For over five years, David Hicks has been confined for 23 to 24 hours a day in a single cell at Guantanamo Bay, deprived of human contact, natural light and fresh air.
Years ago, similar prison practices in Australia at Katingal (Long Bay, Sydney) and Jika Jika (Pentridge, Melbourne) were condemned as a form of torture and permanently damaging to mental health, if experienced beyond six months.
After prison riots and a Royal Commission, these short-lived “electronic zoos” were demolished. Why then does the Howard government turn a blind eye as an Australian citizen is slowly driven out of his mind by such an equally, or far worse, inhuman prison?
Keith McEwan, Banks, ACT (The Australian letter)