Prison Ill-Treatment Settlement Welcomed
Amnesty International Welcomes Prison Ill-Treatment Settlement
Amnesty International today welcomed news of the Crown's compensation payouts and apology to former Mangaroa Prison inmates who had claim they were tortured and ill-treated by prison guards in 1993.
Ill-treatment suffered by prisoners at Mangaroa and Mount Crawford prisons led to New Zealand being cited in Amnesty International's global survey of human rights violations in 1994 and 1995, which led to heavy criticism of Amnesty International at the time.
The New Zealand move comes after three UK prison officers were sentenced to prison terms on Monday for attacking an inmate at London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison. No criminal charges have ever been laid against the prison officers involved in the New Zealand cases, although some faced internal disciplinary action.
New Zealand was cited in Amnesty's annual report for the third time ever this year for its treatment of asylum seekers.
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