The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison.

“We are calling on the Minister of Corrections to urgently intervene when it comes to the safety and survival of Dean Wickliffe who is entering day nine of his hunger strike,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Corrections, Tamatha Paul.

“People in prison are human beings and have rights. The Minister has a duty to ensure these rights are upheld. What we have heard from Dean is gravely concerning.

“Mr Wickliffe is endangering his own life to bring light to the cruel treatment and abuse that happens in prison, and the cruel system we have which picks up a homeless kaumātua living in his car with his cats and puts him back in prison for no good reason. It is critical we do all we can to give Dean the support he needs so he is in a place where he feels he can end his hunger strike. Time is of the essence here.

“The integrity of our justice system is contingent on upholding basic human rights and assisting people in prisons to be rehabilitated and reintegrated successfully into our communities. We know that this rehabilitation and support is not happening.

“Time and time again, our prisons have failed to provide rehabilitation, failing to prevent the cycle of harm from continuing. Human beings are often degraded and humiliated within that system. We must build a justice system that holds rehabilitation at its core while upholding human rights, dignity, and humanity,” says Tamatha Paul.

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