PRISON Officers Vocation Branch chairman Steve McMahon has refuted claims Corrective Services staff are ignoring inmates’ rights.
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He does, however, concede unrest is high across jails in NSW – including Goulburn Correctional Centre.
Mr McMahon described as unfounded claims by a prisoners’ advocacy group that Muslim inmates at Goulburn Jail were excluded from a barbecue on the grounds of their faith.
“As an organisation, we’re religiously aware,” Mr McMahon said.
“Our routines are structured in such a way that allows Muslim inmates to pray at times accordingly.”
Justice Action Group spokesman Brett Collins took aim at prison officers in the wake of a riot at Goulburn Jail that culminated in the charging of 11 prisoners.
The brawl broke out when prisoners were refused access to a barbecue on September 22 because their behaviour was not acceptable, and thus, they weren’t entitled to privileges.
Some prisoners used cans of tuna as weapons while others chanted “Allahu akbar”, which translates to God is great.
“We’ve been told over the last few months there’s been tension rising not only in Goulburn but in a number of the jails,” Mr Collins said.
“There’s been a general act of disrespect towards prisoners’ rights, even entitlement to practice religion.
“We don’t doubt that there will be further protests throughout the prison system. The right to religious observation is fundamental to people as human beings, whether or not they’re inside prison.
“We think any disrespect in that area is only feeding into tensions that are already inherent in the prison system.”
Mr McMahon denied many of Mr Collins’ claims.
He was happy to admit that tension was on the rise.
“There does appear to be unrest in jails across the state,” Mr McMahon said.
“We have things in place to deal with this.
“NSW prison officers are very professional in what they do. Every inmate is allowed to exercise their religious freedoms.
“The public should be assured that we have it well under control.
We are delivering the service they expect of us.”
Mr McMahon believes the unrest is due primarily to a high prison population.
According the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are just shy of 31,000 prisoners in jails nationwide.
Of those, 92 per cent are male, while nearly 10,000 are housed in NSW prisons.