A 15-Year-Old Indigenous Boy Was Kept In Solitary Confinement For Almost Three Months
"When you treat a damaged child like an animal they will behave like one."
An Indigenous boy in Perth was kept in solitary confinement for 79 days in a WA juvenile detention centre, a court has heard.
The 15-year-old was locked in a glass cell — including over Christmas last year — and was only allowed an hour of exercise on less than half of the days he spent in the cage, according to The Australian. For more than 30 days he was prevented from leaving the cell at all.
His hearing in Perth Children’s Court last Thursday acknowledged the treatment was illegal, for subjecting him to “prolonged, systemic dehumanisation and deprivation” in Canning Vale’s Banksia Hill detention centre, south of the capital city.
“When you treat a damaged child like an animal they will behave like one, and if you want to make a monster this is how you do it,” the judge said after the boy pleaded guilty to assaulting guards on nearly 20 occasions while in the juvenile detention centre.
A report presented to the court said he was “trying desperately for any interaction with staff, even a negative one,” during the time, and also noted instances of self-harm and suicide contemplation.
In December, advocates protested in support for a prospective class action against the Banksia Hall for its continued poor treatment of children. Testimonies described 10 to 17-year-old inmates as being mentally and physically abused, with over 500 plaintiffs from across the state preparing to take legal action, according to NITV.
Over 10,000 minors have been detained at Banksia Hall since it first opened in 1997, with disproportionate Indigenous representation forming its population. A 2018 report by Amnesty International stated the conditions experienced by young people in solitary confinement there breached the UN Convention against Torture.
“The reports of mistreatment of the 15-year-old Aboriginal boy…concerns me greatly,” said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt. “It is critical that the McGowan Government investigate this matter, and take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The boy was released on Thursday back in the care of his grandmother after the hearing.