media release DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE (WA) Inc. 119 MATHIESON RD ASCOT WA 6104 Tel: 61(0)8 9277-1533 Mobile: 041993-0375 Fax: 61(0)8 9478-4204 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc Patron: Elder Dr Jack Davis, AO, MBE 7 January 1999 The WA Prison 'Killing Fields': claim another two lives" Two deaths in prison custody in one day is tragic and extraordinary, but not unexpected in this State of high incarceration." said Kath Mallott of the Deaths In Custody Watch Committee of Western Australia on hearing of the two deaths in prison custody on Thursday, 6 Jan. One young man in the C. W. Campbell Remand Centre and an Indigenous man in Roebourne Regional Prison were each found dead in their cells, yesterday, 6 January 2000. "With an ever increasing muster, this government, and this Parliament, must accept responsibility for both its actions and inactions that place Richard Court's administration at the leading edge of incarceration in the Western civilised world." Ms Mallott added, "The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the September Quarter show again that the Richard Court's Ministry of Justice is effectively blind to its broadest responsibilities. "Victoria puts its citizens in custody, at a rate of about 84 per 100,000 of its population, Western Australia at a rate of 216 per 100,000," she explained "of course if you are an indigenous citizen of WA the likelihood of incarceration rises dramatically. An indigenous woman in Western Australia can expect to be incarcerated at over six times the rate of her white sister in Victoria - and if you are an indigenous man, then you are imprisoned at about SEVENTY times the rate of your fellow white Victorian citizen, a staggering rate of 5,666 per 100,000. Whilst the WA government claims to support Reconciliation, their 'Lock 'em up attitude" to indigenous citizens is blatant racism!" she exclaimed. "High rates of incarceration have thrown our jail system into chaos and the barbaric regimes imposed on prisoners in this State have contributed to the increasing number of prisoners who are committing suicide and other acts of self-harm." "We have had a decade of missed opportunity to fix some of these problems, if only the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had been effectively implemented. This has not occurred and the deaths continue." Ms Mallott concluded. Media Contact: Chair: Murray Jones 08 9265-6934 Executive Officer: Kath Mallott 041993-0375 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/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
