once again it becomes necessary to inform ourselves as to several matters that isja either is involved in or has an interest in.
our first item of interest concerns the death in custody of the 22 year old aboriginal woman who died in the south hedland police lock-up, wa, on 2 august, 2014.
the australian article, see below, shines some more light on the circumstances of her death but also, as usual, raises many more questions and problems than are answered. i thank stephen for sending me the full article.
ms. dhu, it is stated, was picked up by the wa police for 'unpaid fines.' the royal commission into aboriginal deaths in custody handed down their 339 recommendations in 1991 recommending that unpaid fines either be waived, if over, say, 5 years old as in nsw (r120) and further that imprisonment not be performed and other sanctions found, (r121). it seems that wa governments have yet to proceed these two common-sense recommendations. had they done so then ms. dhu may still be with us today. i equate being held in a police cell as analogous to imprisonment in a gaol.
it is no great secret that for aboriginal people living in wa they face the highest arrest rate and consequently the highest imprisonment rate in australia. sadly for aboriginal people in wa they must survive as best they can under the colonial rule that is used to 'manage' them. wa governments continue to ignore the lessons they should be learning from the tragic deaths of john pat, mr. ward, mr phillips, ms. mandajarra, among so so many others. each coronal inquest raises the social problems that our people live with daily; drunkenness, homelessness, mental health, institutionalisation among many other problems. all wa governments have ignored these lessons from the death of our people and thus they will continue to die. unnecessarily so but seemingly without any state concern. wa must accept and fully implement all of the required custodial recommendations, some 170 of them, immediately if they really do want to save the lives of all those in a custodial situation.
ms. dhu was suffering from a medical condition and sought medical assistance and twice she was taken to the port hedland medical facility where, it is believed, she was not seen by a doctor but by nurses, who declared her fit to return to the police cells. this is callous treatment indeed! there are many recommendations appertaining to health issues whilst in custody but to my mind the 'mother-ship' recommendation that all others rely on and that is r127. it is far too long to reproduce here but some salient points must be made to highlight the incompetence of the current life-threatening system.
r127a calls for, as does a police officer in the article, that full time medical care be provided in every main police lock-up. the intention was for a doctor to be present but this has been reduced to a nurse being present. the death of mr. briscoe in an alice springs, nt, police lock-up raised the same ongoing issue of lack of medical care leading to the death of the person detained. over many coronal inquests the nt coroner, greg cavanagh, had called for the implementation of medical care only to be continually frustrated and ignored by the nt governments and the nt police. the horror, however, of the criminal death of mr. briscoe forced them to put a nurse in some of the main police lock-ups. i suppose half a loaf is better than none, health-wise.
r127e recommends that a proper system of interaction with aboriginal health services, where available, to ensure that the health, medical needs and risk status of aboriginal persons in custody is a must to implement to allow lives to be saved.
r127f i-ix sets out the need to formulate working protocols for the care and management of aborigines with special needs, e.g., intoxicated persons, aborigines with chronic health needs, persons with self-harm or suicide ideation, those with a mental illness, those who become aggressive, among other social/medical problems. police are mainly ill-trained in these important areas.
r122 to my mind is one of the most important recommendations, (the other two are 97 and 82, the sanctions of last resort for arrest and imprisonment respectively), that all who work within the custodial systems must adhere to and that is their individual and collective duty of care to their detainees,inmates or patients. these three recommendations are tragically ignored every day by the custodial officers and the courts. these three, intricately intertwined with the other 167 custodial recommendations are there to save aboriginal lives and to recognise our innate human rights.
it goes without too much analysis that had the wa governments, the wa police, the gaol system, courts and custodial health recommendations been properly applied during the 90's, rather than stupidly and cruelly ignored, then i would argue many aboriginal lives would have been saved. but it seems to me that that is an agenda that the wa system has very little interest in the saving of aboriginal lives.
it quite possibly would have saved the life of ms. dhu. after her indeterminate autopsy we are left with a real possibility that her death will be either described as being 'of unknown causes,' or worse, it could be described as a death of 'natural causes.' these 'unknown' descriptives are, to me, very problematic. without wishing to malign the pathologists who conduct the autopsies it must be recognised that they personally do not have all medical forensic knowledge. should that particular pathologist be unable to find the cause of death then a much more senior and greatly experienced pathologist must be found. the deceased and the family deserve nothing less than the full truth of the cause of death. it is well known that this insulting term, in a custodial setting, can and does hide a multitude of sins.
isja again sends our respectful condolences to her family, community and friends. we know she now walks her land in peace.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
on thursday 21 august, 2014 the murray siblings, anna, karen, eileen, helen, marion, lorraine, along with rod allshorn and myself, met with the nsw attorney-general, brad hazzard, to discuss the murder of their brother, eddie murray, in a wee waa police cell in 1981. eddie was taken by the police in a greatly intoxicated state and within one hour of being placed in a cell he was 'found' dead allegedly by his own hand according to the police there on the day.
the coroner, however, found otherwise and stated that eddie murray was much too intoxicated to have hung himself but cowardly found that eddie had died 'at the hand or hands of persons unknown'. this unbelievable and unjust decision has been allowed to stand to this day despite commissioner muirhead agreeing that the police involved had lied on oath, destroyed evidence, colluded their statements, among other things yet agreed with the coroner's original statement. an exhumation of eddie found a broken sternum but nsw state coroner, john abernethy, decided the excavator could have done the damage and closed the case. police 3, family 0. no justice here.
helen brought a solicitor with her for a reason unknown to me but anna tabled a heartfelt statement that was read to those assembled that brought tears to the sister's eyes. unfortunately due to the meeting starting one hour late i had to go to attend a medical appointment but i was later contacted by anna, karen and rod that all the paperwork that was relevant to the corruption of eddie's case and the very strong request that the a-g consider the evidence given and consider the re-opening of the case to finally gain justice. thanks was also forthcoming for isja's participation in the rally/march and the meeting.
all three stated that the a-g had made comment on the length of time that has lapsed, some 33 years, the death of witnesses and some police, among other problems but he would read and report back to the family in writing.
and so we wait.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
last thursday i had the wonderful opportunity and privilege to be invited to address a combined years 8 and 9 assembly of girls of the brigidine catholic college at randwick. i have spoken at other places of learning, including masada college, but never with such a large audience.
the subject of the address was 'me', my life, which included my being a part of the original stolen generations where it was decided by the authorities that i and my siblings would be taken from our aboriginal mother because her australian husband had had the temerity and bad luck to be killed on the kokoda track in papua-new guinea during the defence of this country. no need for a war widows pension here! just remove the children.
i further explained that during that sad time, 1890 - 1972, it was estimated that a minimum of some 10 000 aboriginal children were taken. that is way too much pain for any family to bear but over the past few years, and continuing still, is the new wave of aboriginal children that are being taken from their families and being fostered out to non-aboriginal families. here we go again, down the assimilationist and genocidal trail of taking our children from us. estimates of the national figure of children already taken range up to 50 000. this is criminal in its intent and must be stopped.
if our children have a need to be taken from their immediate family then they must go, in the first instance, to the extended family who can care for them in a truly loving environment with their elders in a cultural fashion. then the authorities need to put their resources into bringing the errant family back to a more stable home environment to allow for the return of the child/ren.
all governments, since the invasion, have always hungered for either our demise or failing that, assimilation. we will continue to resist these criminal practices as we continue our struggles for sovereignty, treaties and social justice.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
the final matter of import is an event that happened a couple of weeks ago at the block tent embassy.
one of mick mundine's tongan goons stood in the pemelwuy park area and began screaming foul and indecent accusations against aunty jenny munro. they were crudely of a sexual nature and quite offensive to those present. one of those present was jenny's son, ray, who quite rightly took umbrage to this abuse and the two became involved in a scuffle. a car drove up and two more of mundine's tongan goons joined in the fight against ray. meanwhile a fourth tongan goon ran from the ahc office and also joined in. joe miles, the tent embassy security and fire-man, upon seeing this picked up a shovel and ran to help ray. eventually the police arrived and the fighting ceased.
ray and joe were banned from the block and charged with assault against the goons. police informed jenny that only two of the four goons were charged but would not identify the two who were allegedly charged and the two who were not. both ray and joe have competent legal assistance but there is much conjecture as to whether the redfern police also laid assault charges against the two tongans and why were not all four tongans charged?
some believe that the strong bonds between the redfern police and mick mundine could lead to none of the tongans being charged and only ray and joe were charged. i don't know but my question to commander luke freudenstien (who is on this list) is why only two tongans were charged when i am told with good authority that all four tongans were involved?
this event will not affect the resolve of those camped at the site and their many many supporters that the tent embassy will continue until such time that the ahc is opened up to the aboriginal community and there is full and binding agreement to build aboriginal housing on behalf of the elders and the community. any commercial for profit aspect to the ahc project must only occur after aboriginal housing has been initiated and then only with the agreement of the community. the block is aboriginal community land and not the private land of mick mundine, his appointed board or their developer friends.
isja remains a strong supporter of the aims of the tent embassy.
fkj
ray jackson
president
indigenous social justice association
prix des droits de l'homme de la republique fraincaise 2013
(french human rights medal 2013)
1303/200 pitt street, waterloo. 2017
isja01@internode.on.net
61 2 9318 0947
0450 651 063
we live and work on the stolen lands of the gadigal people
..............
Loss signals lessons yet to be learnt on custody deaths
AT just 22, and locked-up for unpaid fines, Julieka Dhu suffered in agony in a Pilbara watch-house for three days before her death.
In a tragedy that has again invoked the shameful record of black deaths in custody in Western Australia, the Aboriginal woman — about to see a doctor for a suspected leg infection when arrested earlier this month — had begged to be hospitalised instead of kept in jail.
But despite days of vomiting, worsening pain and complaints of fever and paralysis — first in her lower body and then her face — authorities deemed her medically fit to be kept in custody after two visits to the nearby hospital, although she reportedly wasn’t seen by a doctor.
Almost three weeks after her death, which has gone largely unnoticed in the face of a lockdown on information, allegations are emerging of police neglect and questions are being asked as to why more wasn’t done to help her by health workers.
There is also medical evidence of a head injury, possibly sustained while being held in the South Hedland Police Station watch-house, in the state’s far north mining region of the Pilbara.
Her death on August 4 is the latest in a litany of Aboriginal deaths in custody in WA that range from violent to perplexing but none of them more notorious than that of 16-year-old John Pat, who died in the Pilbara’s Roebourne adult lock-up after an alleged police bashing in September 1983. The outcry over Pat’s death helped spark the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which among its 339 recommendations — many of which, have never been implemented — was that Aboriginal people should only be arrested when there is no alternative.
There were more recommendations after “Mr Ward’’, an Aboriginal man, was literally cooked in the back of a prison van in a 400km drive across the desert in 2008. Other deaths have served to illustrate the frailty of the homeless; in 2011, “Mr Phillips”, an itinerant Aborigine, died in the watch-house in Kalgoorlie a few weeks after being bashed by a gang of youths and in 2012 Maureen Mandijarra died in her cell in Broome after being arrested while drinking in public.
Aboriginal leaders and human rights advocates are now demanding answers about what happened to Dhu, as her partner Dion Ruffin — held in the cell beside her — has begun to fill the information vacuum surrounding her death.
Ruffin, 39, arrested with Dhu on August 2 for breaching a restraining order involving another woman, says police repeatedly mocked and dismissed her pleas as that of a “druggie, and then a mental case’’.
Ruffin, who admits to have used “speed’’ with his partner in the days before their arrest, says she told him she was examined by only nurses, and not a doctor, during the “brief visits’’ to the nearby Hedland Health Campus hospital.
He says police had to be pushed to send Dhu to the nearby hospital, on the first and second night of her detention, and was eventually given painkillers.
“She had a blood blister the day before our arrest, and we had popped it with a sterile pin, but then she woke up feeling sick and with this red line on her leg,’’ Ruffin said.
“She also had two old fractured ribs that still hurt and she told the police all of this. We had to beg for hours to get them to send her to the hospital, she was in so much pain and was vomiting, it got worse and worse until she couldn’t move her legs and was slurring.
“She was begging for help until her last breadth.’’
Police declined to comment on those allegations amid the investigation by their own internal affairs unit, which will report to the state coroner. But two days after Dhu died, police published a chronology of events asserting they took her to the hospital each time she complained of being unwell.
“Whilst in the lock-up the woman advised police of being unwell and on two separate occasions she was taken to the Hedland Heath Campus, on Saturday 2 August and again on Sunday 3 August 2014,” police said.
“On both occasions, medical staff provided police with a Medical Fitness to be Held in Custody certificate before she was returned to the lock-up.
“On Monday 4 August 2014, the woman again told police she was unwell and she was again conveyed to the Hedland Health Campus where her condition deteriorated and she passed away.”
Yesterday state Acting Police Commissioner Lawrence Panaia said WA Police took its duty of care towards detainees very seriously, and there were strict policies in place relating to the admission and ongoing management of detainees.
“In a situation where a detainee who is already in custody shows signs of being seriously injured or ill, WA Police policy requires officers to ensure the detainee is taken to a place for medical treatment, and this should be by ambulance whenever possible,” he said.
An autopsy has been unable to determine the cause of death, and the forensic pathologist is waiting on the results of further tests.
Ruffin also disputes a police statement that his partner of more than a year had died in hospital, after she was taken there on the third day she was locked up. She was due to be released the following day. “On the last day she was hysterical, saying she felt like she was dying and we were begging the police to take her back to hospital,’’ he said.
“I couldn’t see into her cell, she said she was on the floor and when the cops finally agreed to take her to hospital the last time they were laughing and saying she was acting. They opened the cell, and I heard one of them say get up, but she couldn’t and she was begging for help to get up and I heard a big thud, and then silence.
“I saw her being dragged out of the cell by her arms, her chin was on her chest and I cried out to her, but she was staring down, blank.’’
An autopsy report, obtained by The Weekend Australian, found an “undetermined (pending investigations)’’ cause of death.
Forensic pathologist Jodi White reported Dhu had old fractures of two ribs, with a “possible re-fracture’’ of one and bleeding in and around the lungs.
Dr White also found a head wound and dried vomit in her mouth, nose and all over her body.
“There was turbid, heavily blood stained fluid in both cavities in association with an apparent florid haemorrhagic pneumonia,’’ he said.
The WA Country Health Service, which runs the Pilbara hospital where Dhu was declared dead, yesterday declined to say if she saw a doctor on either of the earlier hospital visits. The service also did not reveal details about why the hospital handed her back to police twice in the 48 hours before she died.
“We can say that a preliminary review by Hedland Health Campus staff has shown that on each occasion she received appropriate treatment,” regional director Ron Wynn said.
Dhu’s death comes a year after a WA parliamentary inquiry found many lock-ups around the state fell well short of what is safe and fully functional.
Detainees were often unable to access timely medical services as required by law, the inquiry found.
Dhu’s youth sets her apart from some of the Aboriginal people with complex health problems who are known to police in remote towns in the state’s north.
In Broome, where there is an itinerant population of Aboriginal people from outlying communities, police have confided they are frightened about taking the drunk and sick into custody..
They wished there was a health worker in the lock-up, as there soon will be at the redesigned Perth watch-house.
“None of us are doctors or nurses, we are not qualified to care for them,” one officer said.
by Michael McKenna. The Weekend Australian
..................