WE HAVE REACHED 10,000 SIGNATURES — NOW PARLIAMENT NEEDS TO LISTEN

More than 10,000 people have now signed this petition calling for change to the way prisoners are managed under New Zealand’s PERD, PERU and TNOC regimes.

When this campaign began, many New Zealanders had never heard of these regimes.

Families were trying to understand how someone could be placed under extreme restrictions, sometimes for lengthy periods, while struggling to obtain clear answers about the evidence relied upon, meaningful pathways out, rehabilitation, family contact and independent oversight.

Since then, the issues we raised have become impossible to ignore.

The Chief Ombudsman found that conditions experienced by prisoners in PERU amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and has raised serious concerns about the underlying “extreme threat” model itself.

And now Parliament is considering legislation that would create a statutory framework for managing prisoners classified as posing an extreme risk.

That makes this petition more important than ever.

The question is no longer whether PERU had a proper legal framework.

The question is whether New Zealand should respond to what happened by creating legislation that allows an extreme-risk management model to continue — or whether we first address the fundamental problems that allowed those conditions to develop.

Putting something into legislation does not automatically make it fair, proportionate or humane.

Any system giving the State extraordinary powers over a person must have equally strong safeguards.

That means genuine independent oversight.

It means transparent decisions based on evidence.

It means meaningful and regular review.

It means access to healthcare, legal rights, family and whānau.

It means rehabilitation.

And, critically, there must be a realistic pathway out.

Prisoners who present genuine risks must obviously be managed safely. This campaign has never argued otherwise.

But security and human rights are not mutually exclusive.

A prisoner’s sentence does not remove their basic human dignity, and a management regime should never become an indefinite punishment within a punishment.

10,000 people have now added their names to that message.

To every person who signed, shared, contacted us, told their family’s story or stood beside prisoners and families who felt they had no voice — thank you.

But reaching 10,000 isn’t the finish line.

With Parliament now considering the future of extreme-risk prisoner management, this is exactly when our voices need to become louder.

Please keep sharing this petition.

Please talk about the Bill.

Please ask the difficult questions.

And please remind our elected representatives that legislation written today will determine how people are treated behind prison walls for years to come.

10,000 voices — and we’re not finished