Login
Top legal professionals call for safe release of adult and children detainees
An open letter signed by the profession’s top lawyers, barristers, academics and major law bodies has called on the Australian government to facilitate the safe release of adults and children behind bars to protect their health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Naomi Neilson
An increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases behind Victorian and NSW’s prison bars has prompted some of Australia’s top barristers, solicitors and academics to write to the Australian government with a request to address the “growing threat of the virus” on detainees before their health and safety are further compromised.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The signatories, led by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS) and leading barrister Felicity Gerry QC, have called for measures designed to release people from correctional centres and reduce incarcerated populations.
“This is necessary to protect the lives of people in prisons and youth detention centres, to ensure there are necessary hospital beds for all who need it and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 to the community,” the group wrote, citing that seven people have now lost their lives to the pandemic behind bars, including two First Nations people.
The letter references the risks to First Nations people, given the existing issues against this population that have contributed to many non-COVID-related deaths behind prison bars. The over-representation of First Nations people in these facilities and systematic racism in the system will mean they will be disproportionately affected by the virus.
“First Nations families whose loved ones have died in custody called for release of the people from prison and a moratorium on warrants and arrests. We support these First Nation families and urge that a strategy for release must go hand in hand with a much-needed change to strategies on policing and declaration in a pandemic,” they wrote.
In a joint statement released by international human rights bodies – which includes the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime – the global legal sphere requested political leaders consider limiting the “deprivation of liberty” to a “measure of last resort”.
“These efforts should encompass release mechanisms for people at particular risks of COVID-19, such as older people and people with pre-existing health conditions as well as people who could be released without compromising public safety, such as people sentenced for minor, non-violent offences, with consideration for women and children,” they said.
The Australian open letter warned that some resources are not adequate to support a release from prison, with women legal services cautioning that female prisoners need additional resources while they handle the backlog of clients requesting their support.
The letter has asked that the government facilitate a safe release, publication on data of vulnerability in facilities, disclosure on information on the arrangements for release, provision of safe housing and legal mechanisms to reduce the prison population.
“We believe release of people from prison should not be done in a way that increases the risk of infection for those released, while also not being limited to those who have a better chance of avoiding risk. To address this, allocation of resources should ensure release is done fairly and there are supports to provide for the health, economic, cultural and wellbeing needs of people who are released,” the group finished in the letter.
