Spit hood ban calls intensify after police cell revelations 

National calls to ban use of ‘Guantanamo Bay-type’ restraints in Australia. See who here:

NATIONAL organisations have called for an immediate ban on spit hoods in Australia.

Just days before a federal election is set to be called, the Human Rights Law Centre, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), Change the Record and Ban Spit Hoods Collective have called for legislative change.

NATSILS chief executive Jamie McConnachie said spit hoods were “dangerous and dehumanising”.

“We vehemently oppose the use of spit hoods and urge all governments to listen to and support the calls of Aboriginal leaders and advocates and put a lifesaving legislative ban on their use in all settings,” she said.

In federal Senate estimates last month, Victorian Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe asked if the federal government was aware NT Police had continued to use spit hoods on children, and if any attorneys-general meetings at federal or state levels had discussed their use.

The written response provided by Home Affairs Minister Senator Michaelia Cash said: “the Commonwealth government had oversight of the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) use of force powers.”

According to Senator Cash, the continued use of spit hoods by Australia’s police force was considered “operationally necessary” to reduce the risk of injury or assault to a police officer.

But the NT News revealed on Tuesday most police services across the country do not use them and in some cases have never used them.

Senator Cash also said the federal government was not “considering” any proposals for national reporting on the use of restraints – including spit hoods.

Following media reports of spit hoods being used on children in the Don Dale Detention Facility, the Coalition government launched the Royal Commission in to Child Protection and Youth Detention in the NT which found spit hoods should “continue to be prohibited”.

At the time, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the Northern Territory’s treatment of young people in the justice system was a “shocking state of affairs and we (the government) need to move quickly to establish what had happened.”

The Royal Commission found the federal government was responsible for 28 recommendations, of which it supported in-principle 26.

Ban Spithoods Collective spokesperson and Jumbunna Institute for Education and Research PhD candidate Latoya Aroha Rule said the New Zealand Commissioner, Judge Andrew Becroft had referred to the devices as a “Guantanamo Bay type invention”.

“Without nationally legislated ban on spit hoods, the opportunity for their use by police and corrections on any persons remains intact,” they said.

“Governments must implement the Human Rights Commissions’ protocols to the conventions against torture to ensure accurate and transparent data on the use of spit hoods.”

I wish change came through sitting at home & wishing it into existence. We have to do little actions daily to get there. Id love for those of you who missed it yesterday to help us continue on with the national ban on spit hoods & sign/ share our petition: https://t.co/bQZj2d1F2H

— Latoya Rule (@latoya_aroha) February 21, 2022

Latoya successfully campaigned for the statewide ban on spit hoods which was legislated in South Australia last year.

Currently, police in all jurisdictions using spit hoods are not required to report their use, including on children who are in their care.

“The use of spit hoods has been synonymous with serious injury and death. The ongoing police use shows us that solely operational bans on spit hoods are not enough,” Latoya said.

Originally published as Spit hood ban calls intensify after police cell revelations