Steven Marshall (whistleblower)
Allegations of human rights abuses
### Allegations of human rights abuses

In February 2023, Marshall submitted further allegations that human rights abuses had occurred at the Brisbane City Watch House between 2018 and 2019, some of which involved minors. These alleged human rights abuses included illegal strip searches of minors, and placing children in cells with adult prisoners of the opposite sex, which led to incidents in which adult prisoners exposed themselves to children and engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour. Marshall claimed that prisoners were routinely denied clothing, toilet paper and other amenities by watch house supervisors, and that witnesses were intimidated into not pressing charges against individuals who assaulted them. The allegations also included reports of watch house officers wrapping towels around the heads of detainees as unauthorized [spit hoods](/wiki/Spit_hood "Spit hood") or to simulate [waterboarding](/wiki/Waterboarding "Waterboarding").

Marshall's allegations were made at the same time that the [Parliament of Queensland](/wiki/Parliament_of_Queensland "Parliament of Queensland") was considering a youth crime bill that would override the Queensland Human Rights Act, and make breach of bail a criminal offense for minors and extend [electronic monitoring](/wiki/Electronic_monitoring "Electronic monitoring") to juvenile offenders. Marshall claimed that the youth crime bill would place strain on the detention centers and cause "chaos" at watch houses which were not equipped to handle an increase in numbers of detainees.

The allegations were submitted to the state economic and governance committee examining the youth crime bill, but was removed from its website and made confidential shortly after. MP [Michael Berkman](/wiki/Michael_Berkman "Michael Berkman") tabled Marshall's report before parliament on 15 March 2023, and accused the committee of trying to "bury" Marshall's claims. A spokesperson for the Queensland Police Ethics Command told the press that they had launched a review of these claims on March 13\.


How does electronic monitoring affect juvenile offenders?