assault or what the obligations actually are but we would expect that corrections operate the prisons in a way that minimises the possibility of assault,’’ he said.

‘‘Bear in mind they are supervising several thousand of New Zealand’s most dangerous, most violent people and there will be some occasions when they’re not able to completely control what goes on.’’

Concerns were also raised about a lack of purposeful activities and poor quality cell standards for remand prisoners.

‘‘We found that remand prisoners at both Invercargill Prison and Manawatu Prison were housed in unacceptable conditions,’’ the report found.

‘‘Remand prisoners at these sites were denied access to dining facilities and were required to eat their meals in their cells, next to uncovered toilets.’’

While a new dining facility is being built at Invercargill Prison, the department says remand prisoners, who are managed as highsecurity by default, will not be allowed to access it.

The report follows one earlier this month by Judge Boshier that found some prisoners had their rights under the UN torture convention violated during restraint.

The general management of atrisk prisoners was ‘‘substandard and detrimental to their wellbeing’’, Judge Boshier said.

He found one prisoner in Auckland was secured to a tiedown bed for 16 hours at a time, 37 nights in a row, while another in Otago Prison was kept in a waist restraint with his hands cuffed behind his back almost continuously over three and ahalf months. — NZN

❛ We found that remand prisoners at both Invercargill Prison and Manawatu Prison were housed in unacceptable conditions❜