Risdon's solitary confinement unit is under investigation.The Tasmanian Ombudsman has begun an investigation into the unit after hearing inmates have not had access to enough sunlight or fresh air.
It has been alleged that two inmates have been locked up in the Tamar Unit since it opened two years ago, and were also held in the previous solitary confinement unit.
Ombudsman Simon Allston says one inmate has been in solitary for three years and the other for five years.
He says he must investigate the implications.
"You're effectively locked up for upwards of 21 hours a day and where you have limited access to fresh air and sunlight and you're likely to of course suffer mental impairment," he said.
Mr Allston expects the investigation to be completed by the end of the year.
Shadow Attorney General Michael Hodgman says the inquiry is long overdue.
"Labor's more intent on covering up than letting the truth come out," he said.
The Tasmanian Prison Service says it is happy to co-operate with the investigation.
Quote: Indefinite Solitary Confinement is practiced throughout Australia in prisons and some detention centres. Solitary confinement is also used for short-term punishment for internal prison offences. It is well known that particularly high profile prisoners are subject to indefinite solitary confinement as an extended punishment by the government.
Prisoners used to be brutalised physically in Australian prisons but that leaves marks on the body. Since the Nagle royal commission that saw Katingal shut and the brutal regime in other jails like Grafton in NSW end there has been a reliance on psychological torture for prisoners because that is a lot harder to prove to some investigative authorities.
Psychological torture is easier to cover up. The governor will argue that the prisoner is high risk and needs intensive management. At the HRMU High Risk Management Unit in Goulburn Correctional Centre in NSW prisoners have been set up and framed for internal offences to secure the governments need to additionally punish a high profile prisoner.
Most prisons are State prisons therefore the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission doesn’t investigate these matters, because it is not covered under their act they only act for Federal Prisoners. Some prisoners, who claim they are innocent of high profile crimes are held in solitary confinement indefinitely.
So why didn’t the Ombudsman investigate those matters in any other state of Australia besides Tasmania? It is common knowledge that in NSW, prisoners are held in solitary confinement indefinately and psychologicaly tortured and some have even died because of that treatment.
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