Aboriginal Law Bulletin
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Aboriginal Law Bulletin |
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by Alastair Walton
During September the Committee to Defend Black Rights (CDBR) sponsored and organised a national speaking tour-Aboriginal Deaths in Custody-where relatives of the victims spoke out against the perpetuated injustices involving the deaths of Aborigines white in police or prison custody during the last few years.
These deaths are the cutting edge of neo-colonialism. Aboriginal people are imprisoned in some states at a rate twenty times the average rate. The infra-structure of colonialism is represented by the high imprisonment of Aborigines through out Australia. A recent NSW report by university researchers (see [1986] AboriginalLB 1; 1(18)pg2) stated 'the imprisonment rate in NSW is about 72 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginals and 524 per 100.000 for Aboriginals'. The worrying factor here is that the Northern Territory and Western Australia have higher rates of imprisonment for Aborigines.
The relatives of Aboriginal people who have died in custody and the CDBR are demanding a federal Royal Commission into the deaths.
Recently they were successful in a meeting with Mr Clyde Holding, the Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, in receiving $10,000 to finance further legal reports. They will prepare a prima facie case in relation to the deaths and present it to the Minister so he can consider further action. This decision by the Minister follows the death of a young Koorie, Shane Atkinson, in Griffith on Sunday, 12 October. He was found in his police cell hung by a football sock.
Another recent case involves a man in Bourke who allegedly ran over a young Koorie boy. Brendan Moore, after a scuffle. The boy is receiving intensive care at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. The man has been charged with negligent driving and appears in court on 18 November.
The following list comprises cases of Aborigi nal deaths in police or prison custody. Notably relatives suspicions have not been settled despite official coroners' reports which conclude 'natural deaths' or where the courts and authorities have exempted police or warders from blame.
Died in Broome (Western Australia) Prison on 19 November 1986, Official cause-'heart attack'. His relatives believe it was after a struggle with warders.
Killed in a scuffle with Western Australian policeman, Detective Dohmann, Geraldton, Western Australia, 31 October 1985.
Died in Barton Mill Prison, Western Australia, on 9 October 1984, after a struggle with prison warders.
Died in a police cell on 12 June 1981 in Wee Waa, rural New South Wales. He had been detained by police using their discretion under the Intoxicated Persons Act (1979). He was 'hung' in his cell by a piece of prison blanket, his knees slightly bent, his feet touching the floor.
John Pat's death was the subject of a 'Four Corners' programme on ABC television.
On the night of 28 September 1983, in Roebourne, Western Australia, John Pat was witness to an off-duty policeman hitting to the ground an Aboriginal friend of his, outside the Victoria Hotel. In an ensuing fight, John Pat was punched by a policeman in the mouth and fell to the road hitting his head. He was then kicked and pulled up by the hair according to witnesses.
Six Aboriginal prisoners were then taken to the police station. Cecilia Howard who lived opposite the police station claimed she saw a group of eight policeman kick and punch a group of Aboriginals till they were limp and dragged into the police station.
John Pat died that night of head injuries. Apart from head injuries. Pat had two broken ribs and a tear in the aorta, the major blood vessel leading from the heart.
The other Aboriginal men were badly hurt, needing hospitalisation or medical assistance. The medical assistance was not called for by the police till the morning.
John Pat was moved and washed by police before scientific photographers took pictures.
The police clothing and footwear was not given to the police laboratory until a month after the death. By that time it would have been washed repeatedly.
After an inquest and a trial, the five police charged were acquitted and re-instated to their positions in the police force. The Aboriginal men arrested with John Pat were charged with aggravated assault and are serving prison sentences. The Western Australian Police Union attempted to stop the broadcasting of the 'Four Corners' programme and has called for the dissolution of the Aboriginal Legal Service. because they believe it is racist and discriminatory!
Robert Joseph Walker died a violent death around 4.30-5.00 in the morning of Tuesday. 28 August 1984, while a prisoner of the State in Fremantle prison. Western Australia, eleven months to the day after John Pat's death.
Other prisoners in the jail witnessed the assault on 25 year old Robert Walker by prison officers David Boath, Jeffrey White. Robert Miller, David Hyde and James Holbourne with medical orderly Edward Hannah in attendance.
On a grassed area in full view of a large number of cells, Robert Walker was assaulted for over 20 minutes and every time he screamed, Chief Officer Boath would hit him with a truncheon. According to one witness, Robert Walker received 80 blows overall. Medical orderly Hannah then administered an injection of Largactil. At 5.15 am the prison doctor pronounced 'Life was extinct' for Robert Walker.
In a press coverage constrained by editorial control, various causes cited for Walker's death were Largactil overdose, suicide or mystery illness.
The official Western Australian forensic pathologist who had reported for all the other WA deaths did not find a cause of death and described only minor injuries.
When Linda Walker, Robert's mother heard of her son's death she arranged for a second forensic pathologist from South Australia to examine her son's body. Her attempts were hampered by refusals to relinquish the body and an attempt to cremate the body without her permission.
After the second autopsy, performed by Dr Colin Manock of Adelaide, at the coroner's investigation (in Fremantle prison's chapel!) the two separate forensic pathologists concurred after much 'colleagueship' communications, that the injuries to the body were consistent with force of a 'restraining nature'. That is, Robert Walker had most likely been strangled by a kind of headlock in the course of duty. However on cross examination. Manock conceded that he could not exclude at all that the injuries to the body, including the fatal injuries, were caused by numerous baton blows, kicks and punches as described in the evidence from 41 prisoner witnesses at the inquest.
In spite of this, the coroner, Mr McCann, used the evidence of the prisoners. His decision was released months after the hearing. His finding was 'death arose by way of misadventure', that is, 'death caused by another unintentionally and in the course of doing something lawful'.
Significantly, four of the five prison officers involved declined to give evidence at the inquest. The fifth, Holbourne, gave evidence after having been granted immunity from prosecution and Edward Hannah's evidence was hampered by an inability to recall what had happened owing to two blackouts he claimed to have suffered at the time.
There are many other instances where young Aboriginal people have been killed by police and prison officers or while in their custody, such as the young man killed at Ti Tree (NT). Nita Blanket in Western Australia and Ricci Viccenti in the Perth remand centre.
Further information on these matters will be published as it becomes available during research by the Committee to Defend Black Rights.
CDBR
PO Box 498, Broadway. NSW 2007.
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URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AboriginalLawB/1986/50.html