ESCAPES FROM DETENTION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 117, 12 February 1944, Page 6

ESCAPES FROM DETENTION

Military Defaulters ADDITIONAL POWERS FOR COURTS Amendments to the National Service Emergency Regulations have been gazetted mainly for the purpose of assisting the administration in dealing with escapes from detention camps. In explaining the new provisions the Minister in Charge of Defaulters’ Detention, Mr. Mason, stated last evening that there had been a number of escapes from tlie camps of late, and it had been 'deemed advisable to strengthen the regulations for the purpose of coping witli the position. In the first place, said the Minister, it could be said that the majority of the men undergoing detention for failure to meet their military obligations were complying with, the rules laid down for their detention and were carrying out the work allotted to them. There were some, however, who were not so amendable and the new provisions were intended as deterrents for them and others who might assist them.

It was not practicable or justifiable, due to the manpower position, to employ large numbers of guards and overseers in the custody of defaulters, and consequently those who were not prepared to accept the conditions under which they were detained. might resort to escape in the belief that on recapture the courts might only impose the nominal penalty of a short term of imprisonment, thus making the prospect of a period of liberty attractive to them. Transfer To Prison. The amending provisions not only empower the Courts to transfer a defaulter to prison for the duration of the war ou the ground that he escaped or repeated an attempt to escape, but the time lost from detention during such escape must be made up after the termination of the war. It also now becomes an offence under the amending regulations for any person to procure or persuade or assist any defaulter to escape. or to aid. conceal or harbour him after he has escaped : similarly, an ..employer must not employ, or retain in his service, any defaulter who has escaped from detention or is absent without leave. A further amendment declares that no person shall withhold from the Director of National Service or any police. constable any information in- his possession, which may be of use in enabling any defaulter who has escaped, to be found. Other new amendments render a defaulter who commits an act of violence in the detention camps liable to be transferred to prison for the duration of the war. and in the case of escapees give powers of arrest to detention officials. There is provision also for the transfer to a prison hospital, on the report of a medical board or registered practioner, of any defaulter requiring medical observation or treatment which cannot be conveniently carried out or given in a detention camp. “The detention system," said Mr. Mason, “has been developed. to ensure reasonable conditions so long as the men being detained are prepared to comply with the rules and perform the necessary work. Under the existing provisions and so long as they remain in force, these men are deprived of their freedom for refusing to fulfil their obligations under the National Service Emergency Regulations. If. following this delinquency, they refuse to fall in with the established system of detention or seek the way of escape., there is no alternative but to have recourse to these additional provisions."’ .