Government's decision to lock kids up in solitary confinement in a bid to control coronavirus in prisons is ‘cruel,’ Labour charges
UN torture expert Nils Melzer blasts ‘inhumane’ practice
A general view of a separation cell in the Dumyat Wing at Cornton Vale prison in Stirling
by Bethany Rielly
THE government’s “cruel” and “extreme” policy of locking up detained children for 23 hours a day is the result of ministers’ “incompetent failure” to control coronavirus, Labour said today.
Under measures intended to contain the spread of Covid-19, youth detention facilities have been allowed to keep children as young as 12 in their cells for all but 40 minutes a day.
The practice has been described by United Nations torture expert Nils Melzer as “inhumane.”
More from this author
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara
