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A report into the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit (PERU) at Auckland Prison says there have been human rights breaches there, with some prisoners having spent as much as 900 days in solitary confinement.
International human rights state the maximum stay in solitary confinement is 15 days.
Extreme risk
Set up in 2019 in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack, PERU has just been inspected for the first time.
The unit houses prisoners considered by Corrections to present a high and ongoing level of risk. Some pose a very high risk of violence. Some are involved in transnational organised crime.
When the Office of the Inspectorate visited the prison in July 2023, there were 13 people being managed in the prison unit.
Chief Inspector Janis Adair acknowledges additional measures are necessary to manage these prisoners safely.
“However despite this we found conditions in the PERU to be overly and unnecessarily restrictive.”
Inspection findings
The Inspectorate found that the 13 men staying in the unit had spent an average 632 days there.
Five had been there for over 900 days.
Some have been convicted of serious offending while others are still on remand.
They have limited interactions with staff. They sometimes interact with chaplaincy, religious, educational and psychological services.
“None of the men were mixing with any other prisoners and there were very few interventions that offered meaningful human interaction or constructive activities.
“Some of the men had spent months or years in these conditions which likely amounted to prolonged solitary confinement” says Adair.
The inspection report says many prisoners had no idea what they might be able to do – or if there was even an option – to progress out of the PERU and into a less restrictive regime.
The report notes prisoners felt psychologically unsafe, suffered severe anxiety, hypervigilance and increased risk of self-harm. Clinicians “felt ethically compromised” by the regime.
Prison within a prison
Lawyer Emma Priest, who represents some of the men and is a member of the Parole and Prisoner Rights Committee, says PERU is a “super-maxi” unit.
It’s a “prison within a prison” she says.
The men are confined to a nine square-metre cell with access to a small yard attached. Priest says the yard has little sunlight or opportunity for meaningful physical activity.
“Rehabilitation services are extremely limited. Only non-contact visits are permitted. It is causing enormous psychological harm” she says.
Change needed
Adair’s report arrived at 12 findings including placement decisions and pathways, health and wellbeing, and segregation directions.
She expects Corrections to take steps to offer more meaningful human interaction and constructive activities to these men.
She says it should implement a robust assurance framework to provide safeguards to the PERU decision-makers and the men.
Commissioner of Custodial Services at Corrections, Leigh Marsh, says PERU inmates are of the highest risk, with convictions for terrorism and violent extremism he says.
While Marsh acknowledges PERU has challenges, he is confident staff have the right skills to run it.
Corrections says thes unit. findings will inform the work programme to ensure continuous improvement in the PERU unit.
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