Multi-Agency Group, Toni Ellis of Blackstone Chambers, to activists Anne Helm
and Jak Wild and to all those who took the time to meet with me and share
their thoughts on, or in some cases, experiences of, seclusion and restraint.
My sincere thanks also to all the many people who engaged with me during my
visits – managers, staff, and service users alike, and to the detaining agencies
for their co-operation and openness during visits, for allowing us unrestricted
access and for their answers to my (many) questions. Particular thanks are
due to Auckland Women’s Facility and Rolleston prison for their willingness
to accommodate a visit at a very short notice, and to Desley Watkins, Senior
Advisor at the Department of Corrections, for organising these, alongside all
our other prison visits, and for ensuring that all the information requested
(and much more!) was available to us. Thanks also to Jean-Sébastien Blanc of
the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) for bringing me up to date
with the latest on the use of restraints, to Kellie Reeve for her sage advice and
insightful comments, and to Louise Finer for reading drafts of this reports and
helping to make it better. Last but not least, my thanks to Janet AndersonBidois, Chief Legal Adviser to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission for
engaging with this project from inception to completion and for her invaluable
comments on drafts of this report.
Sharon Shalev
February 2017
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