Torture Expert Should Visit Supermax Prison

"Conditions at the HRMU in Goulburn, while not amounting to torture, are cruel and degrading", said NSWCCL President, Mr Cameron Murphy.

"The conditions of inmates at the Supermax prison in Goulburn need to be investigated", Mr Murphy said.

"Prisoners are kept in cells that measure 2 by 3 metres for 22 hours or more a day. When an inmate enters the HRMU they are kept in segregation for as long as two weeks. This is having a significant impact on the mental health of inmates", Mr Murphy said.

"Article 16 of the Convention against Torture prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties is concerned that conditions at the HRMU violate the Convention against Torture", Mr Murphy said.

"Last year the NSW Deputy Coroner criticised the placement of mentally ill inmates in the High Risk Management Unit (HRMU), or 'Supermax' as it is better known", Mr Murphy said.

"Last year the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) said that the conditions in which mentally ill inmates are kept in NSW prisons violates the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", Mr Murphy said.

"In 2006, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties called for the HRMU to be shut down and replaced by a more humane facility", Mr Murphy said.

"But the NSW government is not listening. That's why the NSW Council for Civil Liberties has recommended that the UN Committee against Torture send a Special Rapporteur to investigate the prison", Mr Murphy said.

"The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has recommended that the Special Rapporteur on Torture visit the Supermax and talk to inmates. We also encourage the Rapporteur to talk to inmates' families and lawyers. The Rapporteur should also meet with the Human Rights Commissioner, the NSW Ombudsman and non-government organisations", Mr Murphy said.

"As CCL's report points out, in 2006 the UN Committee against Torture was highly critical of the condition in supermax prisons in the United States of America. We hope that CCL's report will shine a light on the questionable conditions in Australia's supermax prison: the HRMU", Mr Murphy said.

• download NSWCCL’s report on the HRMU at: http://www.nswccl.org.au/docs/pdf/CAT%20shadow%20report%20addendum.pdf


• download NSWCCL’s full Shadow Report at: www.nswccl.org.au/docs/pdf/CAT%20shadow%20report.pdf (including an Executive Summary).


• read the media release on the release of the full Shadow Report (6 August 2007): http://www.nswccl.org.au/news/show_pr.php?relNum=6&relYear=2007.


• read the Convention against Torture at: www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm.


• visit the website of the UN Committee against Torture at: www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/index.htm.


• read more about CCL's Shadow Reporting project at: www.nswccl.org.au/publications/shadows.php


• read more about the High Risk Management Unit (Supermax) at: http://www.nswccl.org.au/issues/prisoners/hrmu.php