Latest news with #solitaryconfinement
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Settlement proposed in class-action lawsuit over B.C. solitary confinement
A proposed settlement of up to $60 million has been reached in a class-action lawsuit related to the use of solitary confinement in B.C. correctional facilities. The Quebec-based law firm Proactio says the settlement still needs to be approved by the B.C. Supreme Court, but could provide eligible class members up to $91,000. A statement from the firm on Saturday said the lawsuit alleges the B.C. government improperly subjected prisoners to solitary confinement, "causing emotional, physical, and psychological harm." It further states that the province "denies liability but has opted to resolve the class action without a trial." The class includes people incarcerated after April 18, 2005, and involuntarily held in separate confinement or segregation for at least 15 consecutive days, or when the province knew or ought to have known they suffered from a mental illness. The allegations in the statement of claim have not been tested in court and B.C.'s Ministry of Attorney General did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed settlement has been set for Oct. 22 and Proactio said class members have until Sept. 2 to indicate if they support or object to the proposal. Those put in separate confinement after Dec. 22, 2020, can opt out by Sept. 2, in which case they would not receive compensation but would retain their right to pursue an individual lawsuit. The firm said class members can also submit a claim for compensation at a later date if the court approves the settlement. The court has appointed Koskie Minsky LLP and McEwan Partners LLP as class council, while Proactio has been mandated to act as administrator of the class action, the statement added.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Settlement proposed in class-action lawsuit over B.C. solitary confinement
The Alouette Correctional Centre for Women is seen in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Monday, December 10, 2018. The law firm Proactio says a proposed settlement of up to $60 million has been reached in a class-action lawsuit related to the use of solitary confinement in British Columbia correctional facilities. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press) A proposed settlement of up to $60 million has been reached in a class-action lawsuit related to the use of solitary confinement in B.C. correctional facilities. The Quebec-based law firm Proactio says the settlement must be approved by the B.C. Supreme Court, but could provide eligible class members up to $91,000. A statement from the firm on Saturday says the lawsuit alleges the B.C. government improperly subjected prisoners to solitary confinement, 'causing emotional, physical, and psychological harm.' It says the class includes people incarcerated after April 18, 2005, and involuntarily held in separate confinement or segregation for at least 15 consecutive days, or when the province knew or ought to have known they suffered from a mental illness. The allegations in the statement of claim had not been tested in court and B.C.'s Ministry of Attorney General did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed settlement has been set for Oct. 22 and Proactio says class members have until Sept. 2 to indicate if they support or object to the proposal. Those put in separate confinement after Dec. 22, 2020, can opt out by Sept. 2, in which case they would not receive compensation but would retain their right to pursue an individual lawsuit. The firm says class members can also submit a claim for compensation at a later date if the court approves the settlement. The court has appointed Koskie Minsky LLP and McEwan Partners LLP as class council, while Proactio has been mandated to act as administrator of the class action, the statement adds. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2025.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Migrants deported by the US to Eswatini being held in solitary confinement
Five migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration's third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says. Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, declined to identify the correctional facility or facilities where the five men are held, citing security concerns. She told the Associated Press that Eswatini planned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency. Mdluli said it wasn't clear how long that would take. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – the UN agency tasked with ensuring migration is managed in a way that respects human rights – said on Thursday it was not involved in the removal of the migrants from the US and has not been contacted to help send them back home. 'As always, IOM stands ready to support Member States, upon request and where operationally feasible, in line with its humanitarian mandate,' an official from the organisation told Reuters. The men, who the US says were convicted of serious crimes and were in the US illegally, are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos. Their convictions included murder and child rape, according to the US Department of Homeland Security said. US officials also said the men's home countries would not take them back. Local media reported the men are being held at the Matsapha Correctional Complex, outside the country's administrative capital of Mbabane, which includes Eswatini's top maximum-security prison. Their deportations were announced by the department on Tuesday and mark the continuation of president Donald Trump's plan to send deportees to third countries they have no ties with after it was stalled by a legal challenge in the US. The US state department's most recent human rights report on Eswatini – an absolute monarchy – pointed to 'credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government'. There were credible reports that some political prisoners were tortured in detention, according to the state department. Prison conditions overall varied, though facilities were plagued with overcrowding, disrepair, poor nutrition and ventilation and unchecked prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The Trump administration has been seeking to make deals with countries across the globe to accept immigrants that the US cannot easily deport to their home countries. Though other administrations have conducted third-country removals, the Trump administration's practice of sending immigrants to countries facing political and human rights crises have raised international alarm and condemnation. Earlier this month the US completed deportation of eight other immigrants to South Sudan – a country beset with political instability and a hunger crisis. Prior to landing in South Sudan, the deportees were diverted to a US military based base in Djibouti, where they had been held in a converted shipping container for weeks. More than 200 Venezuelan men that the Trump administration deported to El Salvador – most of whom had no criminal histories in the US – also remain incarcerated in the country's notorious mega-prison Cecot, where detainees have reported facing torture. There have been no details on why Eswatini agreed to take the men, and Mdluli, the government spokesperson, said 'the terms of the agreement between the US and Eswatini remain classified'. Eswatini has said it was the result of months of negotiations between the two governments. South Sudan has also given no details of its agreement with the US to take deportees and has declined to say where the eight men sent there are being held. Last week Tom Homan, the US border tsar, said he did not know what has happened to the eight men deported to South Sudan. With the Associated Press and Reuters
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Migrants deported by the US to Eswatini being held in solitary confinement
Five migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration's third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says. Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, declined to identify the correctional facility or facilities where the five men are held, citing security concerns. She told the Associated Press that Eswatini planned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency. Mdluli said it wasn't clear how long that would take. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – the UN agency tasked with ensuring migration is managed in a way that respects human rights – said on Thursday it was not involved in the removal of the migrants from the US and has not been contacted to help send them back home. 'As always, IOM stands ready to support Member States, upon request and where operationally feasible, in line with its humanitarian mandate,' an official from the organisation told Reuters. The men, who the US says were convicted of serious crimes and were in the US illegally, are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos. Their convictions included murder and child rape, according to the US Department of Homeland Security said. US officials also said the men's home countries would not take them back. Local media reported the men are being held at the Matsapha Correctional Complex, outside the country's administrative capital of Mbabane, which includes Eswatini's top maximum-security prison. Their deportations were announced by the department on Tuesday and mark the continuation of president Donald Trump's plan to send deportees to third countries they have no ties with after it was stalled by a legal challenge in the US. The US state department's most recent human rights report on Eswatini – an absolute monarchy – pointed to 'credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government'. There were credible reports that some political prisoners were tortured in detention, according to the state department. Prison conditions overall varied, though facilities were plagued with overcrowding, disrepair, poor nutrition and ventilation and unchecked prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The Trump administration has been seeking to make deals with countries across the globe to accept immigrants that the US cannot easily deport to their home countries. Though other administrations have conducted third-country removals, the Trump administration's practice of sending immigrants to countries facing political and human rights crises have raised international alarm and condemnation. Earlier this month the US completed deportation of eight other immigrants to South Sudan – a country beset with political instability and a hunger crisis. Prior to landing in South Sudan, the deportees were diverted to a US military based base in Djibouti, where they had been held in a converted shipping container for weeks. More than 200 Venezuelan men that the Trump administration deported to El Salvador – most of whom had no criminal histories in the US – also remain incarcerated in the country's notorious mega-prison Cecot, where detainees have reported facing torture. There have been no details on why Eswatini agreed to take the men, and Mdluli, the government spokesperson, said 'the terms of the agreement between the US and Eswatini remain classified'. Eswatini has said it was the result of months of negotiations between the two governments. South Sudan has also given no details of its agreement with the US to take deportees and has declined to say where the eight men sent there are being held. Last week Tom Homan, the US border tsar, said he did not know what has happened to the eight men deported to South Sudan. With the Associated Press and Reuters
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Grave concerns for Indigenous man's wellbeing after ‘close to 800 days' in solitary confinement at SA prison
Advocates have serious concerns for the wellbeing of a man in a South Australian prison they say has been in solitary confinement for 'close to 800 days'. Robert Barnes is serving an 11-year sentence at Yatala Labour prison in Adelaide and is in the high-security G Division. Uncle Major 'Moogy' Sumner, one of the state's most prominent Aboriginal elders, said Barnes, an Indigenous man, was in prison after assaulting a corrections officer Sumner and Mel Turner, a former Aboriginal liaison officer (ALO) at the prison, both said they had not previously heard of anyone being kept in solitary confinement for that long. 'It's getting close to 800 [days],' Turner said. Sumner, a Ngarrindjeri elder, environmental activist, former Greens candidate and member of South Australia's First Nations voice said he had been stopped from seeing Barnes because he spoke to the voice about the situation. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'I was going to see him, then I got told that because I'm a member of the voice in SA and I took it to the voice – and somehow they found out I mentioned it there and said I couldn't go in and see him,' Sumner said. 'That's what the voice is for. Anything wrong with Aboriginal people, we take it to the government.' Sumner is due to meet the state's correctional services head, David Brown, on Friday regarding Barnes's situation. 'We'll talk about what we can do. We have to get [Barnes] out of there,' Sumner said. The Human Rights Law Centre defines solitary confinement as isolation 'for 22 hours a day or more without meaningful human contact'. 'Prolonged solitary confinement is solitary confinement for a time period in excess of 15 consecutive days.' The centre has condemned it as a 'cruel practice that causes irreparable harm to the people who are subjected to this form of physical and sensory isolation', and called on governments to ban the 'archaic and inhumane' practice. Turner said she advocated for Sumner to visit Barnes, at which point she was told Sumner could not come in because he had spoken to the voice. 'I said 'Wow, I'll tell Major Sumner', and [the person] said, 'You can't tell him and you can't tell the prisoner',' Turner said. She said she last saw Barnes at the end of March. Turner has claimed she had been targeted and bullied and felt she had to resign from her role as an ALO, which she did in June. 'I resigned because I was pushed out,' she said. In a letter to Brown sent in May, seen by Guardian Australia, Turner said she had been 'hindered' in performing her role because of a ban on ALOs from accessing G Division, which was 'heartbreaking and soul-crushing' because her role is 'specifically aimed at preventing Aboriginal deaths in custody' and Barnes had self-harmed and attempted suicide twice. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion She said Barnes's sister told her he had tried to kill himself on Tuesday, the same day a protest was held outside the prison. SA Greens senator Barbara Pocock wrote to acting premier Susan Close to confirm exactly how long Barnes has been in solitary confinement, saying UN standards known as the Nelson Mandela Rules prohibit solitary confinement for more than 15 consecutive days. 'We send people to prison as punishment, not for punishment,' Pocock said in a statement on Wednesday. 'I am told this prisoner has already attempted suicide and self-harm on a number of occasion and I, along with many others in the community, hold grave fears for his health and wellbeing while he is held under these conditions.' In the letter to Close, seen by Guardian Australia, Pocock asked exactly how many days Barnes had been in solitary; whether UN rules had been breached; whether certain books and materials had been withheld; whether ALOs and Sumner were stopped from visiting; whether any officer had said Sumner was stopped from visiting because he was a member of the SA voice; and whether Close had confidence in the leadership and management at the prison. 'In view of these serious allegations and the clear threat and risk to Mr Barnes' health and wellbeing, I request that your government initiate an immediate investigation of these matters,' Pocock wrote. Guardian Australia has contacted the South Australian government and the Department of Correctional Services for a response. The department has told other outlets in a statement that it cannot comment on individual cases but 'continues to provide cultural and mental health support to identified prisoners in need across the system', including at Yatala. It also said Sumner was not banned from DCS sites, the ABC reported, and that an offer had been made for him to visit Yatala next week. Sumner said he had been told he could not see Barnes. Support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
