Tas: Give prisoners a voice, advocate says

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-2006
Tas: Give prisoners a voice, advocate says

HOBART, April 18 AAP - Inmates at Hobart's Risdon Prison need to be given a voice to
prevent future sieges, a prison advocate says.

As the maximum-security prison began returning to normal following Sunday's siege,
prison advocate Caroline Dean said the incident had been brewing for a long time.

"The siege was a desperate act by desperate people," she told ABC Radio.

"If you treat them badly, if you have this constant punitive, bullying culture, then
they will react like that."

The 20-hour standoff began on Sunday morning when 26 inmates overpowered a female prison
officer, stole her keys and locked themselves in an office.

A chemical agent was used to quell the siege at 5.30am (AEST) yesterday.

The siege is the second incident at Risdon Prison in 12 months.

Last May, prisoners held authorities at bay for 41 hours after taking a guard hostage
and threatening to cut off his fingers.

Issues raised during last year's siege included the quality of food, access to exercise,
education and health facilities, the officers' attitude to inmates and the lack of rehabilitation
programs.

Ms Dean said the latest siege was sparked by the same issues and management needed
to listen to inmates' concerns.

"The issues that they're talking about now in this particular incident have not changed
... over the last few years," she said.

A new replacement prison is due to be opened this year, but Ms Dean said the problems
would remain until management changed its attitude towards inmates.

"The attitudes of bullying and the attitudes of seeing prisoners as less than human
is still not going to change (in a new prison)," she said.

"If we have an over 50 per cent recidivism rate in Tasmania then surely something is
not working."

AAP rgr/jas/nf

KEYWORD: PRISON ADVOCATE

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