Human rights lawyers say that children being kept in a maximum security prison in Victoria are being held in solitary confinement, denied access to fresh air, feel threatened and are kept in conditions that are “unequivocally unfit for children”.
Up to 40 children were transferred to a secure unit of the Barwon prison, a high-risk, maximum security prison for men, located near Geelong, following ongoing rioting by youth in the Parkville and Malmsbury juvenile prisons.
Barwon is the prison where notorious gangland criminal Carl Williams was beaten to death by another inmate in 2010. The move to send children there was announced by the government as an interim measure while sections of the Parkville facility damaged during rioting were rebuilt.
The children are being sent to the Grevillea unit of Barwon prison as a temporary measure, entirely separate from the adult population, however it is unclear how long they would be kept there for.
But the director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, Ruth Barson, said she spoke to several of the children being held in Barwon on Saturday evening, and that a number of them had not been involved in the rioting.
“Most of the children in Barwon are on remand so they’ve not been found guilty of the crimes they’re being detained for,” she said.
“One young man who came from Parkville and who had not been involved in the rioting there has now gone from attending school every day while at Parkville and doing really well, to being locked in a concrete box for up to 23 hours each day.
“There’s no doubt the government has a policy challenge on its hands, but cruelty can never be a justifiable response. The nation rallied in response to Don Dale and Victorians should also rally against the inhumane treatment of [these] children.”
Most of the children held at Barwon were only 16 years old and were being subject to solitary confinement, lawyers who visited the children over the weekend said. Many have a registered disability, have been exposed to family violence and are in the child protection system.
They have been cut off from access to education or treatment programs, lawyers said, which they would normally receive in youth detention.
However, Guardian Australia has been told by government sources that there are teachers on site as well as health services and a visitors centre for family visits. Standard management does not involve 20 hours of lock-down per day, sources said.
But Barson said that: “They haven’t seen the sky for close to a week”.
“They’re fearful and reported being threatened with the use of dogs, restraints and gas,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service will argue in the supreme court that the transfer of children to Barwon was unlawful and an abuse of their human rights.
The minister for families and children, Jenny Mikakos, told Guardian Australia on Sunday: “We will defend this matter vigorously in court”.
“The steps taken by the Government are consistent with relevant legislation and Victoria’s charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities,” she said.
