“TWO Aboriginal people have died in custody so far this year, and that’s two too many,” Brisbane archdiocese’s Murri Ministry co-ordinator Ravina Waldren said last week.
“Every second person in Aboriginal communities has been impacted by losing a relative in this way.
“I myself lost a nephew some years ago … he was being held in a prison hospital at Wacol.
“So for me and many others, every time an Aboriginal death in custody occurs, old wounds are reopened.
“And we’re talking big numbers.
“It’s quite a scary thought that more Aboriginals – 394 ¬- have died in custody in Australia since the report was handed down 20 years ago than in South Africa under apartheid.”
Ms Waldren made the comments after the Murri Ministry and Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) joined to launch a campaign for Government action to address on-going Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody.
The campaign was launched on September 28 at Musgrave Park, South Brisbane, on the anniversary of the death in custody of a 16-year-old Western Australian Aboriginal youth John Pat in 1983.
Ms Waldren questioned the effectiveness of about “$400 million spent” on a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which delivered its final report to the Federal Government 20 years ago this April.
CJPC executive officer Peter Arndt said the Royal Commission made 339 recommendations, but most of them have not been implemented.
“Since this report was handed down, there have been almost 400 more black deaths in custody,” he said.
“The fact that the rate of indigenous imprisonment continues to rise is a major contributing factor.”
Ms Waldren said only a few of the commission’s recommendations had been implemented.
“These include things like Aboriginal liaison officers, the establishment of Murri Watch and the redesign of watch-houses.
“But there is so much more that needs to be done.
“All Australian states made a commitment towards implementation of the recommendations years ago.
“It’s about time this implementation was monitored.”
As a stakeholder of Queensland Corrective Services, Murri Ministry provides chaplaincy in prisons.
“This also means we minister to families of those who have suffered the death of a family member in custody,” Ms Waldren said.
“To add to the families’ grief, the system often shows no respect for the Aboriginal culture.
“We hear horrible stories of Aboriginal bodies wrapped in plastic, having to be buried with some of their organs removed and so on.
“Then there’s often a lot of unanswered questions about what has caused the death.”
The purpose of the latest campaign is to create public awareness of the issue.
“It seems to have fallen off the lips of many people,” Ms Waldren said.
“Even Churches don’t talk about it a lot – why don’t we remember to pray for all those who are incarcerated.
“In this day and age there should be no deaths in custody – irrespective of nationality.”
The September 28 campaign launch was chaired by Brisbane Murri Watch director Ken Georgetown, with prominent elders Aunty Alex Gater and Aunty Jean Phillips leading prayers during the launch.
Candles were lit to remember John Pat and all the other indigenous people who have died in paddy wagons, watch-houses and jails throughout Australia.
Among campaign objectives are to have a full audit of the implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations and all deaths in custody in the past 20 years and the establishment of a Royal Commission into the death in custody of Mulrunje on Palm Island in 2004 and all subsequent actions by the Queensland Government, police and other authorities involved in dealing with the case.
Campaign organisers are arranging a number of other events this year including a prayer vigil in Brereton Street, West End, on November 7, the anniversary of the death of young Brisbane Aboriginal man Daniel Yock.
There will also be a rally and march to the Roma Street Forum on November 19, the anniversary of the death of Mulrunje on Palm Island.
