Information released to No Pride in Prisons under the Official Information Act shows that up to 87% of prisoners were unemployed before entering prison. On the other hand, the unemployment rate across all of New Zealand is 4.8 percent.
This only further proves what we already know: poor people go to prison. The everyday misery of poverty puts people in extremely desperate positions to make ends meet. The stress breeds addiction, health issues, and abuse that tear apart communities.
We also know that Māori make up the majority of people who end up in prison, and are more likely to be poor. Economic racism and colonisation put Māori at even greater risk from the severe harms of imprisonment.
Capitalism is based on an elite class benefiting from the poverty, unemployment and misery of the many. By keeping wages and benefits low, the government ensures that there will always be people desperate to accept bad working conditions.
When people act out as a result of their miserable conditions, they are used as a scapegoat. They are held responsible and put in prison, while the social system that pushed them into prison is ignored.
Prison never has and never will be used to address “crime”. It is used to lock up poor people and secure the privilege of the elite. The prison props up capitalism and colonialism at the expense of Māori and the poor. http://ift.tt/2uvyDBT
A prisoner that we work with has come into some trouble and needs a lawyer.
He was recently assaulted by another prisoner at Spring Hill and had to defend himself. Although he tried to resolve the conflict without violence, Corrections has decided to charge him.
He feels that this is extremely unjust. He would like a lawyer present at his disciplinary hearing, to help him make his case.
This is beyond the scope of what our volunteer advocates can do. We need some help getting him representation.
If you know any lawyers in Northern Waikato or South Auckland who’d be keen to help out pro bono, please point them in our direction!
Email us at advocacy@noprideinprisons.org.nz or contact us here on Facebook. http://ift.tt/2wvhlX0
“Prison abolitionist organisation No Pride in Prisons is preparing to change its name to People Against Prisons Aotearoa after a majority vote at its 2017 Annual General Meeting.
“Our work is for the universal liberation of prisoners, and so our organisation must be similarly universal,” says No Pride in Prisons spokeswoman Emilie Rākete. “We are not an organisation just for queer and trans people, but for everyone who opposes the violent prison system.”
“People Against Prisons Aotearoa, or PAPA, is a reminder that Papatūānuku underlies the struggle for mana motuhake and the nationwide liberation of Māori in Aotearoa.”
“People Against Prisons Aotearoa is a declaration that we are serious about opposing and ending incarceration itself.”
“Since our protest of the 2016 Pride Parade, NPIP has substantially changed the way we organise.”
Did you notice our absence at Auckland Pride 2017? Do you wonder what else No Pride in Prisons does?
More and more of our organisation’s work is behind-the-scenes these days, and we’ve written this piece to explain why we’re moving that way.
“Pride is no longer a focus for our organisation. Although we oppose the inclusion of Police and Corrections in the march because of what it symbolises, our actions are now more concerned with improving the immediate material conditions of incarcerated people and building a movement that can end incarceration entirely. Our decision not to protest Pride this year reflects this commitment.
We certainly celebrate Auckland Pride’s decision to reject Corrections’ application to march in the parade this year. We know, however, that this is not nearly enough to achieve justice for incarcerated people. Protesting Corrections’ presence at Pride was a way to plant the seeds of conversation about the violence of imprisonment. The rapid growth of our organisation is proof of the fertile soil those seeds have found. Now is the time to tend our garden. We believe that liberation for everybody, including the LGBTIQ community, cannot happen until new sprouts grow up through the rubble of the prisons. We are stronger than ever, and this has only been the beginning.”
No Pride in Prisons is pleased to announce its new booklet, Torture in New Zealand Prisons: A Briefing.
Check out the blurb:
This
booklet draws together the findings of reports made by the Office of the
Ombudsman in its investigations of four New Zealand prisons. Using these
reports, No Pride in Prisons
researchers provide an account, in plain language, of the ongoing abuse and
mistreatment of prisoners. Contextualising this information within historical
trends, they also tell the stories of prisoners who have contacted No Pride in Prisons, reminding us how
this treatment is a lived reality for far too many people. Together, these
accounts demonstrate the disturbing but undeniable existence of widespread
torture in New Zealand prisons.
Copies of the booklet can be found online for free here, and hard copies can be purchased for $5 by emailing info@noprideinprisons.org.nz.
Why you should oppose the prison construction at Waikeria
The government has only one response to the booming prison population: more prison beds. Over the next few years, it plans to expand prison capacity by 1,800. The main way it will try to do this is by building a whole new prison on the same site as the existing Waikeria Prison. That prison would be the largest in New Zealand, housing more than 1,500 people.
The government’s response is absolutely futile. It impotently locks away people who have committed crimes, unwilling to address the social problems which cause crime itself. Instead of dealing with the fundamental inequalities, it abandons thousands of people to a prison system that is riddled with violence. Prisons subject very vulnerable people to an environment that makes them more mentally unwell, more likely to attempt suicide, and more likely to be sexually assaulted. Increasing the prison capacity increases the total number of people who will become victims of the violence of prisons.
Building more prisons also costs billions of dollars. Those are billions of dollars that could be spent on education, housing and healthcare. Instead of building more prisons, the government could be spending money on healthcare services for people who struggle with mental illness and drug problems. It could be addressing the drivers of crime, especially entrenched poverty and unemployment.
To make matters worse, the land that the new prison would stand on was stolen from the Ngāti Maniapoto hapu Ngāti Kaputuhi. In 1910, the Governor-General stole by proclamation the land known as the “Tokanui Block”. This land included Ngāti Kaputuhi’s marae Waiaruhe. As Te Runanga o Ngati Maniapoto notes, “Kaputuhi have been displaced from their lands for well over 100 years while corporate shysters enrich themselves by the cultural genocide of Ngati Maniapoto hapu.” We support the right of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kaputuhi to mana motuhake over their rohe. We oppose the construction of the new prison at Waikeria, and support returning the land that it sits on.
If the government’s only solution to the overcrowding crisis is to build capacity, we suggest another solution. Instead of building more prisons in response to increasing numbers of prisoners, we should be reducing the number of prisons. As we have argued elsewhere, the overcrowding crisis is caused by a change of policy that meant more people on remand ended up in prison. We can significantly reduce the number of people in prison by demanding the repeal of this policy.
Rather than building another prison at Waikeria, the land should be returned to Ngāti Maniapoto. Rather than increasing the prison population, we must do everything we can to reduce it. Action is needed now to make this happen. In the coming months and years, the movement to stop the Waikeria prison expansion will require your involvement. That starts with the 10,000 Too Many hīkoi on the 11th of February at Aotea Square in Auckland. Your action is needed now to stop the government from spending billions of dollars on new prisons. We have to stop this prison construction project now. Not one more cell!
New Zealand’s prison population hit a record 10,000 for the
first time in November 2016. New Zealand has never had more people
in prison than it does today. This booming prison population, and the
overcrowding crisis it has caused, did not happen by accident. It did not
happen because of increasing crime rates.[1] It did not happen because
cops are catching more “bad guys”. It happened because the government just
decided to imprison more people.
On September 4, 2013, the Bail Amendment Act came into effect. The
purpose of this law is simple: to lock up more people on remand. Remand is the
period of time between being charged with something and being sentenced. The
majority of people imprisoned on remand have not been found guilty of anything
and may never be found guilty. The law made it much harder to get bail, which
has led to many more people being remanded in prison.
According to data I’ve collated between December 2013 and
December 2016, the remand population has skyrocketed since the Bail Amendment
Actcame into effect. Before the new
law, the prison population was actually falling for the first time in decades.
Since the law came into effect, the prison muster has increased by about 1,700
people, an increase of 20.6%. This has been almost entirely due to an increase
in the remand population. The number of people in prison on remand alone has
risen by more than 1,200, a 78.4% increase.
These law changes haven’t affected all parts of the prison
population equally. The changes have disproportionately impacted women and
Māori prisoners. The women’s prison population has increased at twice the rate
of the men’s prison population. The number of women on remand has more than
doubled, now 112.4% higher than it was before the Act came into effect.
While both Māori and Pākeha prison populations have
increased substantially over the past three years, the Māori prison population
has grown about one and a half times faster than the Pākeha prison population.
There are approximately 900 more Māori in prison since this law came into
effect, increasing by about 22%. The majority of the increase in the prison
population has been Māori, and Māori now make up a larger percentage of the
total prison population than three years ago.
More people are now being imprisoned for poverty-related
offences of dishonesty, which includes solo mums who are convicted of ‘benefit
fraud’ just for trying to put food on the table for their kids.[2]
While the Bail Amendment Act isn’t the sole cause of New Zealand’s astounding
imprisonment rate, as we were already locking up a ridiculous number of people
before it, it has contributed to a massive increase in the prison population.
This has led to more poor people, women and Māori in prison than ever before,
making this law a racist, sexist law that serves the interests of the rich.
The Bail Amendment Act needs to be repealed immediately.
Although there are many drivers behind New Zealand’s booming prison population,
including harsh parole and racist drug laws, the repeal of the Bail Amendment
Act is the first step toward undoing the worst of the violence of prison
overcrowding and mass incarceration. This government policy will not be changed
on its own. It requires a groundswell of people who are willing to say that
they’re not going to put up with this any more. You can be a part of this
movement. Join us at noon on February 11 at Aotea Square for the 10,000 Too
Many hīkoi. We will be demanding the immediate repeal of the Bail Amendment Act
and an end to the injustices it has produced. Make your voice heard now. Stand
up for justice and demand the repeal of the Bail Amendment Act.
By Ti Lamusse
[1]
Crime rates are lower than they were three years ago.
[2]
As the Child Poverty Action Group notes, ‘benefit fraud’ is a broad category that is used to
criminalise solo mothers, regardless of whether they intended to commit ‘fraud’
or if the ‘fraud’ occurred because of bureaucratic incompetency.
The New Zealand government has put $1 billion into expanding our prison system in the next few years. Much of that money hasn’t been spent yet, with the construction of new facilities like the one at Waikeria only being scheduled to start in 2018. That’s $1 billion that could be saved if we make it perfectly clear that enough is enough and we will not put up with pouring any more money into this broken system. More importantly, that’s over 1,500 people who might escape the horrors of imprisonment.
2017 is an election year, and no matter what happens, it will be a year of political shake-ups and new leadership. Now is the time to act and make clear that the enormous human and financial waste that is our prison system is unconscionable and cannot continue.
Our demands are:
1. The immediate repeal of the Bail Amendment Act 2013. Since it came into force, this act has put 1,000 more people who have not been found guilty of anything in prison.
2. The immediate end to all planning, development and construction of the new facility at Waikeria Prison, which will house 1,500 more prisoners.
We believe that all of us have a reason to oppose the imprisonment of 10,000 people. We invite you to march with us on Queen Street, on February 11, 2017 at 12pm. Help us to make it known that we will not accept the government’s reckless disregard for people’s lives. With the prison population at a record high of 10,000, and the government planning further expansion, we must make our voices heard now. Urgent action is required to stop all the injustices of mass incarceration.
How many are suffering unnecessarily? 10,000 TOO MANY!
In 2017, the New Zealand government has budgeted $1 billion for the running of prisons, as well an additional $1 billion for prison construction and expansion over the next few years. What could this money do for impoverished communities across Aotearoa? For the 23,000 children with a parent in prison? For education? For housing?
While the government eagerly increases its spending every year on an unjustifiably cruel system, it ignores the widespread poverty in New Zealand that drives people into criminalised activity. The prison population could be drastically reduced by dealing with fundamental problems in society, such as inequality and racism. Instead of using its resources to attack poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, and mental illness, the New Zealand government chooses to hide these issues with a $1 billion band-aid.
Prisons fail to provide a real solution to our social problems – they address misery and hardship by creating even more misery and hardship. http://ift.tt/2jHQODk
1,680 people in New Zealand prisons are on remand without conviction. This means that they are being held in prison before they have even been found guilty of anything. The recent “tough on crime” reforms, such as the Bail Amendment Act 2013, have made this even worse. Between September 2013, when the bill was introduced, and September 2016, 77.49% of the increase in the prison population was due to a rise in the number of people being held on remand.
This increase in the prison population, now at 10,000, has created an overcrowding crisis. This crisis has been used to justify housing multiple people in tiny cells and denying them access to fresh air. Right now, it is being used to justify the building of a new facility at Waikeria Prison, which will house 1,500 more prisoners. Since this bill came into effect, the remand population alone has increased by more than 1,000 people!
The current overcrowding crisis is the result of a cruel piece of government policy. While the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act states that a person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, 1,680 prisoners are being punished as though they had been found guilty anyway. The government now wants to justify degrading and torturing 1,500 more prisoners with this blatant breach of human rights! This is unacceptable. We demand the repealment of the Bail Amendment Act. http://ift.tt/2kmNt9C
Prisons target specific communities much more than others. Those who are imprisoned are more likely to be poor, Māori, mentally unwell, and intellectually disabled. Māori experience discrimination at every stage of the criminal “justice” system, and are more likely to be apprehended, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to prison. Māori make up only 15% of the total New Zealand population but over 50% of the prison population.
In what way are these communities being kept safe when parents, children, whānaunga, lovers, friends, caretakers and wage-earners are being locked in a cage away from their communities and tortured?
In fact, prisons actively endanger these communities. It has been found that those who leave prison often come out more violent than before. People who go to prison for non-violent offences are much more likely to commit violent offences when they leave. The culture of “victimisation and intimidation” within the prison forces many people to be violent in order to survive, teaching them to use violence to solve problems. When they leave the prison, that violence makes its way into our communities.
Former prisoners are also much more likely to be homeless and unemployed. As a result, people who have been in prison and their whānau are left with not only emotional and physical damage, but also an increased likelihood of being poor. Families that have or have had a member in prison face a vicious cycle of poor health, poor education, inadequate housing, and mental illness, which leads to more members of their community being imprisoned!
These families are caught in a cycle of misery that prisons help to reproduce over and over. Prisons not only fail to keep communities safe, but actively contribute to making communities unsafe by creating widespread fear, violence, homelessness and impoverishment. http://ift.tt/2ks01iB
In light of these inhumane conditions, we must ask: how does exposing people to fear, assault and isolation make them better people? Does this really teach people who have hurt others how to change? And if Corrections believes the way to keep the most vulnerable prisoners safe is to lock them in solitary, effectively exposing them to yet another form of torture, are prisons not just punishing people for the sake of punishing them?
The statistics speak for themselves: half of people who leave prisons are back again within 5 years. When people do find rehabilitative services in prison useful, their personal development isn’t because of imprisonment but in spite of it. None of the services provided to prisoners require them to be imprisoned in order for them to be successful. People come out of prison scarred, not healed. http://ift.tt/2jSkT18
Recent Ombudsmen’s reports have revealed that prisoners are not even treated adequately, let alone well. They have found that the drinking water in some New Zealand prisons is discoloured, and that some prisoners are not even provided with drinking cups. Prisoners usually have their final meal of the day at 4pm, meaning that it is common for them to go 16 hours without any food.
The Ombudsmen have also discovered that many prisoners are put in double-bunked cells far too small to accommodate two people; many do not get daily exercise or fresh air; many prisoners have to eat their meals next to an uncovered toilet; and many prisoners do not have regular access to clean clothing and sheets.
The reports have uncovered that prison staff are able to watch some prisoners, even in their most intimate moments – getting dressed, using the toilet, and washing themselves. This is supposedly done in the name of safety, but instead makes prisoners feel degraded.
Every prisoner is also required by law to be strip searched when they enter and leave the prison, as well as on many other occasions. During a strip search, officers have full authority to invade the prisoner’s body, including “lifting and raising” their “fat, genitalia, and breasts.” Despite how invasive this is, nothing is found in 99.59% of strip searches. Strip searches amount to senseless sexual assault and nothing else.
Although strip searches are supposed to prevent harm, the Ombudsmen have nonetheless found an extremely high level of unreported prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. Many prisoners feel unsafe going about their everyday lives in prison. Referring to both other prisoners and prison staff, many prisoners describe the culture of the prison as one of “victimisation and intimidation.”
Those who are most at risk of this violence are often placed in conditions akin to solitary confinement, where they may be stuck in their cell for up to 23 hours a day and cut off from contact with others.
These conditions have been defined as a form of degrading treatment according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. This reveals that not only are prisoners not treated “too well,” but that they are barely treated like people at all.
