Great National Day of Action for Ms Dhu, but sadly another death in custody. From Ray Jackson. the national day of action for ms. dhu and other death in custody families was a spectacular success however you want to judge it. seven rallies around the country, possibly eight with news of a rally in canberra. what i have seen of the rallies were that the numbers were good, despite 2 other rallies for medicare and coal seam gas in sydney we had roughly a hundred here whilst in melbourne they had near 300 attendees. i would debate the point that across australia some thousand or more rallied to a morning or lunchtime rally to add their voices calling on the wa barnett government to stop arresting and gaoling the poor. this dickensian and brutally uncaring process of gaoling the poor is a most ridiculously cruel one. those who cannot pay the fines placed upon them are doubly punished by being sent to gaol or a police cell to cut out the fines at, reportedly, #250 a day.so to cut out a total of $1000 in fines ms. dhu, and others, would be locked up for 4 days. to be locked up for 4 days costs money for food and drink at least. should one go to gaol the costs are higher as added to sustenance costs must be added gaol clothing, toiletries and other day to day items that are included in the needs of a day. this is nothing but bureaucratic madness! the fine defaulter cuts out the fine whilst taxpayers are paying the inflated costs to keep them in gaol. so the fine defaulter pays nothing in real terms whilst it costs double or more to keep them in gaol or police cells. and the wa government thinks this works to their lock-em-up advantage. the first thing that those who have done crimes and been sent to gaol is to call in all their fines and cut them out as they do their time. the whole fine system and its management is an exercise in custodial insanity. there are more productive methods, and less personally demeaning methods of working with fine defaulters as premier bob carr found out when in 1988 he stopped fine defaulters from being arrested and sent to gaol after young jamie partlic was sent to long bay gaol for unpaid fines in 1986 but he left long bay in a coma after being viscous attack and possible rape by other inmates. none of the above detracts in any way from what happened to ms. dhu however. the police on duty over the time she was in the cell must be closely questioned and if culpability is found then they must be legally dealt with for their distinct lack of duty of care to those whom they have control over. duty of care is not just some precious words in the royal commission recommendations, they are writ large in every police commissioners instructions that whilst considered to be the police bible is ignored and flouted as often as the recommendations are. we are all too well aware of the facts of what was done to and not done for ms dhu but until the family and their legals are shown the results of the questionable police-on-police investigation they will not know how the public facts reflect the police facts. interesting times indeed! there also are, of course, the examples of an equally distinct lack of duty of care by the clinic staff who dealt with or rather did not deal with ms. dhu. all that is known publicly at this point in time is that twice she was presented for medical care only to be rejected twice by one or possibly two nurses. we are left to conjecture the possible reasons for these two refusals. was it a case of outright racism because ms. dhu is a yamatji women? could it have been for reasons that her state of health would have necessitated a greater effort of care? perhaps the clinic was full or they were understaffed and would not have received the required treatment? so much to know of the clinic circumstances. but both nurses, if indeed two nurses are involved and for whatever reason, have breached their duty of care. what will the police investigation find here? will the police investigation find that the nurses are more culpable than the police officers using the tired old argument that they are not sufficiently trained in medical matters to be held responsible. twice they took ms. dhu to the clinic and they had no other option than to return her to the cell but this is very much wrong-headed thinking. on the second day of taking her to the clinic with the same result common decency would more than suggest that they, the police, should have demanded that a doctor see ms. dhu forthwith. maybe they did, maybe not. we will need to wait for a public release of the police investigation that has led to the brief of evidence that the coroner will base his case on. of course it is up to the familys legal team to pull it to pieces and arrive at the truth. our support remains with the family for as long as they may require it. it is strangely quixotic and definitely ironic that as hundreds were marching around this country to raise our concerns of the outrageous number of death in custody of aborigines an unnamed 31 year old aboriginal man is reported to have suicided in causerina gaol in wa. the official facts have yet to be made public so we need to bide our time to be able to learn of the circumstances of his death. we will also wait for some identification to occur before isja pays their respects and condolences to his family, his friends and his community. there is, however, a need to look at the gaol systems across australia and their criminal indifference to the removal of hanging or ligature points from all the gaol cells.royal commission recommendation 165 states, inter alia, steps should be taken to screen hanging points in police and prison cells. the removal of these points is a very contentious issue by the commissioners in charge of the gaols. one excuse told to me is that to remove evident hanging points will not reduce the practice of suiciding in cells. now whilst this may be true in its effect it is not a reason for doing nothing. it is a fact of death that one can, if determined enough, hang from a door-knob, a chair whilst sitting on the floor or such other actions. but removal of the hanging points will save lives. another puerile excuse for doing nothing is that removal of those points from the colonial gaols cannot be done as they are heritage buildings. here in nsw our colonial gaols at grafton,maitland, (which is shut down) parramatta, long bay, goulburn and bathurst have prominent hanging points in their cells because apparently white history trumps black lives. and others too. what madness we are forced to exist under! more on this issue and the very much entrenched hazard management processes worked by governments and other managers. fkj ray jackson president indigenous social justice association prix des droits de lhomme de la republique fraincaise 2013 (french human rights medal 2013) 1303/200 pitt street, waterloo. 2017 [email protected] 61 2 9318 0947 0450 651 063 we live and work on the stolen lands of the gadigal people Aboriginal man dies in Casuarina Prison as hundreds rally around WA to protest deaths in custody By Graeme Powell Thu 23 Oct 2014, 6:18pm A 31-year-old Aboriginal man has died in a Perth prison, as hundreds rally around the state to protest Aboriginal deaths in custody. It is the second death in custody in WA in three months. Protesters rallied in Perth, South Hedland and Geraldton to demand answers over the death of a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman in police custody in August. Ms Dhu, 22, died after being locked up in the South Hedland Police Station over unpaid fines. She complained of pain while being held in a police lock-up and was twice taken to the Hedland Health Campus before being released and returned to custody. In a letter obtained by the ABC, the district medical officer said on a third visit Ms Dhu arrived unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing. An internal police investigation is underway into Ms Dhus death and a report is being prepared for the Coroner, but today the calls continue for an independent inquiry as well as strategies to help avoid deaths in custody. WA Premier Colin Barnett was booed and heckled by several hundred people outside State Parliament. Mr Barnett told the crowd he would personally take on the task of trying to reduce the number of Aboriginal people dying in custody. Ms Dhus mother broke down in tears as she addressed the protesters, saying she needed answers as to why her daughter died. She said she did not understand why her daughter went to the lock up and never returned. The Premier said a police investigation into the death would be finalised in the next few days and all details would be released to her family. Geraldton, Port Hedland protesters call for action Photo: Protesters in central Geraldton behind a row of crosses representing deaths in custody. (ABC News: Gian De Poloni) More than 150 people marched in the Geraldton city centre, while more than 80 people rallied in the Pilbara town of South Hedland Charmaine Green, who attended the rally in Geraldton, said she is calling for a royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. Sadly overnight weve had another death in custody. Weve had a 31-year-old man die in the Casuarina prison, Ms Green said. This is the second death of custody in the last three months. Its totally not acceptable. Ms Dhus aunty, Vanessa Brockman, says it is critical a timely coronial inquest is conducted into her nieces death. Everybody seems to forget that the hospital and the Department of Justice are responsible for what happened, Ms Brockman said. She was taken to the hospital three times, three times, and they sent her home. She was sent back to the lock-up and declared fit to be kept in custody. If she was fine shed be standing here today. They breached their duty of care, theyve done it now and theyll do it again. There is something terribly wrong with our system, particularly in relation to prisons, but also in police custody. Marc Newhouse, Deaths in Watch Committee The Department of Corrective Services released a statement confirming the death of the man in Casuarina prison. It is with deep regret that I confirm the death of a 31-year-old Aboriginal prisoner in custody, Commissioner James McMahon said. The man was found unresponsive in his cell at Casuarina Prison during a routine check by prison officers at around 9.30pm last night. The prison officers immediately carried out CPR. Ambulance officers called to the prison were also unable to revive him. The Department has a duty of care to protect prisoners and offenders from harm or injury. The loss of a life in custody or in the community is tragic. I offer my sincere condolences to the mans family and friends in their grief. Mr McMahon said a coronial inquest would be held to determine the circumstances and cause of death. Deaths in Watch Committee wants answers Head of the Deaths in Watch Committee Marc Newhouse said people want answers. Its devastating and this tells us and the Government knows this — that there is something terribly wrong with our system, particularly in relation to prisons, but also in police custody, Mr Newhouse said. Our condolences go out to the family of the person who is deceased. Mr Newhouse said he was told the prisoner had taken his own life. The Royal Commission [into deaths in custody two decades ago] made recommendations around removal of all ligature points in prisons and police lock ups. Clearly that has not occurred in this case, he said. This is appalling and needs to be addressed immediately. We dont have any detail, but we are very, very concerned and we are going to get to the bottom of this. The Government needs to act. Today at Parliament well be presenting immediate demands about what needs to change so that these sorts of deaths in custody end. Mr Newhouse said one of the main problems with Aboriginal deaths in custody related to visitation rights from family of the inmate. The Aboriginal visitor scheme is in complete disarray and it has been raised in parliamentary inquiries by us and others, he said. The Aboriginal visitors scheme has the potential to prevent these sorts of deaths and that is the very reason it was set up, but its in complete disarray. I think the problem is that is comes under the Department of Corrective Services and that needs to change. It needs to be under an independent body.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 07:42:48 +0000
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