Newsletter date: 19 January 2014
Contents:
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: 30 suicides in the last three months as we wait for promises to be kept
* Background to Suicide and Self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Communities
* Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA): Tenth anniversary of TJ Hickey death [14 February 2014]
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: NT juvenile detention - 98 % are Aboriginal youth
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: 10,000 move on notices
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Mother's prison funeral leave denied - to farewell 13-year-old son
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Taser police say they did nothing wrong to Kevin Spratt
* Daniel Emerson, The West Australian: Police lose Spratt charge bid
* Daniel Emerson, The West Australian: Cops' Taser use not justfied, court told
* ABC News: Two police officers who repeatedly tasered a man at the city watch house have gone on trial in Perth
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Hawke Cabinet decision on deaths in custody
* Tracker: Hawke govt launched deaths in custody inquiry
* Background to Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: 30 SUICIDES IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS AS WE WAIT FOR PROMISES TO BE KEPT
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: 30 suicides in the last three months as we wait for promises to be kept
http://thestringer.com.au/30-suicides-in-the-last-three-months-as-we-wai...
14 Jan 14: "An Aboriginal child in Queensland is at least ten times more likely of committing suicide compared to a non-Aboriginal child. It is a shocking statistic but it pales to the spates and rates of Aboriginal child suicide in Western Australia’s Kimberley and throughout the Northern Territory. Some spates of suicide have reached rates of 150 times. The total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and youth suicide are the worst they have ever been. The prevalence of spates of suicide are also the worst they have ever been. Median ages among child suicides are getting lower each year, with children as young as six, seven and eight years old attempting or committing suicide." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* BACKGROUND TO SUICIDE AND SELF-HARM IN ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES:
Last updated: 3 December 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/08/13/background-to-suicide-and-self-harm-i...
* INDIGENOUS SOCIAL JUSTICE ASSOCIATION (ISJA): TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF TJ HICKEY DEATH [14 FEBRUARY 2014]
- Open Letter
Tenth anniversary of TJ Hickey death
Green Left: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55504
30 Nov 13: "The Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) released this open letter on November 22 ***
Next year, on February 14, will be the 10th anniversary of the killing of the young Aboriginal man, TJ Hickey, as a consequence of the pursuit by the then Redfern police.
For nine long years, the Hickey family has been campaigning for justice and for the proper legal punishment of those directly responsible for TJ’s death.
We would like to invite you and your organisation to assist both the Hickey family and ISJA to make this 10th anniversary rally and march the biggest to date. Of course, we all would have much rather not reached this 10th anniversary point but we have and we, therefore, now need to come together in true solidarity to obtain real justice on behalf of the Hickey family.
We strongly urge you to be a positive part of this upcoming anniversary. ... "
- Upcoming Event
Event: 14 February 2014: Sydney, NSW
Tenth anniversary of TJ Hickey death
Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA)
"Next year, on February 14, will be the 10th anniversary of the
killing of the young Aboriginal man, TJ Hickey, as a consequence
of the pursuit by the then Redfern police. For nine long years,
the Hickey family has been campaigning for justice and for the
proper legal punishment of those directly responsible for TJ’s death."
"We would like to invite you and your organisation to assist both
the Hickey family and ISJA to make this 10th anniversary rally
and march the biggest to date."
Event details: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55504
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: NT JUVENILE DETENTION - 98 % ARE ABORIGINAL YOUTH
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: NT juvenile detention - 98 % are Aboriginal youth
http://thestringer.com.au/nt-juvenile-detention-98-are-aboriginal-youth/
16 Jan 14: "The Northern Territory and Western Australia are Australia’s backwaters, at least in terms of negative impacts for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – children, youth and adults. The NT’s and WA’s statistics – prison, juvenile detention, homelessness, extreme poverty, suicide – are the highest in the nation. From a racialised vantage, some of the statistics for these two Australian jurisdictions are the highest in the world. In the Northern Territory, 98 per cent of juvenile detention is comprised by Aboriginal youth. Disparity could not be indicted much more ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: 10,000 MOVE ON NOTICES
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: 10,000 move on notices
http://thestringer.com.au/10000-move-on-notices/
15 Jan 14: "There are less than 80,000 Aboriginal people in Western Australia, but during 2011 the Western Australian police issued at least 9,996 move-on-notices to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. That is 10,000 move-on-notices to Aboriginal people who comprise less than 3 per cent of the State population. ... "It is disgusting, outrageous, immoral, it is discrimination, racism, targeted, it is apartheid," said Marianne Mackay, a well respected Noongar rights advocate and University of Western Australia third-year law student. ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: MOTHER'S PRISON FUNERAL LEAVE DENIED - TO FAREWELL 13-YEAR-OLD SON
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Mother’s prison funeral leave denied - to farewell 13-year-old son
http://thestringer.com.au/mothers-prison-funeral-leave-denied-to-farewel...
8 Jan 14: "In one of the more disgracefully heartless decisions by Western Australia’s Department of Corrective Services (DCS) Geraldton’s Greenough Regional Prison inmate, Jodie Brown had her prison leave to attend her young child’s funeral pulled at the eleventh hour. In recent weeks Greenough Prison endured fallout from the fact two prisoners escaped while at the same time the local Yamatji community complained of deteriorating conditions at Greenough. Ms Brown’s application to attend the funeral of her 13-year-old son had been approved. But DCS ... decided to crackdown on prison leaves ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: TASER POLICE SAY THEY DID NOTHING WRONG TO KEVIN SPRATT
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Taser police say they did nothing wrong to Kevin Spratt
http://thestringer.com.au/taser-police-say-they-did-nothing-wrong-to-kev...
15 Jan 14: "Two police officers who appeared to senselessly but repeatedly taser Noongar man, Kevin Spratt, this week pleaded in Court that they did nothing wrong. A few years ago, CCTV footage of the multiple tasering incident of Mr Spratt on his knees begging them to stop, made international headlines, with the Western Australian Police tarnished by the incident. Senior constables Aaron Strahan and Troy Tomlin are facing a total of seven charges of assaulting Mr Spratt after he was arrested on August 31, 2008. ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* DANIEL EMERSON, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: POLICE LOSE SPRATT CHARGE BID
- News
The West Australian: Police lose Spratt charge bid
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/20796106/police-lose-spratt-charge...
16 Jan 14: "Update: A lawyer defending two WA Police officers accused of assaulting Kevin Spratt seven times with Tasers has had a bid to have most of the charges thrown out dismissed. Police Union lawyer Karen Vernon was this morning unwilling to concede CCTV footage of the incident depicted Mr Spratt crying out in pain, saying "I cannot say whether it was in joy or laughter". ... Ms Vernon said Mr Spratt could have been reacting to officers grabbing his arms and legs to restrain him during the struggle in the watch house reception area, rather than to a Taser. The trial continues." Daniel Emerson, The West Australian
* DANIEL EMERSON, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: COPS' TASER USE NOT JUSTIFIED, COURT TOLD
- News
The West Australian: Cops' Taser use not justfied, court told
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/20737402/cops-taser-use-not-justfi...
14 Jan 14: "Two WA police officers had no lawful justification for tasering unarmed prisoner Kevin Spratt repeatedly at Perth Watch House in 2008, a court was told yesterday. The opening day of the officers' trial in Perth Magistrate's Court was the first opportunity they had to answer charges of unlawful assault and Sgt Aaron Grant Strahan pleaded not guilty to three counts and Troy Gregory Tomlin not guilty to four. It is the third time the men have been held to account over the incident on August 31, 2008." Daniel Emerson, The West Australian
* ABC NEWS: TWO POLICE OFFICERS WHO REPEATEDLY TASERED A MAN AT THE CITY WATCH HOUSE HAVE GONE ON TRIAL IN PERTH
- News
ABC News: Two police officers who repeatedly tasered a man at the city watch house have gone on trial in Perth
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-13/misuse-of-taser-police-in-perth-co...
13 Jan 14: "Two police officers are on trial in the Perth Magistrates Court accused of assaulting a man at the city watch house by repeatedly tasering him. Senior constables Aaron Strahan and Troy Tomlin are facing a total of seven charges of assaulting Kevin Spratt after he was arrested in August 2008. The officers repeatedly tasered Mr Spratt after he refused to go to a cell to be strip searched. Prosecutors have told the court, there was no lawful basis for the officers to have used a weapon against Mr Spratt and their actions were patently in breach of police guidelines not to use a taser as a tool for compliance. ... "
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: HAWKE CABINET DECISION ON DEATHS IN CUSTODY
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Hawke Cabinet decision on deaths in custody
http://thestringer.com.au/hawke-cabinet-decision-on-deaths-in-custody/
1 Jan 14: "Australians did not have to wait for the National Archives of Australia to release Cabinet papers (for 1987) to find out more about why the Government of Prime Minister Bob Hawke brought on what would become the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. There is nothing in the Cabinet documents that has not been widely known since Prime Minister Hawke moved on the dissent from the rising deaths in custody toll. It has long been known Prime Minister Hawke had only intended for a short term inquiry into some of the deaths in custody. But what happened was that in 1987 there was one death in custody after another, and this tragedy catalysed the call for more to be done." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* TRACKER: HAWKE GOVT LAUNCHED DEATHS IN CUSTODY INQUIRY
- News
newsTracker: Hawke govt launched deaths in custody inquiry
http://tracker.org.au/2014/01/hawke-govt-launched-deaths-in-custody-inqu...
6 Jan 14: "NATIONAL: With Australia’s bicentenary approaching, the government led by Bob Hawke decided something must be done about a rising tide of complaints that Indigenous people were dying in suspicious circumstances in police cells. Cabinet papers for 1987, released by the National Archives of Australia, show the government decided there had to be a royal commission, with the hope that it could all be wrapped up in six months. In reality, it continued for another four years, with the final five-volume report and its 339 recommendations tabled in April 1991." By Tracker
* BACKGROUND TO JUSTICE REINVESTMENT, ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 22 December 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
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