Area: Latin America
Title: AUSTRALIA: REPORT ON ABORIGINAL DEATHS-IN-CUSTODY A WHITEWASH?
sydney jun 5 (ips/kalinga seneviratne) -- aboriginal community
organisations in australia are up in arms over a long-awaited royal
commission report on the deaths of aboriginals while in custody
which they have branded as a ''political exercise in appeasement''.
the 5,039-page, 11-volume 'black deaths in custody' report,
released late last month, was an investigation into the deaths of
99 aboriginals and torres strait islanders who died in police or
prison custody between jan 1, 1980 and may 31, 1989.
the report, which took three years to complete and cost the
australian government 23 million dollars, was a damning indictment
of australia's treatment of its indigenous people and condemned
white australians for widespread and entrenched racism.
its conclusions, however, have not been welcomed by most of the
main aboriginal community bodies.
''the royal commission has failed to bring to justice those
responsible for the deaths of our people in custody,'' said helen
corbett, who chairs the national committee to defend black rights.
''aboriginal people feel thy have been betrayed by this report,''
said paul coe, chairman of the aboriginal legal service.
''the commissioners recommend that desperately needed changes be
left to the state governments, when it is those same state
governments which have always been the main oppressors of the
aboriginal people,'' said coe.
coming close on the heels of a human rights and equal opportunity
commission report on racist violence in april, which raised similar
concerns, the report has served focus public attention once more on
a very fundamental issue facing australian society.
''non-aboriginal australia has developed on the racist assumption
of an ingrained sense of superiority that it knows best what is good
for aboriginal people,'' the report said.
the report recommends changing the laws to make imprisonment the
last resort for aborigines and that paramilitary police be kept out
of aboriginal communities.
decriminalisation of drunkenness has been recommended as a
necessary step, as many aborigines who died in custody were detained
on that charge.
the royal commission also found that the imprisonment rate of
aborigines was 29 times more than those of whites. though the
commission found the deaths (30 of which were by hanging) were not
the result of deliberate violence or brutality by police or prison
officers, it said failure to provide proper care may have
contributed to them. (more/ips)
australia: report (2)
the main failing of the commission, according to aboriginal
leaders, is that it failed to take action against any police
officer.
elliott johnson, one of the commissioners, said charges had not
been laid against any police officer because of legal rules about
evidence.
''in more than 12 of the 99 cases investigated, evidence
suggested police officers had broken the law or breached
disciplinary regulations,'' he said.
but the commission's writ that no one could refuse to answer
questions before it on grounds of self-incrimination, also meant
that evidence it received would not be admissible in court, johnson
said.
in those 12 cases, the commission found that police officers lied
under oath, fabricated and withheld evidence, unlawfully arrested
aborigines, illegally raided a home and assaulted a black prisoner.
there were also internal breaches of regulations like denying
black prisoners medical aid and not conducting cell checks.
though most of these findings were concluded two years ago, only
one officer has been fined.
a australian 50 dollar fine was imposed on a south australian
prison officer for a breach of internal regulations, prompting the
mother of the dead prisoner, 20-year-old kingsley dixon, to ask,
''is my son's life worth only 50 dollars?''
''the findings of the individual inquiries into the deaths have
effectively exonerated those responsible,'' said corbett.
aboriginal organisations are threatening to take their case to
the geneva-based united nations human rights committee.
''australian laws offer no protection to our people and we now call
on the international community to help us find sanctuary in our
homeland,'' said corbett.
aboriginal people are now demanding the resources to establish,
on their terms, independent aboriginal and torres strait islander
justice action committees, with the power to enforce the changes
necessary for the deaths to be stopped. (end/ips/hr/ks/lm)