Alleged Abuse In WA Youth Detention Centres “May Amount To Torture”, Amnesty International Says
Teenagers have allegedly been held in isolation for over 250 days.
Content warning: mention of self-harm and suicide
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Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is calling for the immediate closure of the Intensive Support Unit at a Perth youth detention centre, citing “serious allegations of abuse of young people which may amount to torture”.
The alleged abuse includes holding teenagers in solitary confinement for extended periods, including two boys The Guardian reports have been held in isolated cells for more than 250 days. One teenager Amnesty International interviewed said he “felt like a dog”, and another whose mother was interviewed by The Guardian said in a letter that he had been continuously self-harming.
“These are very serious allegations, which if confirmed would put the practices at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre in clear breach of international law and standards, and may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” said Tammy Solonec, Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights Manager.
“What I was told at Banksia Hill by these two young people was deeply disturbing.
“Being held for weeks on end in a cell as small as a car parking space, with as little as 10 minutes out of the cell each day. When they did leave the cell, being handcuffed. Sometimes being denied access to basic services like a shower. Being fed through a grill in the door. And despite the serious mental harm of this type of isolation, limited access to a psychologist.”
I spent some time with these children in the Harding Isolation Unit at #Banksia & have letters from the boys about their horrific treatment We provided art materials as they requested as they have nothing to do in the youth prison #wapol #abolition Our children deserve better https://t.co/6s3WchB0CS
— Debbie Kilroy (@DebKilroy) January 15, 2018
The mother of an 18-year-old currently incarcerated in Banksia Hill’s Intensive Support Unit told The Guardian she feels “Banksia Hill has demonised him. He’s not being rehabilitated, he’s being contained, and that’s what we do to animals”.
“I don’t ever want another mother to find out through a letter that her baby boy feels like he wants to die sometimes,” she said.
“I had no idea that he cut his arms to relieve pain and stress, and to find out that he wore jumpers to visits on really hot, 40-degree days to hide the scars from his family was just absolutely heartbreaking.”
Amnesty International has contacted the Minister for Corrective Services about the cases in question, and while no formal response has been received, it is understood the Department is investigating the claims. WA Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan told WA Today that while he cannot comment on individual cases, he believes the detention centre has undergone “significant transformation”.
The Western Australian government has previously refused to shut down the Banksia Hill detention centre, despite a damning report released in 2017 revealing that there were five attempted suicides and 191 cases of self-harm at the centre in 2016, an increase of over 240% from 77 self-harm cases in 2015.
At the time, acting Premier Roger Cook said that while the report was “very concerning”, as the only youth detention centre in the state Banksia Hill was “an important part of our correctional facilities” which would not be closed.
Calls for Banksia Hill’s ISU to be immediately closed and investigated come just two months after the Northern Territory Royal Commission called for the immediate closure of the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre due to similar abuses.
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Photo by Francisco Galarza on Unsplash