Aboriginal deaths in custody

A colour leaflet is available advertising the 8th anniversary of 17 year old tj hickey who died as a result of a redfern police chase on st. valentine's day 2004 when he was rammed by a police vehicle that catapulted him onto a spiked fence.

on this 8th anniversary we are attempting to build our numbers to show the redfern police and the nsw government of barry o'farrell that we are not going to forget our true obligation to the memory of tj, his mother gail hickey and his sisters. as they will never forget the injustice that was done to tj on that infamous day, nor should we.

Gerry Georgatos "We have to get rid of racist cops. I don't want to dwell on the past but I have grown up bitter," said Nyungar Elder Ben Taylor. Mr Taylor is on the mark when he says, "They have been killing our people for two hundred years."

On 28 September 1983 a young life came to an end that sent a community into tears before it became rage and outrage dulled into anguish and sorrow by the passing of time. The tears of 28 September 1983 filled Roebourne, breaking the hearts of its Yindjibarndi peoples. A mother lost her eldest son, 16 years young. John Pat's death contributed to the call for an inquiry into Aboriginal deaths. Some things have changed however not enough has changed. His mother Mavis remembers him every hour of every day and not just on September 28 - there is a hole in her heart that nothing can mend, such is a mother's pain.

In terms of culpability and liability the death of the Warburton Elder in the back of a prisoner transport typifies so many unwarranted deaths in custody in Australia including the Palm Island death in custody, the impaling death of the young man in Redfern, and so many thousands of other deaths. Australia has a long tragic history of deaths in custody, and is not limited to the horrific record during the last 31 years which has claimed in excess of 2,300 lives.

Newsletter date: 24 Apr 2011

Contents:
* Jobs with Justice - Petition Lauch & Rally - May 5
* UN Petition to restore Human Rights to NT Aboriginal People - sign by May 7
* Other Northern Territory (NT) Intervention articles
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Australia’s Indigenous languages "Top 10 moments in the sun"
* Help Stop the Muckaty Radioactive Waste Dump - May 7-8
* Background to Muckaty Station nuclear waste dump
* National Congress of Australia's First Peoples
* Background to National Congress of Australia's First Peoples