On January 3, sixteen men surrendered to the Department of Corrections after a six-day uprising at the Waikeria Prison, the longest prison protest in modern New Zealand history. Although the authorities branded it as a “riot,” the protesters were highlighting the inhumane treatment that New Zealand’s broken criminal justice system subjects them to.

The protests also showed that Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Labour prime minister, has no interest in reforming prisons or supporting the human rights of those confined in them. Although the prison administration denied the protesters food and water for the entirety of the Waikeria Uprising, Ardern and her corrections minister, Kelvin Davis, refused to comment on the unrest until it was resolved.

When his party was in opposition, Davis had decried the inhumane treatment endured by prisoners. Now, Ardern’s minister flatly denied the uprising had anything to do with prison conditions after the standoff ended.