Last night we held 4 simultaneous candlelight vigils for Kaine Morrell, a young man who committed su
Last night we held 4 simultaneous candlelight vigils for Kaine Morrell, a young man who committed suicide earlier this year in Christchurch Men’s Prison. A little over 150 people attended events in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, including Kaine’s parents and extended family. His mother wrote us a letter about her son, detailing his long history of entanglement in New Zealand’s punitive child protection services, and his struggles with mental illness in an environment not compatible with his survival. It is standard practice to solitarily confine suicidal prisoners in New Zealand. When Kaine reached out to prison staff for help, they put him in an At-Risk Unit cell, where he was cut off from all meaningful human contact. For Kaine, as for too many other people in our country’s prison system, this meant being cut off from all of the human connections that could have kept him alive. Solitary confinement kills. Mental health neglect kills. Kaine Morrell died of incarceration, and until we abolish solitary confinement and incarceration as a whole, the deaths will keep coming.To support our work, consider joining our organisation as a member or supporter. Also consider signing our petition calling for solitary confinement, of the kind which killed Kaine, to be banned in New Zealand. -- source link