Abuse of detained teens ‘appals’ PM
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered an inquiry into the treatment of children in detention after the airing of video showing prison guards tear-gassing teenage inmates and strapping a half-naked, hooded boy to a chair.
Turnbull said yesterday it was clear that mistreatment had occurred, after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) aired CCTV footage on Monday of inmates in a Northern Territory juvenile detention centre being stripped naked, thrown by the neck into a cell, and held for long periods in solitary confinement.
‘‘Like all Australians, I’ve been deeply shocked – shocked and appalled by the images of mistreatment of children,’’ Turnbull said within hours of the video being aired as he announced a royal commission of inquiry.
‘‘We’re going to move swiftly and decisively to get to the bottom of this.’’
The CCTV footage from the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin was shot between 2010-2014, according to the ABC.
A report into some of the incidents by the Northern Territory children’s commissioner in 2015 found fault with the guards’ behaviour, but the findings were disputed by the then head of prisons and not acted upon, said the ABC.
The video showed guards mocking inmates, carrying a boy by the neck and throwing him onto a mattress in a cell, and covering a teenager’s head with a hood and shackling him to a chair with neck, arm, leg and foot restraints.
‘‘If one of us were to have been found to have treated our children in this way, we would probably be charged with a criminal offence and the children would be taken away from us,’’ said Australia’s Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, who backed the inquiry.
Turnbull said the inquiry would examine both the abuse in the Northern Territory and why authorities failed to reprimand prison officials sooner.
‘‘There are many issues of concern here and we will get to the bottom of it and we will appoint a very thorough, meticulous examiner of this,’’ said Turnbull, declining to say whether the institution involved would be closed.
Northern Territory Corrections Minister John Elerink has been dumped, with Chief Minister Adam Giles taking over.
‘‘Seeing some of that footage and understanding many of the historical elements within our corrections system, I think over time there has most certainly been a culture of coverup,’’ Giles said.
Giles visited the facility yesterday.
‘‘I inspected the intake area, I saw many of the detainees in their place of residence. I saw them playing football and I just wanted to make sure that I was comfortable with the level of amenity.’’
He said the NT government planned to build a new youth detention centre if it is re-elected on August 31.
Giles also said a previously announced review of the corrections system would be handed down on Friday. Ending months of animosity, Bernie Sanders robustly embraced his former rival Hillary Clinton yesterday as a champion for the same economic causes that enlivened his supporters, signalling it was time for them, too, to rally behind the Democratic nominee in the campaign against Republican Donald Trump.
‘‘Any objective observer will conclude that – based on her ideas and her leadership – Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,’’ he declared in a headlining address on the opening night of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.
Sanders joined a high-wattage lineup of speakers, including First Lady Michelle Obama who delivered a forceful, impassioned defence of the Democratic nominee.
Her address all but wiped away earlier tumult in the convention hall that had exposed lingering tensions between Clinton and Sanders supporters.
While Sanders had endorsed Clinton previously, his remarks yesterday marked his most vigorous and detailed praise of her qualifications for the presidency. It came at a crucial moment for Clinton’s campaign, on the heels of leaked emails suggesting the party had favoured the former secretary of state through the primaries despite a vow of neutrality.
Sanders scored the resignation of Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a nemesis in the primaries, but that wasn’t enough to quell the anger of supporters. As the convention opened, they still erupted in chants of ‘‘Bernie’’ and booed Clinton the first several times her name was mentioned. Outside the convention hall, several hundred marched down Philadelphia’s sweltering streets with signs carrying messages such as ‘‘Never Hillary’’.
By the time Sanders took the stage for the night’s closing address, much of the anger had been overshadowed by speeches promoting party unity.
Sanders did his part, imploring supporters to consider a country under Trump’s leadership.
‘‘If you don’t believe this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country.’’
Sanders spoke just after Senator Elizabeth Warren, a favourite of liberals who has emerged as one of the Democrats’ toughest critics of Trump.
‘‘Donald Trump has no real plans for jobs, for college kids, for seniors,’’ she said in the keynote address. ‘‘No plans to make anything great for anyone except rich guys like Donald Trump.’’
Obama was one of the night’s standouts. While she has often avoided overt politics during her nearly eight years in the White House, her frustration with Trump’s rise was evident.
She warned that the White House couldn’t be in the hands of someone with ‘‘a thin skin or a tendency to lash out’’ or someone who tells voters the country can be great again.
‘‘This right now, is the greatest country on earth.’’ she said.
Clinton’s campaign has hoped the nighttime lineup would overshadow a tumultuous start to the four-day convention. The hacked DNC emails fed the suspicion of Sanders supporters and sapped Clinton’s campaign of some of its energy following a well-received unveiling on Saturday of her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.
Campaigning in North Carolina, Trump seemed to revel in the Democrats’ commotion, telling supporters that Clinton made a mistake by not choosing a more liberal running mate to appease Sanders’ base. ‘‘Crazy Bernie’s going crazy right now,’’ he said.
But in Philadelphia, Delegates waved ‘‘Love Trumps Hate’’ signs and cheered as immigration supporters, gay rights advocates and labour leaders took the stage.
Comedian-turned-senator Al Franken, a Clinton supporter, and actress Sarah Silverman, a Sanders supporter, made a joint appearance to promote party unity.
‘‘I am proud to be part of Bernie’s movement,’’ Silverman said as the crowd roared. ‘‘And a vital part of that movement is making absolutely sure Hillary Clinton is our next president of the United States.’’
Trump was a frequent target throughout the night, though the jabs were often more mocking than mean. The tone was in sharp contrast to the Republican convention, where the attacks against Clinton was bitingly personal, including chants of ‘‘Lock her up’’.
Wasserman Schultz had planned to be among those taking the stage, despite the email hacking controversy. But she stepped aside, bowing to pressure from Democrats who feared the mere sight of her on stage would prompt strong opposition. She watched the gathering from a private suite at the arena.