media release DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE (WA) Inc. 119 MATHIESON RD ASCOT WA 6104 Tel: 61 (0)8 9277 1533 Fax: 61 (0)8 9478 4204 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc Friday 11th June 1999 Watch Committee calls for Needle Exchange in WA Prisons The Deaths In Custody Watch Committee today called for a syringe / needle exchange service to be established in Western Australian Prisons. "If the Government is serious about stemming the spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B and HIV AIDS, then prisoners must have access to the same basic harm- minimisation programs which have been introduced on the outside and it is discriminatory to do otherwise. It is also blind stupidity not to recognise that to deny prisoners access to such programs will eventually impact on the broader community." Said Kath Mallott, Executive Officer of the Watch Committee. "Prisons in Switzerland have had syringe exchanges since 1991, and by 1998, 10 needle exchange programs were operating in European prisons, including Germany and Spain with a similar program operating in Tennessee USA since 1988." "If we are to be successful in the implementation of drug reform within WA prisons, there must be a cultural change to ensure that prison staff recognise illicit drug use as a public health issue and not just another opportunity to impose a severe punishment regime." "Prison staff readily admit that they are unable to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the jails, but there is no attempt to address the broader health issues involved." "The Government has a legal duty of care to provide a safe and healthy environment for prisoners and that includes introducing measures to minimise the risks associated with illicit drug use within the prisons. Failure to do so leaves prisoners no option but to pursue legal action against an incompetent/neglectful prison system." Media contact: Kath Mallott: work 08 92771533 or mobile 0419930375 ** Deaths In Custody Watch Committee - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ** "In Germany, they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then, they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist, then they came for the Protestants and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak up." Pastor Martin Niemoller, when arrested by the Gestapo in the late 1930s ******* http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc/ ************** * 119 Mathieson road, REDCLIFFE, WA 6104 AUSTRALIA * * Ph: 61 (0)8 9277-1533 F ax: 61 (0)8 9478-4204 * ******************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
