Activist group No Pride in Prisons have accused the Department of Corrections of restricting the group’s access to a trans inmate because of their protest actions this week. NPIP activists chained themselves in the Department of Corrections office on Tuesday demanding a trans inmate be transferred from solitary confinement. Tuesday’s protest actions, which included members of NPIP chaining themselves inside a Hamilton Corrections Department office, called for a transgender inmate to be taken out of 23-hour solitary confinement. Corrections has said the inmate has been put in solitary confinement for her own safety, however the group says her mental state is declining, she is suicidal and being subjected to constant sexual harassment. Following the protest, the group claims that Corrections has attempted multiple times to stop their advocates from visiting the woman. No Pride in Prisons organiser Ti Lamusse is one of three people who say they have had their visitation rights compromised following the protest. “The Department of Corrections notified me on Wednesday that my weekly advocacy visit to Spring Hill had been declined for this week,” says Lamusse. “Corrections cares more about whether it looks bad than it does about the safety and well-being of incarcerated people.” “As her advocate, No Pride in Prisons and I have consistently been her sole means of support and communication with the outside. The Department of Corrections wants to shut off that communication. “On Tuesday we were demanding an end to her isolation, but instead Corrections has chosen to isolate her even further and shield itself from public scrutiny.” No Pride in Prisons spokesperson Emilie Rākete says Corrections is scared of receiving negative press regarding the state of New Zealand prisons and that as a result “…it’s willing to trample all over freedom of speech and prisoners’ rights to have visits. Rākete claims that we she arrived for her advocacy visit, she was told she could not enter the site with ripped jeans. She had been driven to Spring Hill Prison by Sophie Morgan, a No Pride in Prisons organiser who occupied the Corrections office in Hamilton with Lamusse on Tuesday. On arrival, Morgan was told that she was prohibited from being on site, including the car park and the road leading to the prison. “Corrections is throwing up obstacles everywhere it can to prevent this woman from getting support and advocacy,” says Rākete. “I’ve never been turned away from a visit for wearing ripped jeans before. This is clearly an effort on behalf of the Department of Corrections to prevent us from getting any more information out about how she’s being treated. “We had to drive all the way back to the end of the road, where I had to change clothes and run back up to the prison so I wouldn’t be late for the scheduled visit.” No Pride in Prisons is still demanding for the inmate to be transferred out of solitary confinement. “She said that if she is not moved out of isolation soon, she will end up leaving in a body bag,” says Rākete. “Isolation is a serious threat to the safety of this prisoner and all other prisoners. As a result of the Department of Corrections’ actions, she is being further isolated and prevented from communicating her mistreatment to people on the outside.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 25th November 2016 - 3:20pm