In the latest youth justice case to raise human rights concerns in Queensland, a 13-year-old Indigenous Australian boy was put in solitary confinement for 45 days for minor offenses. The teenager, known as "Jack," was freed on probation last week after spending 60 days in detention at Townsville's Cleveland Juvenile Correctional Centre. He is believed to have been isolated for 22 days in a row. According to Queensland's human rights commissioner, the case may have violated state legislation.
'No severe criminal record.'
Jack was being held on remand at the detention center 1,300 kilometers north of Brisbane on accusations related to a fight with another 13-year-old kid. In desperation, he flooded his cell with toilet water after being refused drinking water, according to his counsel Tim Grau. Describing his imprisonment as "extraordinary and terrible", Mr Grau said Jack had "no severe criminal past".
"He was 13 years old and had previously appeared in court. Thus, even for this offense, he was never going to be imprisoned, in my opinion "He stated. Mr Grau said he didn't know why Jack was isolated for so long, but he thought it was owing to prison staff shortages. "If he's being kept in because there's staff shortages, and Cleveland detention camp has 80 or more kids there at any one time, one can only conclude that other kids are in the same scenario.
"You'd hope not, but it could be more frequent than we anticipated." Jack was kept in adult prisons for six days during his detention. He was dismissed with a verbal reprimand last week. A separate recent case sparked human rights concerns about Queensland's youth justice system, which is being reformed. Another 13-year-old Queensland child with developmental difficulties was confined to a cell for 20 hours each day for 78 days, it was revealed in February. Queensland is presently discussing new rules that would criminalize minor bail violations, which experts fear will result in a substantial increase in the adolescent prison population. The recent occurrences, according to State Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall, may have violated Queensland's Human Rights Act, which specifies that all convicts must have access to fresh air and exercise for at least two hours every day. He warned that changing the law would exacerbate the situation and that quick action was required to prevent youngsters from being placed in isolation.
"Unfortunately, I don't believe these are unique incidents," he told the BBC. "My concern is by putting the strain on the system, we risk normalising the mistreatment of children".
Mr McDougall asked the state government to "double down" on initiatives to keep children in school and stop them falling down "the path of criminalisation".
