Headingley inmate put in solitary confinement after positive COVID test being 'punished' for illness: mother
Inmates at Manitoba jail are put into cells for 23 hours a day, a practice legal experts say is cruel
The mother of an inmate at Headingley Correctional Centre says she's concerned about her son's health and well-being, after learning he was put into solitary confinement following a positive COVID-19 test.
CBC News has learned inmates who have tested positive at the Manitoba jail are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day — a practice that experts say is inhumane and torturous.
CBC is not releasing the name of the mother to protect her privacy, and her son's.
Martha (not the woman's real name) says her son told her last week he was placed in solitary confinement after his positive test.
"It's not a cell. They call it the hole, but he said it's really cold in there. They're only given a sheet and one blanket, they're not offered a pillow," she said.
Her son is kept in the cell for 23 hours a day, and only allowed to come out to take a shower or make a phone call. He's been ordered to stay in segregation until the end of the week.
Jails have 'appropriate' isolation areas: province
The province didn't confirm or deny that inmates are sent into solitary confinement when they test positive for COVID-19.
"Inmates who become symptomatic are isolated for 14 days from the onset of symptoms, and each centre has an appropriate, designated isolation area," provincial spokesperson Julie DeVoin said in an email.
"Isolated inmates receive a minimum of 30 minutes out of their cell isolated from other inmates per day," DeVoin said, adding that all symptomatic inmates in isolation are given surgical masks to wear when out of their cells.
The province declared an outbreak at Headingley Correctional Centre on Oct. 13, and it went into lockdown. Outbreaks have also been declared at the Agassiz Youth Centre and the Women's Correctional Centre.
As of Tuesday, a total of 185 people — 38 staff and 147 inmates — had tested positive for COVID-19 at Headingley, according to the province, with 93 of those cases currently active.
Martha says her son started developing symptoms — chills, fever, headaches and shortness of breath — in early October, but he didn't get tested because he didn't want to be put into "the hole."
"I was kind of upset with him for not saying anything. I wanted him to get tested. But he said that he didn't want to get tested because he knew what would happen," after seeing other symptomic inmates isolated, she said.
'Amounts to torture': lawyer
Scott Newman, a criminal defence lawyer in Winnipeg, said not all inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 are isolated in cells meant for solitary confinement, but they are "locked down" at the Headingley jail.
"What that means is they're locked in their cells for 23 and a half hours a day," he said. "So it's not the same physical location, but it's the same effect."
"You are taking people who are maybe sick … [and] saying 'sit in this room for 23 and a half hours a day, nobody to talk to, nothing in the way of things to do,'" he said.
"There's a reason that the United Nations … said that amounts to torture," said Newman. "It is to deprive somebody of human contact and entertainment for that length of time."
"We understand the strain that COVID-19 is putting on inmates and their families," DeVoin, the provincial spokesperson, said via email.
She said said more leisure products have been purchased for isolated units at correctional facilities, including games, magazines, movies, arts supplies and gaming devices.
Use of confinement as quarantine 'truly shocking'
But Martha said her son's situation shows a failing in the corrections system.
"It's not fair for them to be punished [because they're sick], but it almost sounds like that's the only solution they have. They don't have anything else in place," said Martha.
Corey Shefman, a lawyer at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP in Toronto, said according to international law, solitary confinement is considered a form of torture, referencing the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
"It's considered cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," he said. "Now they're using it as a sort of … [a] quarantine zone. I mean, that's just that's truly, truly shocking."
Shefman said the rooms used for solitary confinement are small, dark and are not fit for human habitation.
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba, the Prison Libraries Committee of the Manitoba Library Association, and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg wrote an open letter calling on the government to release all untried and unsentenced individuals on remand, and those who are susceptible to severe health outcomes due to COVID-19.
The letter was sent to media on Tuesday afternoon.
Quinn Saretsky, executive director of Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba, said a majority of people being held in Manitoba's jails are haven't been convicted on their charges.
"The judiciary doesn't feel that there's appropriate places for them to go, so they're left in custody to wait out those matters," she said.
"We're really concerned folks are not being given the opportunity to have that 'innocent until proven guilty' right being upheld, and they're also being held in overcrowded conditions."
Saretsky said Manitoba Justice should consider alternative quarantine measures for inmates, such as hotels with isolated units, or partnering with organizations like hers to find supervised placements.
Staff have lost confidence in Manitoba Justice: MGEU
Safety concerns at Headingley also extend to staff, says the president of the union that represents 500 workers at the jail.
Since reports in early October that staff at three Manitoba jails had contracted the illness, COVID-19 cases in correctional facilities jumped from a "handful of staff" to 52 staff in cases in total in Manitoba jails.
Many of those workers no longer trust Manitoba Justice to keep them safe, after learning Monday night that medical masks issued to correctional staff were expired, says Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union president Michelle Gawronsky.
The same error happened at other provincial correctional facilities, she said.
"Front-line workers don't have the confidence … that their safety and health is being looked after" by Manitoba Justice, she said.
Gawronsky said Manitoba Justice replaced the masks at the correctional facilities when it was notified Monday night.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
