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 Monday, 30 August 1999 Institute of Criminology - Prison Suicide Numbers Triple.. "Today's new figures by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) from the National Deaths in Custody database show a doubling of incarceration rates from 1980 to 1998, but prison suicides increasing by 240 per cent in that period." said Ms Kath Mallott, the Executive Officer of the Deaths In Custody Watch Committee. "Yet these figures tell only half the story, as Indigenous people continue to needlessly die in custody of illness. The majority of these deaths are treatable illnesses and are therefore preventable deaths. The Australian Institute of Criminology is yet to analyse these issues. In 1998 in Western Australia, of the five Indigenous deaths in custody, two were hangings and three were allegedly due to "illness." Ms Mallott emphasised. "However, of the twelve non-Indigenous deaths in custody, nine were hangings, with one overdose, one police pursuit and one illness, an utterly different profile from the picture presented by the mortality of Indigenous Australians." Said Ms Mallott "Western Australia's rate of incarceration is the shame of our nation. When Victoria imprisons its people at a rate of 79 per 100,000, and this State achieves the distinction of some 209 per 100,000, one does not have to wonder about the new material from the AIC, this is especially so when the figures reveal that in this State, Aboriginal women are imprisoned at a rate of 436 per 100,000 and Aboriginal men at a rate of 5,639 per 100,000. These figures are a blatant breach of the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody (RCIADIC) which state that prison should be a sanction of last resort." she said. "Given that approximately one-third of those in custody are Indigenous Australians with a health profile that has been defined by the United Nations as "Fourth World", when can we expect both deaths in custody due to illness, and all incidents of self harm in custody to be reportable events. These events then subject to epidemiological analysis as health issues, so that the whole material is in the public domain and may be examined, not just by the AIC, but also by the community at large and especially the Indigenous community and Indigenous health practitioners?" Ms Mallott concluded. Media Contact: Kath Mallott 08 9277-1533 0419930375 To monitor and work to ensure the effective implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody Deaths In Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc) 119 Mathieson Road, REDCLIFFE, Western Australia, 6104 "The beginning of the cause of deaths in custody does not occur within the confines of police and prison cells or in the minds of the victims. Initially it starts in the minds of those who allow it to happen." Elder Dr. Jack Davis (OA, MBE) * [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc * ------------------------------------------------------- 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/
