No bars ...the $131 million Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) is an open campus-style prison which can house up to 300 male and female inmates.
Prison with no bars opens
Conforms to human rights principles
Praised as a mix of `justice, mercy and compassion`
THE first prison in Australia built according to human rights principles has been officially opened in Canberra.
The $131 million Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) is an open campus-style prison which can house up to 300 male and female inmates.
It will take remand and sentenced prisoners with low to high security classifications but there are no bars on the windows.
Razor-wire fencing has also been discarded and prisoners will be issued with swipe cards so they can leave their rooms, but not the facility, when they please.
About half of the prisoners will be accommodated in cottage-style buildings with the rest to stay in cell blocks. No women will be put into the cell blocks.
The ACT Government says the prison is the first to be built according to human rights principles and based on the idea that inmates can be rehabilitated better if treated with respect.
"A healthy prison is one in which: everyone is and feels safe (prisoners, staff and visitors alike); everyone is treated with respect and as a fellow human being (again, all people within the AMC); everyone is encouraged to improve him/herself and is given every opportunity to do so through the provision of purposeful activity; and everyone is enabled to maintain contact with their families and is prepared for release," ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell says on the prison`s website.
In the past the ACT`s long-term prisoners have been held in New South Wales prisons but that will change from November when the first inmates are transferred to the AMC.
At today`s opening Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the prison is "a physical manifestation of an important philosophical conviction".
"The conviction it makes concrete is the conviction that even those who offend against our standards and our laws retain an essential humanity and human rights," Mr Stanhope said.
In blessing the new prison, Reverend Robert Withycombe said it was an example of "justice blended with mercy and compassion".
Mr Stanhope said the prison "had to be built" as the existing Belconnen Remand Centre was old, costly to run and unfit for prisoners.
"This is not some luxury, some frippery, it is the core business of government," Mr Stanhope said.
The new prison is essential because the ACT "had to stop transporting our convicts", he said.
Haha, you Aussies are such wimps. You dont even have the guts to stop something like this from ever being built. How pathetic. Imagine this happeing in the US or Singapore - there'd be an uprising.
Posted by: Naden 8:04pm today
This is disgusting. Lock the pricks up in a 3x3 cell. If they choose to do the crime they should be forced to do hard time. It should be so horrible for offenders that maybe they will think twice before re-offending.
Posted by: pigger of Brisbane 7:45pm today
Guys don't be fooled by the story! Its actually a resort for those Pollies, its really just a stroll away from Parliament house. I'll give you a quick tour if you like...book at Jail_Paradiso@australia.gov.au
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