Indigenous women in custody in the Northern Territory are being kept in hot, poorly ventilated cells with up to 20 other women, often only being able to drink from a tap above an often-blocked communal toilet.

The information was supplied by Deanna, 30, and Simone, 35, in two affidavits submitted to the Alice Springs Local Court in January and comes as the NT embarks on a number of "punitive" legislative decisions experts say will only push more people into custody.

Simone, who was on remand since the end of November, said she was unable to wash out her mouth after using her puffer as the sink above the toilet - which are "blocked and stink" and routinely "filled with sick and other people's saliva".

"I have to use the water above the toilet to make my breakfast. We add the water above the toilet to our weetbix," she said.

Describing herself as "hungry all the time," she said she hadn't "had any fruit or vegetables," nor been given bottled water.

"We get a shower every second day. We walk past the men sometimes on the way to shower," Simone said.

"We don't get to go outside and do not get any exercise. We don't get fresh air at all."

The closure of the Alice Springs Correctional Facility in October resulted in women being transferred to Darwin Correctional Centre or being held in the Alice Springs Watch House alongside men.

In her affidavit, Deanna mirrored Simone's experience, noting some days, "there are nearly 20 women in a cell".

"When there are this many we have to share a mattress as there is not enough room for everyone to have a mattress," she said.

"Not everyone can have a mattress."

The Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APO NT) condemned the treatment of the - predominantly First Nations - people held in the Alice Springs facility, labelling it "inhumane, discriminatory, and in clear violation of fundamental human rights".

Convenor of APO NT, Dr John Paterson, said the conditioned were a "shocking violation of human rights and a clear breach of the NT Government's commitment to improve justice outcomes for Aboriginal Territorians".

"Prisons in the Territory are too often sites of significant human rights abuses," Dr Paterson said.

"The treatment of Aboriginal Territorians in custodial and correctional facilities have been identified and criticised through countless Royal Commissions for decades including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

"No one deserves to be deprived of basic healthcare or denied access to clean drinking water. It is unacceptable, discriminatory, and harmful, and has no place in the Territory or in Australia."

Remand is the term used for people who are in custody, having been denied bail.

National Indigenous Times understands a number of people in the NT are released after pleading due to time served before being given a sentence and being able to face trial.

Almost 70 per cent of people in prisons in the NT are on remand awaiting a court date.

The 1991 Royal Commission into Indigenous deaths in custody recommended First Nations incarceration be a last resort, however a number of jurisdictions have moved away from this, with the latest data showing a dramatic rise in Indigenous incarceration.

More than one per cent of the NT population is incarcerated, with the government refusing to apologise for what they say is "keeping Territorians safe".

88.3 per cent of all prisoners in the NT are Indigenous.

"The Government has an obligation to ensure that those incarcerated are treated with dignity and have access to essential services, healthcare, and culturally appropriate rehabilitation to break cycles of disadvantage and imprisonment," Dr Paterson said, citing the NT Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA).

"Right now, it is clearly failing to uphold that commitment.

"Regardless of your political views on justice, we must all draw the line at allowing this degradation of humanity, of health and of culture, to exist within our community."

Last month, Independent politician Yiŋiya Mark Guyula said he had written to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, calling for them to visit the NT.

However, last week the PM batted away support of a UN visit - despite Australia's human rights obligations - telling reporters he hadn't "given what UN people visit any thought".

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro previously said she believed the UN Special Rapporteur had "better things to do" than get involved in the prison situation in the Territory.