State Intervention

World Corrections and Prisons Conference – Adelaide, South Australia

Media Release Wednesday 24 May 2023 The Department of Correctional Services South Australia will host the world-leading professional body for corrections and prisons – the International Corrections & Prisons Association’s Corrections Technology Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre on 24 and 25 May 2023. This is a surprise to local observers given the fact that no SA …

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Nairobi Declaration for Detainee Telecommunication Rights

Human Rights, Kenya / By

Download To endorse visit: https://nairobideclaration.org/endorse/ 9th International Cure Conference: 1-5 May 2023 PREAMBLE Millions of people around the world are locked in cages, unnecessarily isolated from their communities. Their contact with their families, and access to legal, health, rehabilitation and educational services are restricted due to physical barriers. In the past, those barriers have made …

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NSW Blocks SPT from Entering Detention Facilities

OPCAT / By

The United Nations Subcommitee on the prevention of torture (SPT) arrived on the 16th of October to investigate state prisons that are party to the obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). When carried out, the inspections result in recommendations for action to improve the treatment of detainees and uphold Australia’s …

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Torture considered

Human Rights, OPCAT / By

Is the incarceration of prisoners in itself a form of torture? It could be argued that while the State does have the legal right to deprive an individual of their liberty for wrongdoing, subject to meeting the requirements of the judicial process, it certainly does not have the right to ignore The Convention against Torture and …

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International Torture Inspection Ignores Detainees

OPCAT / By

Media release: Friday October 14, 2022 The UN Convention Against Torture Inspection team arriving in Australia for the first time has not notified detainees of their arrival, even though protecting them from torture is their job. To ignore their voices it disempowers prisoners and erodes the effectiveness of the Treaty before their job even begins. …

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Royal Commission Into Victoria’s Mental Health System

Mental Health, OPCAT / By

Latest News Victorian Legal Aid’s Response to Implementation Proposal (August 2021) Justice Action’s Response to Implementation Proposal (July 2021) Department of Health’s Implementation Proposal (June 2021) Justice Action’s Analysis of the Royal Commission Report (March 2021) The Royal Commission Final Report (February 2021) Overview The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System delivered its final report on 3 February, 2021. …

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Justice Action’s Submission to the ACT Legislative Assembly Regarding the Parliamentary Inquiry on the Decriminalisation of Drug Use

192 needle and syringe program, Drug, Health, Human Rights, Uncategorized / By

As a member of the Australian Capital Territory Council of Social Services (ACTCOSS), as well as an ‘essential’ presence at the NSW Drug Summit and International Conference on Penal Abolition (ICOPA) (1997), Justice Action support the decriminalisation of drug use in Australia. Australian drug laws are regressive, punitive and harbour a very strict approach as they are influenced by the ‘war on drugs’ mentality. Instead, legislative change must be implemented to enable the introduction of a Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for those who wish to use it. This is to ensure the prevention of disease transmission within prisons, as well as to secure detainees’ rights to an equivalent healthcare system.

Prisoner Community Acknowledgement

OPCAT / By

As a social structure, communities serve to enhance responsibility by and for individuals and enable groups to live in harmony. Prisoners should not be excluded from the democratic processes inherent in society, as they too, are bound by shared experiences, mutual concerns and shared living areas. Their right to group representation is formally acknowledged in …

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DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE HARDEST PLACES