A justice reform group says New Zealand's treatment of prisoners during the Covid-19 outbreak means that under international definitions, they are now in solitary confinement.
Four families have told RNZ that inmates across the country are being confined to their cells for 23 or more hours a day.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis told Guyon Espiner his department is not trying to punish prisoners and is instead doing all it can to keep Covid-19 out of jails.
