A Queensland watch-house whistleblower says he witnessed “illegal” strip searches of children, a girl placed in a cell with adult men, and staff wrapping towels around prisoners’ heads to avoid spit hood protocols, causing them to “feel waterboarded”.
In a damning submission to the state’s youth crime bill, watch-house officer Steven Marshall detailed what he described as “human rights breaches” that he witnessed at Brisbane Watch House during 2018 and 2019.
Marshall was the whistleblower who last year leaked a series of tapes to Guardian Australia which recorded several Queensland Police Service staff using racist slurs and offensive language while working in the holding cells.
His submission was published on Monday with his name redacted, but he has given Guardian Australia permission to name him. He remains on medical leave from QPS.
In the submission, Marshall claims that during his time at the Brisbane facility, supervisors encouraged staff to use towels on prisoners instead of spit hoods to circumvent approval processes and avoid recording their use under police protocols.
Marshall says towels were wrapped around prisoners’ heads “whilst they were restrained and thrashing about”. This would “aggravate the prisoner”, he says in the submission, “as the perspiration from their raised heartbeat … would cause what some would refer to as feeling waterboarded.”
He warns a new proposal by the Palaszczuk government to make breach of bail an offence for children could result in further chaos at watch houses, which are expected to see a steep spike in numbers due to youth detention centres being full.
The submission describes adult prisoners exposing their genitals and imitating sexual acts to children of the opposite sex and one incident where a girl was placed in an adult holding cell with two male prisoners.
“I recall being one of the responding officers when an adult male notified officers at the charge counter through the intercom that a juvenile female prisoner was with them. They were paranoid that officers were trying to set them up,” Marshall says.
Illegal strip searches of children were also undertaken when they came into custody, under the guise of changing prisoners’ clothes, according to the submission.
“For a significant period, all juveniles were illegally unclothed searched when they came into custody. Officers would often do this under the guise of changing the prisoners’ clothes when they came into custody and would not let them retain wearing theirs,” the submission states.
“The juveniles were neither given the opportunity to have an independent adult support person present, explained their rights or given the officers’ identifying details. This changed after two officers were suspended.”
The officer says both male and female prisoners were not given underwear for a significant period and instead were given basketball shorts. For men, this meant their genitals were visible and for young girls, they were unable to secure pads when menstruating.
Marshall, who remains on medical leave from QPS, claims prisoner advocacy groups and representatives of the youth justice department lost their access to the watch house “when they were becoming quite vocal of prisoners’ rights being impeded”. He recalled officers discussing a plan to charge one public servant with police obstruction charges, but does not know if it eventuated.
The officer says he witnessed prisoners escape their cells and “gang bash” others. He claims children often did not get charged for assaults and their victims’ parents were rarely notified of what occurred unless they had attended hospital.
“The victim would be asked in front of his/her aggressors loudly so the wing’s prisoners could hear whether [they] would like to press charges,” he says.
“This was evidently done to deter the victim from making a complaint, however I believe this decision should have been made by the parent.”
Marshall says children were often treated like adult prisoners and imprisoned for “a significant period” in small cells made of metal and concrete.
“On many occasions under supervisor direction, officers had to remove blankets, pillows and toilet paper from cells for extended periods. This would cause great distress to juvenile prisoners due to the cold environment and lack of prisoner amenities in their cell,” he says.
Marshall argues an independent state watch-house inspector position must be created immediately within the state’s Human Rights Commission and mandatory reporting of incidents affecting juveniles introduced.
“The watch house is a complex environment … I am happy to volunteer time to [the Queensland Human Rights Commission] should they require such insights.”
Dozens of youth organisations and experts have blasted the proposed youth crime laws, saying they say will violate human rights and further entrench children in the criminal justice system.
The Queensland Human Right Commission said it was “disappointing” it had not been consulted and called for it to be blocked due to “the significant and disproportionate limitations it places on the rights of children”.
“The proposed override of the Human Rights Act 2019 is not justified … any of the reforms proposed will fail to achieve their intended purpose,” it said in a submission to the bill.
Debbie Kilroy, the chief executive of Sisters Inside, said the new measures will “only succeed in further amplifying the mass incarceration of First Nations children”.
“It is appalling that the Palaszczuk government is introducing this bill which is clearly incompatible with the Human Rights Act,” Kilroy wrote in her submission.
Advocacy group, the Justice Reform Initiative, said the proposal to build two new youth detention centres is not “cost-effective”, as Queensland already spends more than any other jurisdiction on youth justice.
Queensland police have been contacted for comment.
