Prisoner Isolation and COVID-19 in Queensland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69970/gjlhd.v8i2.1209Abstract
‘Medical segregation’ is being used extensively to limit the possibility of infection and spread of COVID-19. However, there is a real risk that medical segregation may amount to ‘de facto solitary confinement.’ Research around the world has demonstrated that placing prisoners in solitary confinement, even for short periods of time, can cause serious psychological harm which may be irreversible. It is also a serious encroachment on prisoners’ human rights. Queensland’s Human Rights Act has recently come into effect and this has legal implications for COVID-related responses in correctional settings. We argue here that the incursions on prisoners’ human rights that have occurred in Queensland during COVID have, at times, been disproportionate to the risks posed.
References
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United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, GA Res 70/175, UN Doc A/RES/70/175 (8 January 2016, adopted 17 December 2015)
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