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Australian boy, 13, spent six weeks in solitary confinement


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A 13-year-old Indigenous Australian boy spent 45 days in solitary confinement while being held for minor offences, in the latest youth justice case to raise human rights concerns in Queensland.

The boy - referred to as "Jack" - was released on probation last week after 60 days in custody at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.

He is understood to have spent 22 consecutive days in isolation.

Queensland's human rights chief says the case may have broken state laws.

'No serious criminal history'

Jack was being held on remand on charges relating to a fight with another 13-year-old boy, at the detention centre some 1,300km north of Brisbane.

He flooded his cell with water from the toilet in desperation at his situation, and after being denied drinking water, his barrister Tim Grau told the BBC.

 

Describing his detention as "extraordinary and cruel", Mr Grau said Jack had "no serious criminal history".

"He was 13, he'd been in court once before. So even for this offending, he was never going to get a period of incarceration, in my view," he said.

Mr Grau said he didn't know why Jack spent so long in isolation, but suspected it was due to staff shortages at the prison.

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9 hours ago, Social Media said:

Mr Grau said he didn't know why Jack spent so long in isolation, but suspected it was due to staff shortages at the prison.

I'm not going to comment on the unfortunate situation the lad found himself in, but staff shortages seem to be a serious problem  for prisons, not just in that one, but given the situation of PC ( and possibly wages/ conditions ) these days I'm not surprised. Who would want to put themselves in harms way when the rules mean that one can't do the job safely?

 

It's not just a prison thing either. Other essential occupations are finding it difficult to attract staff because the "rules" are making it too difficult to do the job. Eg, men are understandably reluctant to go into teaching, it's hard to get any western people into nursing, hard guys don't want to be policemen anymore, etc.

As long as the PC rules make it unattractive, I can't see the situation changing.

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58 minutes ago, bluejets said:

Once again , comments on the indigenous without a clue on their attitude or capabilities.

Take a trip to Townsville and stay overnight on any street there and see for yourself.

The "prison" was a "youth detention centre" much more like a motel than a prison.

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/townsville-news-youth-crime-problem-has-city-listed-as-hotspot/de3773f5-f92a-4f9d-8777-2af8acc62e2e

Solitary confinement!

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8 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Easily avoidable though............ don't attempt to sneak into Aus !!!

Yup true, but never the less you can send them back instead of torturing them.

Maybe there are no humans in Australia?

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On 3/16/2023 at 11:35 AM, KhunLA said:

It's a prison, not a resort. 

 

Personally think all western prisons afford to many luxuries to the inmates.  They should be subsistence work farms with minimal housing luxuries.

Solitary confinement is now viewed as a form of torture due to the emotional wellbeing impact and slowly being  banned in Western countries. There is no excuse to put a child in solitary confinement. It is a smear on the Australian judicial system, IMO those responsible should be fired. Claiming PC in Australian prisons is utter <deleted>.

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50 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Solitary confinement is now viewed as a form of torture due to the emotional wellbeing impact and slowly being  banned in Western countries. There is no excuse to put a child in solitary confinement. It is a smear on the Australian judicial system, IMO those responsible should be fired. Claiming PC in Australian prisons is utter <deleted>.

I was thinking prisons in general, are too comfy, to serve as punishment.

 

The 13 yr old ... we have little info.   He may have been a danger to others or himself.   More importantly, why is a 13 yr old, even in prison.   Parents ?

 

Maybe they should serve his time, as it may help them put a little effort into raising him properly.

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1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

I was thinking prisons in general, are too comfy, to serve as punishment.

 

The 13 yr old ... we have little info.   He may have been a danger to others or himself.   More importantly, why is a 13 yr old, even in prison.   Parents ?

 

Maybe they should serve his time, as it may help them put a little effort into raising him properly.

Like you, so little information.

But don’t let that stop you filling in the gaps.

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Don't know enough about the kid to make a truthful and proper comment. 

He could be a real mischievous brat who spits on prison guards and urinates on the floor or he could just be an ordinary aboriginal youth who got into a fight previously but isn't a bad kid in anyway at all.

 

We don't know him or his past,  therefore any comment on him is just guessing.

Having said that,  he's in a detention center,  it's not a prison,  he has clean bed sheets and food everyday cooked for him. 

 

There has to be more to the story why he would spend so much time in solitary confinement ?

What did he do to warrant the confinement ?.

 

 

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4 hours ago, UbonEagle said:

Agree with Steven100 above, very hard to know the particulars of this kid.

what I will say tho, there are many indigenous youths around that age in the juvenile system in Australia that are completely OOC, extremely violent and very dangerous. Unfortunately they are just a product of abhorrent family environments riddled with substance abuse and violence.

The billions of govt $ poured into welfare have achieved next to nothing in this area im afraid 

You could have left that part out.  A bit telling. ????

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7 hours ago, UbonEagle said:

Agree with Steven100 above, very hard to know the particulars of this kid.

what I will say tho, there are many indigenous youths around that age in the juvenile system in Australia that are completely OOC, extremely violent and very dangerous. Unfortunately they are just a product of abhorrent family environments riddled with substance abuse and violence.

The billions of govt $ poured into welfare have achieved next to nothing in this area im afraid 

Absolutely true statement,  they burn cars,  houses,  sniff glue , drink whatever while the parents sit around a camp fire drunk and incoherent.  The whole system is a mess ... money given to them is abused and stolen by principles.  Programs take forever to even eventuate.   They don't attend school because parents don't give a rats,  they want to stay partially bush aborigines as well as receive the white man benefits.  

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Absolutely true statement,  they burn cars,  houses,  sniff glue , drink whatever while the parents sit around a camp fire drunk and incoherent.  The whole system is a mess ... money given to them is abused and stolen by principles.  Programs take forever to even eventuate.   They don't attend school because parents don't give a rats,  they want to stay partially bush aborigines as well as receive the white man benefits.  

 

 

 

Not that you’re prone to gross negative generalizations, some of your best friends and all that.

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11 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Not that you’re prone to gross negative generalizations, some of your best friends and all that.

I am not saying they are all like that but a large portion are,  which makes it difficult for the whole system to work correctly.

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On 3/17/2023 at 6:51 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

Solitary confinement!

 

 

12 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Not that you’re prone to gross negative generalizations, some of your best friends and all that.

Hard to find anything positive to say. Have a look what's happened in Alice Springs.

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On 3/17/2023 at 1:24 PM, xtrnuno41 said:

Yup true, but never the less you can send them back instead of torturing them.

Maybe there are no humans in Australia?

Hard to send them back when passports are destroyed and they refuse to say where they're from.

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On 3/17/2023 at 12:41 PM, xtrnuno41 said:

Australia? Isnt that the country where refugees are hold in detention for many years?

Or refugees put on an island where they have to rot away?

Correct. We don't put them up in first class hotels or give them housing when there's thousands of Aussies waiting years for a house.

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