14/06/2018
PRESS RELEASE: People Against Prisons Aotearoa
Prisoner advocacy organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA) will be rallying outside Parliament next Tuesday
to oppose the Government’s decision to build a 600 bed unit at Waikeria Prison.
“The criminal justice system is a complete failure,” says PAPA spokeswoman Kate McIntyre. “Prisons are not
rehabilitative. They only serve to warehouse our most poor and dispossessed people, and sweep the issues which led them
there under the rug.”
“The Government’s backdown on the three strikes law and its plans for prison expansion shows that there is very little
political will to stick to its election promise and reduce the prison population.”
“More than ten thousand people are in prison right now, kept in miserable conditions and subjected to daily violence,”
says McIntyre.
The Prime Minister’s chief scientist, Sir Peter Gluckman, released a report earlier this year. The report finds that
prisons do little to rehabilitate prisoners, and that supporting people outside the criminal justice system in their
communities yields much better results.
“The Government is pouring significant amounts of money and resources into a system that doesn’t work. It leaves people
more damaged and more likely to harm others or themselves,” says McIntyre. “If prisons were rehabilitative, then we
would not be facing this overcrowding crisis.”
“The Government must immediately reduce the number of people in prison, and stop supporting a system which only
exacerbates societal problems. We need to start closing prisons, letting people out, and investing in better
alternatives.”
“This rally has been called to bring people out in solidarity with those in prison. They have been victim to
tough-on-crime policies and penal populism for too long.”
The rally will be held in Wellington outside Parliament on Tuesday 19th June at 1pm.
ends