Case of Queensland teenager who likely spent 500 days in solitary ‘most egregious’ on record

‘This system is not about looking after human beings, this is about torture,’ said Indigenous rights campaigner Rodney Dillon. Photograph: Scott Radford-Chisholm/The Guardian

The treatment of a disabled Aboriginal teenager at Queensland’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre – where he was likely locked in solitary confinement for more than 500 days – is “the most egregious” case on record in Australia, according to a longstanding Indigenous rights campaigner.

Guardian Australia reported on Monday that the teenager, Michael*, now 19, was regularly kept in his room for more than 20 hours during 744 days at Cleveland.