Waikeria Prison riots and calls for prison abolition

The stand-off between Corrections and a group of prisoners rioting at Waikeria Prison appears to be no closer to a conclusion.* Fires continue to be set by the rioters who have made their demands known in a statement via extremist group People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA).

They allege that inhumane conditions are what they are protesting and if their claims of “brown” drinking water, lack of access to clean clothing, and all-round unliveable conditions are correct Corrections must be held responsible. Human rights are not negotiable and incarcerated people are no less entitled to clean drinking water and basic standards of living.

However, the statement then goes on to assert:

“We are tangata whenua of this land. We are Māori people forced into a European system. Prisons do not work! Prisons have not worked for the generations before! Prisons just do not work…This is for the greater cause.”

These statements betray the political agenda behind the riots. Standards of living are one thing, but essentially calling for the abolition of prisons — at least for tangata whenua — is entirely another. Prison abolishment along with the…