12 Aug 2020

Red Cross steps up for Pacific prison detainees

5:12 am on 12 August 2020

The International Committee for the Red Cross, the ICRC, says it has provided assistance to nearly 7,000 Pacific prison inmates, since the arrival of Covid-19.

Another 1600 prison staff had also benefited.

Since March, the ICRC had been sharing advice on prevention, preparedness and response to the coronavirus in prison settings across the region.

In Fiji, it provided 10 laptops and modems so detainees could make calls to lawyers and relatives after visits were suspended.

The ICRC also provided personal hygiene materials in Fiji, Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

The Cook Islands Red Cross secretary-general, Fine Tu'itupou-Arnold, said past epidemics had hit the Pacific hard.

"We owe ICRC a debt of gratitude for the part it has played in this region's humanitarian response which has so far kept Covid-19 from a number of our countries and has helped to flatten the curve elsewhere."

Cook Island Prison rehabilitation center on Sep 21 2013.The legal system in Cook Islands is based on New Zealand law and English common law.

The legal system in Cook Islands is based on New Zealand law and English common law. Photo: 123RF