Brisbane Rally 20th anniversary of royal commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Lex Wooten Solidarity Fiesta

9 August 2008

Lex Wooten, the man still facing charges for involvement in the Palm Island riots that followed the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004, is coming to Melbourne for a speaking tour. Join MC Shiralee Hood, and bands The Conch and The Grenadines to support Lex and listen to him speak. Finger food served and bar service available. From 7pm at the Maritime Union Hall, 54 Ireland St, West Melbourne. $20 / $10 (to raise funds for the tour and assist with the campaign). Organised by Indigenous Social Justice Association, Melbourne. Contact 9388 0062 for details.

Remember Mulrunji

Demand Justice for Mulrunji

A grave injustice occurred today when and all white jury dismissed both charges against Snr-Sgt Chris Hurley in a mere three hours. Our urgent action in support of the ongoing campaign to stop Aboriginal deaths in custody is needed now!

Please support the following:

(1) Emergency protest – Friday 22 June, 12:30 pm, Old GPO for a speak out and march to State Parliament.

(2) Open organising meeting – Wednesday 27 June, 6:30 Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick to mobilise the broadest possible support for a National Day of Action on July 14. Be there!

(3) National Day of Action – July 14th.

Pass this e-mail on to all of your networks NOW!

In solidarity
Alison Thorne
For ISJA – Melb
www.isja-msg.org

**********************
Demand Justice for Mulrunji
Mourn for the death of
justice in Queensland

Rally, Friday 22 June, 12:30 pm
Steps of the old GPO for a speak out and march to State Parliament

Wear black or Indigeno us colours.

? Implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in Custody in full!
? Establish elected community controlled civilian review boards to hold the cops to account ? No justice on stolen land

Called jointly by Indigenous Social Justice Association – Melbourne and Socialist Alliance

For more information contact:
Cheryl: 0401-806-331
Sean: 0428-160-661
Land lines: 9639-8622 or 9388-0062

**********************


Media Release - for immediate release
Wed June 20, 5:30pm

Hurley verdict a travesty for Aboriginal people
"Death of justice in Queensland"

"The acquittal of Snr-Sgt Chris Hurley - despite him admitting he caused Mulrunji's death, despite him changing his story, despite overwhelming medical evidence likening Mulrunji's fatal injuries to a high-speed car crash - is the lowest point in Australia's judicial system for Aboriginal people," said Aboriginal leader and Socialist Alliance Indigenous spokesperson Sam Watson, in response to the not guilty verdict in the manslaughter trial of Hurley.

"The police rallied around their own, fixed their story of 'a complicated accident', and the 12-member non-Indigenous jury agreed," Watson continued. "This jury decision has sanctioned the unlawful death of an Aboriginal person in police custody."

"The fact that the life an Aboriginal person was worth less than four hours consideration by the jury reinforces Townsville - named after one of the last slave owners Robert Towns - as a centre of anti-Aboriginal prejudice."

"We extend our sympathy and love to the family and community on Palm Island - they will need healing time. But around Australia, the Aboriginal community and non-Aboriginal supporters will rally and continue the struggle for justice. We make a promise to the family of Mulrunji and all families who have lost loved-ones in custody - Hurley and all police will be held accountable. There must be justice for all - whether you're born in Brisbane or on Palm Island."

"The Jury verdict ended one process, but the struggle for justice continues," said Watson.

An Indigenous rights demonstration planned to march on State Parliament at 1pm this Friday in protest at council amalgamations, will also take up the ongoing fight for justice for Mulrunji, with a minute silence for the 'death of justice in Queensland.'

Watson and other Aboriginal leaders have called for massive national protests on July 14, NAIDOC day.

"At end of day, all we ever ask is that those who are taken into custody come out alive, but in Queensland, this appears to be an impossible ask."

For information or interviews phone Sam Watson 0401 227 443 or Paul Benedek 0410 629 088

Jury's out on Palm Island case

Cosima Marriner
June 20, 2007


"IT REALLY does look like he's done it, doesn't it," a prosecutor yesterday said to jurors in the trial of the first Australian policeman charged over an Aboriginal death in custody.

Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and assault. It is alleged he deliberately kneed Mulrunji Doomadgee in the abdomen, rupturing his liver and portal vein and causing him to bleed to death in the Palm Island watchhouse on November 19, 2004.

In his closing submission to the jury in the Queensland Supreme Court in Townsville yesterday, prosecutor Peter Davis, SC, said Hurley had the motivation to assault Mr Doomadgee, after the Aboriginal man resisted arrest and punched the policeman.

He said Hurley also had reasonable opportunity to do so.

Hurley's barrister, Robert Mulholland, QC, accused the Crown of being politically motivated in its pursuit of the policeman.

The jury will retire to consider its verdict today.

Politricks

A powerful film about deaths in police custody in the UK, featuring the poet Benjamin Zepheniah. Also check out Mikey's sis here, going hard and being fierce.Lovin ya sis stay strong.


In memory of Mikey Powell who died in police custody in Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK on 7th September 2003

http://www.mikeypowell-campaign.org.uk/

AUSTRALIA: NO MORE sanitised genocide

WARNING: Contains images of deceased Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people.
Law enforcement discrimination is rampant against the Indigenous people of Australia but swept aside in a fervour & veneer of "oh we are just such a multi-cultural society..."
This veneer covers atrocities and injustices that continue since colonisation in 1788 by the British.
When you take a people's land, denigrate their culture, murder, rape & then tell them they are subhumans THE IMPACT RESONATES INTO THE NOW.
A PERTINENT reminder:

Doomadgee's injuries akin to 'plane crash'

* Tony Koch
* June 13, 2007

THE split liver which resulted in the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in the Palm Island watchhouse on November 19, 2004, was an injury more commonly found in people who suffered a high-speed vehicle accident, plane crash or skiing accident involving a collision with a tree, the Townsville Supreme court was told this morning.

Pathologist Dr Guy Lampe said he performed two autopsies on the body of Doomadgee and his opinion was that the injury was most likely caused by a "body projection" such as a knee being forced into his abdomen as he lay on his back on the concrete floor in the police station.

Dr Lampe was giving evidence in the trial of police officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley who is charged with unlawfully assaulting and killing Mulrunji Doomadgee after he arrested him on Palm Island for swearing.

Dr Lampe said the autopsy revealed that Doomadgee suffered four broken ribs on his right side as well as the ruptured liver and ruptured portal vein - which caused bleeding into his abdomen and resulted in his death within an hour of his arrest.

He said that in his opinion the rib breakages were caused by compression on the solar plexis, and the same compression caused the liver to be forced onto the spinal column, almost severing the organ and puncturing the portal vein.

In response to questions from counsel assisting the prosecutor, Mr David Kent, Dr Lampe said he considered all the injuries occurred at the same time. He also described bruising to Mulrunji's right eye and to the knuckles of both hands

Stray Aliens

best comments I've found out there of late bout Black deaths in Custody

Australians all let us rejoice?


So it is Australia day 2007. Today the news is that Chris Hurley, the police officer that killed Mulrunji in the Palm Island watch house is to be prosecuted for manslaughter. The independent review of the evidence has recommended prosecution, contradicting the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions who dismissed the evidence of the coronial enquiry into the death by saying the whole thing was a tragic accident.

For many non-Aboriginal Australians the death of Mulrunji and the apparent cover up by the first police investigation and the DPP’s refusal to lay charges has been an abrupt awakening into the institutionalised legitimisation of killing Aboriginal people, a reality that has been a hallmark of Australian police forces from the marines of the first fleet in 1788 right through to the officers who patrol Aboriginal people today.

In the 1800s the “Native Police” was established which was the most brutal killing regime that this country has ever seen - bands of death squads who opened up Australia’s rural frontiers by exterminating those Aboriginal people who resisted the invasion of their lands.

The key element of the native police was the invisibility of their deeds. At the time Aborigines were considered not competent to take an oath in court and as such were unable to provide any evidence to enquiries into the activities of the native police. The only official records of their many murderous raids on Aboriginal camps were the squeaky clean official reports written by the sole white officer in charge of the “dispersals”.

It is clear that today’s police force is just as capable as the old native police to falsify and sterilise information to disguise the truth of the killing of Aboriginal people. While it is of some comfort that Hurley will face a trial for his actions, the truth is that this killing would have remained swept under the carpet if it wasn’t for an extra-ordinary backlash from the community including the burning of the Palm Island watch house and the many high profile people who have publically condemned the cover up. Most Aboriginal people when they come into conflict with police, including the many who die in police custody, do not share the same sensational and widespread media coverage as the Mulrunji death and consequently the bulk of injustices in this country remain as a simple matter of routine policing with squeaky clean reports providing the official record of events.

The still unresolved death of Mulrunji was a major focus of the “Invasion day” rally and march which I attended in Brisbane today. Speaker after speaker delivered heart felt statements of anger, indignation and sadness, emotions that the whole crowd seemed to share. The names Danny Yock (killed by Brisbane police in 1993) and TJ Hickey (killed by Sydney police a few years ago) were mentioned many times as well as references to many other incidents of Aboriginal deaths in custody.

The rally clearly articulated the pain of Aboriginal Australia as well as the defiant assertion that this is an Aboriginal country no matter what white authorities say or do. But there was no plan of where to go, no suggested direction for political organisation of strategic considerations. The recent growth of land rights marches has been a knee jerk reaction to the high profile flashpoints such as Mulrunji’s death. They are not (as yet) being used to build a movement ot campaign (though there is much rhetoric along those lines).

I have had the priviledge in my life to have been taught by Qawanji (Vincent Brady) and Bejam - (Denis Walker). These two men were, in their youth, key supporters of Pastor Don Brady - the key Aboriginal leader of Brisbane during the land rights movement of the 70s and 80s.

Pastor Brady had a plan for his times which included the development of an Aboriginal legal, health and housing service in Brisbane - inspired by the U.S. Black Panther movement who Pastor Brady met while on a Churchill Scholarship visit to the U.S.

Pastor Brady’s plan for the empowerment of Aboriginal people was never seen as a solution, as a welfare strategy. It was a step towards consolidating the community to develop its own power base so that it would have the capacity to take the next step whatever that turned out to be.

But the principles of radical self determination were washed out of all the Aboriginal services through the development of ATSIC which bureacritised and sterilised the key functions of Aboriginal power and turned the organisations into bureacracies every bit as dysfunctional as mainstream bureacracy.

Now ATSIC has gone and Aboriginal Australia is developing again a new desire for radical self determination in the face of an inflexible white state apparatus just like in the 70’s when Aboriginal people were first freed from the restrictions of the Aboriginal protection act .

Just as in the days of Pastor Brady or Charles Perkins and Bruce McGuinness, there is now a power vacuum in Aboriginal society that must be filled with vision and political direction - with no help from and in direct resistance to the various laws policies and agencies of white Australia.

On the first Oz day - January 26 1788 - the myth of Austrtalia was born. The lie of Terra Nullius was the basis for the new British colony which has denied the truth of Aboriginal Australia from that day until today. Hopefully one day a new generation of non-Aboriginal Australians will accept the truth of this country’s history as well as the truth of the widespread institutional racism that our whole public service is saturated in - especially the police. Until that day Aboriginal people and their supporters, it seems, must remain outside of the legal and psychological matrix that is ”Australia”.

http://paradigmoz.wordpress.com

Justice for Mulrunji

Here are some chronology you need to keep in mind in the lead up to the trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley for manslaughter and assault over the death of Mulrunji on Palm Island,an aboriginal community off the coast of Townsville, in November 2004.
Mp3:

* The original coroner's inquest in 2005 was aborted when sabotaged by the Qld Police Union

* A new inquest by Acting Chief Coroner (Christine Clement) found that the aboriginal man's death was caused by the actions of Hurley and that charges should be laid against him

* Her report was then sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions ( Leanne Clare) who ruled that there was not enough evidence for charges to be laid

* This decision was met with massive outrage and under great pressure and a militant street campaign, the public prosecutor --after initially refusing to allow a review to be considered -- changed her mind..

* The state government announced that there would be a review into the decision of the DPP, but not of the DPP performance.

* The retired judge (Pat Shanahan) was appointed to undertake the review but had to stand down when it was revealed that he was on the selection committee that gave the DPP her current job.

* Retired NSW judge (Sir Laurence Street)was then appointed to head the review.
* Street found that there was indeed enough evidence to prosecute and so after two years, Hurley ceased policing at his lawyers suggestion(he had never been formally relieved of his duties at any time previously) and charged with manslaughter.

* Since then the Qld Police Union has been issuing wrist bands to be worn while on duty with Hurley's police number on them as a gesture of solidarity, cop assertiveness, and to raise money for his defence.

http://ratbaggy.blogspot.com/2007/06/hurley-trail-begins.html

http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/06/146519.php

After this occurred, I find there was no further resistance or indeed any speech or response from Mulrunji. I conclude that these actions of Senior Sergeant Hurley caused the fatal injuries.

Sergeant Leafe returned from opening the cells and Mulrunji was dragged away and deposited in cell number two. Patrick Bramwell was then similarly brought in and dragged to the cells.

There was no attempt whatsoever to check on Mulrunji’s state of health after the fall and its sequelae. The so called checks on the two intoxicated prisoners in the cells was woeful, even excluding the possibility of serious injury having occurred. Neither officer remained in the cell for more than seconds on each occasion they entered to check the prisoner. It was not until Sergeant Leafe suspected that Murunji might in fact be dead, that any close scrutiny was made. No attempt at resuscitation was made by any police officer even when there was a degree of uncertainty about whether Mulrunji had died. “

http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/courts/coroner/findings/mulrunji270906.doc

Justice for TJ

now on the subject of the Redfern "riot". It like the Palm Island "riot" was actually the result of a reaction borne out of an Indigenous community's grief - a community that had just lost a 17 year old boy, T.J. Hickey. That so -called "riot" had to happen, as many of us know, to deflect the public's attention away from the fact that T.J. was killed by that police vehicle following the pursuit.

Not only that but until this day there has been no proper justice - just a sham of a Coronial Inquest in which it was pointed out in SBS-TV's Living Black, Episode 3, 2007, that the N.S.W. Coroner, Mr. J. Abernethy, made what is known as "an error at law" by not issuing the police officer who drove the pursuit vehicle, Michael Hollingsworth, with a certificate to allow him to take the stand at that Inquest.

Shame, shame, shame - N.S.W. is a police state and a bad police state at that. How can such a Coronial Inquest be served up and people including the Hickey family and all those who support there quest for justice and closure be expected to believe that it was ever meant to serve Indigenous Australians with any real justice??
T.J. Hickey was impaled on a metal fence and then removed from it by police (anyone with even basic first aid knowledge knows that a person in such a situation would just need to support the victim's body while an ambulance/rescue vehicle are called). No, remove the boy, then proceed to search him!!! How evil is that??


I have heard that one Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer on reporting for work at Redfern Police Station on the 15th Feb. 2004 asked if he could go down to The Block to talk with the community but apparently this request was denied by superiors and the question needs to be asked why was this so? DIscussion and communication could solve many problems in the world around us - we all know that. It may have even actually defused the situation at The Block! The answer, of course, is simple to anyone with even half a brain and that is they WANTED and dare I say, needed that RIOT!

As if all this manipulation wasn't enough then on with this farcical inquest and it's shortcomings (some of which are listed below).

* The exact cause of death was not fully explored
* First aid implications were not pursued
* Bioengineering aspects of the mechanism of injury were not pursued
* The 'bystander' evidence was not fully pursued
* The arrival of a police rescue van at the incident scene was not investigated
* The forensic scene examination was incomplete
* A detailed examination of the deceased's clothing was not made in reference to the deceased's injuries
* The pushbike was not produced at the Coronial Inquest
* Redfern Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers were denied the right to speak at the inquest

In addition to these shortcomings the VKG police communication tapes were not presented/examined as evidence!

One of those Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers, Mr. Paul Wilkinson, who was later dismissed from that position, has recently been arrested and charged with an extremely serious crime and is being held in remand.
WHY???? This case needs to be followed and scrutinised closely for obvious reasons. There are many types of justice and the sort Aboriginal people in this country seem to be subjected to is INJUSTICE.

We all need to do everything possible to ensure that Paul does not become yet another Aboriginal Death in Custody.

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/tjinquest1.htm

Early on, the Strike Force Coburn Report (‘Coburn Report’) states that, ‘Redfern aside, one cannot overlook the possibility of an international incident sparking a large scale violent response threatening public order within NSW.’[2] In fact, with a few scant exceptions, the dynamics of the Redfern community do not enter Coburn’s radar, and consequently the Report fails to consider the wider implications of its own recommendations.

Although TJ Hickey’s death was the principal catalyst for the Redfern Riot, that riot did not occur within a vacuum, and arguably were it not the death of TJ Hickey, something else may have sparked a revolt in Redfern. In this paper I argue that sadly, the death of TJ Hickey is not exceptional in that his untimely and unjust death is part of a continuous degradation of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. The tensions between Indigenous Australia and police represent a greater fissure stemming from the lack of autonomy, self-government and self-determination that defines the Indigenous political struggle in Australia.[3] The police response as elucidated by the Coburn Report merely perpetuates these historical processes

Non-Lethal Intelligence: Strike Force Coburn and the Police Response to the Redfern Riot
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/2005/17.html

What Stephen Lawrence Has Taught Us

We know who the killers are,
We have watched them strut before us
As proud as sick Mussolinis',
We have watched them strut before us
Compassion less and arrogant,
They paraded before us,
Like angels of death
Protected by the law.

It is now an open secret
Black people do not have
Chips on their shoulders,
They just have injustice on their backs
And justice on their minds,
And now we know that the road to liberty
Is as long as the road from slavery.

The death of Stephen Lawrence
Has taught us to love each other
And never to take the tedious task
Of waiting for a bus for granted.
Watching his parents watching the cover-up
Begs the question
What are the trading standards here?
Why are we paying for a police force
That will not work for us?

The death of Stephen Lawrence
Has taught us
That we cannot let the illusion of freedom
Endow us with a false sense of security as we walk the streets,
The whole world can now watch
The academics and the super cops
Struggling to define institutionalised racism
As we continue to die in custody
As we continue emptying our pockets on the pavements,
And we continue to ask ourselves
Why is it so official
That black people are so often killed
Without killers?

We are not talking about war or revenge
We are not talking about hypothetics or possibilities,
We are talking about where we are now
We are talking about how we live now
In dis state
Under dis flag, (God Save the Queen),
And God save all those black children who want to grow up
And God save all the brothers and sisters
Who like raving,
Because the death of Stephen Lawrence
Has taught us that racism is easy when
You have friends in high places.
And friends in high places
Have no use whatsoever
When they are not your friends.

Dear Mr Condon,
Pop out of Teletubby land,
And visit reality,
Come to an honest place
And get some advice from your neighbours,
Be enlightened by our community,
Neglect your well-paid ignorance
Because
We know who the killers are.

Benjamin Zephaniah

THE PAUL CHASE KILLING OPTIONS

Recently you wrote briefly about the Paul Chase shooting. I still regard this killing as one of the Police's biggest foul-ups that was allowed, by the powers-to-be, to be concealed from public scrutiny.

Summarising, Chase was identified as being responsible for the firing of a shotgun into the ceiling of a crowded bar. No one was injured resulting from the shooting. Police inquiries to locate him immediately were unsuccessful. One policeman regarded Chase as dangerous from a previous dealing with him. This policeman's opinion sealed Chase's fate. There was never any evaluation by the Police of this policeman's reasons for regarding Chase in this light. This opinion can relate to any number of circumstances not necessarily related to the use of firearms. Nevertheless, Chase was placed in the "dangerous" category from that moment until he died.

The hotel shooting incident took place late on Thursday night. The Police located Chase's flat on Saturday morning. The Armed Offenders raided Chase's flat at 7 a.m. on the Monday morning - 4 days after the event. The Police worked on the wrong assumption that a person under the influence in a hotel on a Thursday night, who terrorises a bar by firing a shotgun into the ceiling, is likely to be still under the influence, and reacting violently, in bed with his wife and child at 7 a.m. in the morning 4 days later. How many people do you know who are likely to behave like that? The Police were of the opinion that Chase was going to be violent in an environment completely in contrast as to when the offence occurred!

The Police offer the explanation that at the time the flat was raided the shotgun used in the hotel had not been recovered. If this was the case, surely forcibly entering a flat was placing the Police at risk from being fired upon? Not a good option eh - from the Police point of view.

The occupants of the flat were known by the Police long before entry was made. They knew Chase was the only Maori male occupant of the flat, because as soon as he was seen, and was seen to be acting threateningly to the Police, he was shot at. Is that a correct assumption to make, or were the Police fortunate (and Chase unfortunate), that subsequent events prove to show that the Police shot at and killed the person they were after? Would the Police, in the normal course of events considering the circumstances, have carried out the dawn raid if the suspects were white as were the wife and child? I say not! Do the Police disregard normal and cautious planning when dealing with Maoris especially when care and discreet reactionary action is contemplated? I say in this episode they did.

There was no urgency to bring events to a head. The offence was 4 days old already. Personal behaviour patterns clearly show that a person is at his lowest resistance level in the early mornings when awakening from sleep. The Police are well aware of this fact. All their raids for any reason are carried out at dawn because of this human "down" period. The forcible entry of the flat frightened and alarmed Chase. Who wouldn't be? He reacted to protect himself and his wife and child and armed himself with a bullworker. The Police thought it was a shotgun, and shot him dead. Isn't this a likely result when the Police are armed and rely on the use of a firearm in circumstances such as this? The offender was THOUGHT to be armed by a policeman who was pointing a firearm at him and so fired his weapon. What other options were open to the Police so that the events could have been avoided?

There was no immediate urgency to arrest Chase - the Police had waited 4 days. In the present situation no one person was at risk; Chase, his wife and child were sleeping in their flat. No one in the adjoining flats were aware and subjected to any danger from Chase or anyone else.

This was the situation that the Armed Offenders, leader knew and assessed. This is an experienced Police member, of a considerable number of years service. He and his unit are the most disciplined and well drilled section of the Police. Its members undergo long hours of specialised training on contrived and selected incidents. Tactics are implemented in the field to suit the ever changing unknown behaviour of the offenders.

The Chase chain of events was not unusual. Chase, as the offender, was asleep in his flat. The flat could be secured. Residents could be aroused and led away from any violence. Communication could then be set up with Chase's family and the negotiations to surrender be commenced. Did the Police think the family was likely to be under any form of personal harm if this option was enacted? If they did, then wasn't it likely that raiding the flat was likely to aggravate their safety? Wasn't it a likely option, that if Chase thought that his wife and baby were likely to be harmed by any violence he instigated, that a peaceful end could be negotiated? The armed Police forcibly entering a flat into a narrow entrance way was a battle arena that was conducive to both Police and occupants of the flat being injured if shooting eventuated.

The point that has to be made - is that time was on the side of the Police and all these factors should have been discussed and analysed by the Officer in Charge of the Armed Offenders Squad. It is a Police tactic to use peaceful containing methods. This is a New Zealand Police unit we are talking about - not an anti-terrorist unit dealing with a death-threatening event.

These comments are made solely through personal Police experience or knowledge as to how the Police approach such an incident, reports of the news media, and subsequent court reports. I know I make these comments some years after the event - but there is nothing I have written which in the normal course of events, a rational experienced and clear thinking and organised Senior Police Officer would not have considered. Maybe I'll write a book about what happened and what may have happened!

http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=4802&grp=55

Black supporters to wear Mulrinji wristbands at Hurley trial

Hundreds of Aborigines and community supporters will wear bright yellow wristbands (pictured above) to the Townsville court next Tuesday when they gather to observe the trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley who has been charged with the manslaughter and assault of Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004 in the Palm Island watchhouse.

The wristbands are being worn to support the campaign for justice for all Aboriginal deaths in custody victims and as a direct counter to the decision by the Police Union to sell blue wristbands to raise funds for Hurley's legal costs.

"These wrist bands will be our way of showing the state police that we won't be intimidated nor silenced by police rallies and threats by police to march on state parliament," said Sam Watson, the national Socialist Alliance Indigenous spokesperson and endorsed senate candidate for Queensland. "We do not believe that it is appropriate that police should be allowed to wear those blue wrist bands in support of an officer charged over the brutal death of an innocent person who was in Hurley's custody when he died."

Mulrunji Doomadgee's death in the Palm island watch-house in 2004, led to a mass national campaign that culminated in two coronial inquests and a top level review of the Crown Prosecutor's decision not to charge Hurley over the death of Doomadgee.

"We will be at the court in strength to ensure that the jury and the witnesses will not feel intimidated or pressured by the huge police presence that has been promised by the authorities." Sam Watson said. "This matter must be decided on it's merits, and we call on those who are attempting to intimidate to step back and allow justice to prevail. The entire Aboriginal community and supporters of justice throughout Australia and the world will follow this trial very closely."

Hurley is the first officer to ever be charged over an Aboriginal death in custody in Queensland, and one of only a few cases in Australia. Where the police wristbands carry Hurley's badge number, the yellow "Justice Now!" bands carry the date of Mulrunji's death in police custody.

For information or interview, phone Sam Watson 0401 227 443 You can get your own band for $5 or $3 concession - for bulk orders of over 25 (we will accept $2 per band)at a Socialist alliance stall or from the Brisbane Activist Centre, 74b Wickham St, Fortitude Valley Ph: (07) 3139 1765; 3831 2644 Mob: 0410 629 088

http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=653

Police Racism - Stop Black Deaths In Custody!

Australian Racism - A Case Study - Palm Island 2004 - 2006

For those interested in the manner in which institutionalised racism functions in the Australian context, one need look no further than the case of the death of an Aboriginal man on Palm Island, the historically notorious QLD Government 'punishment camp' under the old QLD 'apartheid system'.

The death of Mulrunji Doomadgee at the hands of a QLD Police officer led to a riot and a subsequent 'comedy of errors' as the Beattie Labor Government struggled to contain the political damage at the same time as maintaining an apologetic approach to the powerful QLD Police union.

The unmentioned 'elephant in the room' was the long entrenched culture of racism that permeates QLD society and politics.

It is in that context you might read this index of the history of the recent events on Palm Island, as seen through the prism of the sometimes questionable newspaper coverage by Australian media.

This chronological index nevertheless provides an interesting history of how this issue became a major crisis largely through the political ineptitude displayed by the Beattie Government over a protracted period between 2004 and 2006.

The saga continues to unfold and future episodes will be incorporated into this index
http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/2006/palm/palmindex.html

I reject Senior Sergeant Hurley’s account that he then simply got up from the heavy fall through the doorway and went to assist the man who had just punched him and caused him to fall over. I find that he did respond with physical force against Mulrunji while Murunji was still on the floor.

I accept Roy Bramwell’s evidence to the extent that he saw Senior Sergeant Hurley leaning over Mulrunji with his elbow going up and down three times. In particular I note that Roy Bramwell’s account to the police recorded on the re-enactment video occurred prior to the release of the autopsy information, whereas Senior Sergeant Hurley’s changed recollection and reconstruction of where he had fallen, occurred after he knew exactly what injury had caused Mulrunji’s death.

Senior Sergeant Hurley’s evidence was that he considered Mulrunji was still causing him a problem by not getting up. He was asked to respond to what Roy Bramwell had told police. Senior Sergeant Hurley explained that he was lifting Mulrunji and, as he did so, the shirt was ripping. There is evidence that indeed the shirt was ripped, but I am not satisfied with Senior Sergeant Hurley’s account of how this occurred. Critically, there is what Roy Bramwell alleges he heard Senior Sergeant Hurley say- “Do you want more, Mr Doomadgee. Do you want more?” I accept that Senior Sergeant Hurley did say this.

I am satisfied that on the basis of Roy Bramwell’s account of what he saw and heard, together with the immediately preceding sequence of events, that Senior Sergeant Hurley lost his temper and hit Mulrunji after falling to the floor.

I find that Senior Sergeant Hurley’s repeated clear statements that he fell to the left hand side of Mulrunji are in fact what occurred.

I find that Senior Sergeant Hurley hit Mulrunji whilst he was on the floor a number of times in a direct response to himself having been hit in the jaw and then falling to the floor.

I do not necessarily conclude that this force was to Mulrunji’s head as stated by Mr Bramwell. He could not have been in a position to see Mulrunji’s head from where he was seated. Mulrunji’s feet and part of his legs was all he could see. It is open on Bramwell’s evidence that the force was applied to Mulrunji’s body rather then his head. This is also consistent with the medical evidence of the injuries that caused Mulrunji’s death. It is also most likely that it was at this time that Mulrunji suffered the injury to his right eye.

After this occurred, I find there was no further resistance or indeed any speech or response from Mulrunji. I conclude that these actions of Senior Sergeant Hurley caused the fatal injuries.

Sergeant Leafe returned from opening the cells and Mulrunji was dragged away and deposited in cell number two. Patrick Bramwell was then similarly brought in and dragged to the cells.

There was no attempt whatsoever to check on Mulrunji’s state of health after the fall and its sequelae. The so called checks on the two intoxicated prisoners in the cells was woeful, even excluding the possibility of serious injury having occurred. Neither officer remained in the cell for more than seconds on each occasion they entered to check the prisoner. It was not until Sergeant Leafe suspected that Murunji might in fact be dead, that any close scrutiny was made. No attempt at resuscitation was made by any police officer even when there was a degree of uncertainty about whether Mulrunji had died. The state coroner’s report

Friday, 13 October 2006, 1:17 pm
Article: Green Left Weekly - Australia
Police Racism: Stop Deaths In Custody!

Dave Riley, Brisbane
Green Left Weekly

In a damning report released on September 27, Queensland’s acting state coroner, Christine Clements, has criticised the initial investigation into the 2004 Palm Island death in custody of Mulrunji, saying that it failed to meet appropriate guidelines. Clements also found that Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley caused Mulrunji’s death and accused the police of failing to investigate his death fully.

Mulrunji, 36, was found dead in his cell at around 11am on November 19, 2004.

Since the release of the report, Queensland’s police union, police commissioner and police minister have tried to disparage its findings. Clements’ recommendations have now gone to Leanne Clare, Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), to decide whether charges will be laid.

The case and its consequences were addressed by Murri activist and Socialist Alliance leader Sam Watson at a Socialist Alliance meeting in Brisbane on October 4. The following is abridged from his presentation.

***

Palm Island in 2004 was a typical remote Murri community, with enormous social problems. Unemployment has always been around 90-95%, housing is appalling, as is access to schooling and health care. It is just an appalling place in the way of infrastructure.

On this Saturday morning, our brother Mulrunji was walking home. He had just done his crab pots. He’d had a bit of a charge, but he wasn’t intoxicated.

There were two coppers out and about. An Aboriginal copper named Lloyd Bengaroo and this senior sergeant Chris Hurley were in this house attending to a domestic situation. Mulrunji apparently made some comment to the black liaison officer to the effect, ''Why are you hassling other Aboriginal people?’‘. He wasn’t violent or stand overish.

None of the coppers on the island knew him because he had no history of being in the lockup or causing any problems, so he just kept walking. Hurley took affront at that and pursued him.

Independent witnesses attest that Hurley used an enormous amount of force to subdue Mulrunji and throw him into the police van. Mulrunji was then transported to the watch-house.

Again we have black witnesses and police witnesses. The Aboriginal witnesses gave strong evidence about the degree of force Hurley used to remove Mulrunji from the police wagon and get him into the watch-house. At one point, Mulrunji was knocked to the ground and Hurley stood over him and applied full body blows.

Hurley is a large bloke, over six feet tall and 23-26 stone. He is well used to dishing out corporal punishment because he has a lengthy background of policing in remote Aboriginal communities. There have been a number of situations where it is alleged that he assaulted Aboriginal people, but nothing has been taken through to a conclusion.

This assault on Mulrunji went on for some time and he was then dragged into the cell and thrown onto the floor. His condition wasn’t checked.

The young police officer in the watch-house went in about 45 minutes later then came back out and said, “We’ve got trouble. He’s very cold, he’s clammy, he’s not breathing. Something bad has happened.”

They called the ambulance; it took 13 minutes to get there. The ambulance officers said it was no use attempting resuscitation because Mulrunji was dead. The family came up when they saw the ambulance come but they were sent away. The coppers said everything was OK.

Lies

The police rang Townsville for guidance. They then locked the situation down, denied access to any other person and cooked up their stories about what had happened.

Their story was that the injuries Mulrunji died from were caused by him stumbling, drunk, on the front steps of the watch-house. That was it; no assault ever happened.

Two senior officers from Townsville came over that night. Hurley picked them up at the airport, showed them the point of arrest and the watch-house, then they went for a beer and a feed at Hurley’s place. There was no distance between Hurley and the investigating police, even though a death in custody had occurred and they were supposed to immediately shift into the protocols laid down by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the [Queensland] Crime and Misconduct Commission. Most of these two officers’ time on the island was spent in Hurley’s company.

In the meantime, the family and Palm community had found out that Mulrunji was dead. There was confusion and a lot of hurt.

The body was taken to the hospital and placed in the morgue. The chief medical officer from Townsville undertook an autopsy. Six days later, the autopsy report revealed that Mulrunji had suffered massive trauma to the abdomen. He also had four broken ribs, a burst spleen and his liver had been severed in two. The forensic pathologist said it would have taken an enormous amount of force to have caused those injuries.

The community reacted. The police station was burned down, but some allege that only the police could have lit the fire, which was started in the watch-house room where Hurley and Mulrunji’s clothing had been stored. The DNA evidence was destroyed.

The local coppers were evacuated and the crack public order squad came out with weapons to subdue the “rampaging natives”. They went berserk through the community, terrorising people for days. They identified the main leaders and put them under lock and key. Those coppers are still over there on Palm.

The family and the community requested a second autopsy. It confirmed the findings of the first and the body was finally buried.

At that time, Mulrunji’s mother, already ill, passed away because of the trauma she had been through. Then, five weeks ago, Mulrunji’s only child, just 17 years old and so traumatised and despairing of ever achieving justice for his father, committed suicide on Palm. Three generations of one family have been buried because of this copper’s murderous assault.

Hurley was transferred to Surfers Paradise, a plum police posting. He was also given a rise in rank and a pay rise.

After the first inquiry was closed without handing down any findings, Clements launched the second inquiry and delivered 40 findings and recommendations.

Clements found that Mulrunji had died in the police watch-house from substantial injuries and these injuries were sustained from an assault by Hurley.

The police union has attempted to stage-manage the entire process from day one. It tried to intimidate the Aboriginal witnesses, but they refused to be shaken by the battery of top police lawyers. They knew what they had seen and heard.

There needs to be pressure maintained on the Beattie government. Even when the findings came down, the police commissioner and the police minister refused to suspend or sack Hurley. They merely moved him from active duty to desk duty.

The glaring fact that emerged from the Clements’ inquiry is that Mulrunji committed no crime. There was no reason why he should have been detained, arrested or taken to the watch-house.

The coppers on Palm were questioned at length during both inquiries about their knowledge of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. They said time after time that they weren’t aware of the commission, that they didn’t know what the recommendations stated. This is bullshit because the video surveillance equipment in the Palm Island watch-house was paid for by money from the commission.

That surveillance equipment was turned off when Mulrunji entered the watch-house and only resumed at the point when Mulrunji’s body was on the floor. No copper has owned up to turning off that camera. If anything, the 139 royal commission recommendations have shown the police how to avoid prosecution.

Support

The Aboriginal community in Brisbane is in daily contact with the mob on Palm. I have blood relatives on Palm. We’re determined to up the stakes.

Pressure needs to be maintained on the Beattie government to identify Hurley’s crimes and immediately sack him. We don’t want this thug wearing a police uniform and being in a position to kill someone else.

The Queensland government owes the Palm Island community an enormous amount. It needs to be held accountable for the way it has consistently underfunded and under-resourced Aboriginal communities like Palm Island.

But Palm Island people can’t do it by themselves; they need our support and the Brisbane Murri community will certainly give them that.

Time after time we have gone into inquiries and the system has conspired against us and delivered no outcomes. But in this case there is enough evidence for a court to make a criminal finding against the police officer responsible.

We are going to do some serious political business over the next period and we’re looking to other groups across our community, other comrades, to stand with us and march with us.

We’re also going to demand that any preliminary hearings take place where the crime happened. Let Chris Hurley face his day of judgement before the Palm Island community.

[The full text of Sam Watson’s talk is available at Leftcast - http://leftcast.blogspot.com,. The state coroner’s report is available at http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/courts/coroner/findings/mulrunji270906.doc]

Powderfinger album faces ban

Patrick Lion

May 03, 2007 06:32am
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

AUSTRALIAN supergroup Powderfinger's new album could be banned before its release over a song closely resembling the Palm Island death-in-custody case.

The defence team for Palm Island police officer Chris Hurley will reportedly refer the lyrics of Black Tears to State Attorney-General Kerry Shine before next month's national release of the Brisbane band's album.

The content and proposed timing of the songs release raises some serious concerns regarding Mr Hurley's trial, lawyer Glen Cranny said.

In an explosive second verse, singer Bernard Fanning describes a scene similar to one version of events surrounding the 2004 death of Aboriginal man Mulrunji in the Palm Island watchhouse.

"An island watchhouse bed, a black man's lying dead," Fanning sings in lyrics obtained by mX that cannot be published in full for legal reasons.

Sen-Sgt Hurley will face trial on manslaughter and assault charges in Townsville Supreme Court on June 12, just 10 days after the Dream Days at the Hotel Existence album is released and tipped to debut at No.1.

Band manager Paul Piticco said Fanning confirmed the song was about Palm Island, but was not legalled because it was not specific.

"The song is about the whole issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody," he said. "(But the island mention) could be a watchhouse in the Bahamas or something."

Legal experts believe the Powderfinger album could be delayed, at least in Queensland and nationally online, until after the trial.

The Daily Telegraph



Bernard Fanning Responds To Criticism of New Song

by Paul Cashmere - May 5 2007

Powderfinger singer Bernard Fanning has released a statement following news of an investigation into lyrics on the forthcoming album.

The lyrics for the track 'Black Tears' attracted legal attention because a court case pertaining to the subject matter is still yet to go to trail.

Fanning issued the following statement to explain the situation with the song:

"We are making a statement to clear up confusion regarding the release of Powderfinger's album "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence". The song "Black Tears" was written to bring attention to the plight of Aboriginal people in Australia. It was originally inspired by a trip that I took last year to Uluru".

"Despite the prevalence of literature and signage asking people not to climb on 'the rock', due to its sacred nature, there were still people scaling it. Some of the information compared ascending Uluru to climbing on the altar at the Vatican, which would be seen as highly offensive and disrespectful by most Catholics (or most people for that matter), and yet they still continue to climb. Even groups of Australian schoolkids, with their teachers and parents climbed it, actively disrespecting the wishes of Aboriginal people on their land".

"To me, that was another example of how far down the priority list Aboriginal issues are in this country".

"Then, in December when the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions handed down her finding on the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomoodgee on Palm Island, I completed the second part of the song. I read extensively the news coverage of the issue and from that formed an opinion which formed the lyrics of the song".

"It has, within the last few days, come to our attention that the hearing of manslaughter charges arising from the death on Palm Island are due to be heard by the Court on 12 June 2007. Our album is due for release on 2 June 2007".

"Whilst we firmly believe that the song would have no bearing upon the legal process, in the interests of removing even the slightest suggestion of any prejudice, we have included an alternative version on our album "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence". The album will be released, as planned, Saturday June 2 and "Black Tears" will be included".

"There was never any intention on our part to influence the judicial process in this or any other matter. I hope that the song still has its desired effect which is to bring attention to the obvious disadvantage that is still being suffered by Aboriginal people in this country and in particular the issue of indigenous deaths in custody".

Bernard Fanning on behalf of Powderfinger
http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=2040

Deaths in Custody – the silence and complicity must be challenged

April 11, 2007: Deaths in Custody Justice for Karl Woods

Next week marks the first anniversary of the terrible death of Karl Woods in police custody. Karl Woods was arrested at the scene of a home invasion on April 11th, 2006. Police report that he struggled and had to be ‘subdued’. Once arrested he was placed in the back of a police van, but according to their initial reports when he was checked ‘a short time later’ he was dead.

Mr Woods' family members – and all of us who have seen the photos – are horrified by the obvious physical injuries he appears to have sustained. The police admit no fault, and no police officers have been stood down.

Nearly a year on, and the police have still not finalised their own reports into his death for the Coroners office. Consequently, no Coronial Inquest has been carried out. This has many parallels to the Palm Island case and the silence, inaction and injustice must be challenged. 2004 Palm Island death in custody.

Deaths such as these must never occur. 99 Indigenous deaths in custody around the 1980’s led to Australia’s most expensive Royal Commission at the time (Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody). It took nearly four years and handed down 339 recommendations, and makes for sobering reading. Unfortunately it carried no legal weight and instead gathers dust.

We maintain that most of the recommendations have never been properly implemented by the police and prison systems, nor by governments. In WA where Indigenous people make up around 3% of the general population, our prisoner population is over 40% Indigenous, and a new report indicates that in juvenile detention centres this figure rises to a staggering 74%.

The Deaths In Custody Watch Committee, have been working with the Woods family and other community members and are mounting a public campaign including a letter of demand to the Premier and a rally on Black Friday this month (the 13th April, 12 noon, Cnr of St Georges Tce and Barrack St). Please join us to call for justice; for Karl, the Woods’ family, and all those who have died in custody.

We must change the systemic racism and inequality which imprisons so many indigenous people. We must hold to account all those involved in deaths in custody. We must stop deaths in custody. Please join us for the rally.

DEATH IN CUSTODY RALLY – CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR KARL WOODS - BLACK FRIDAY, 13TH APRIL, 12 NOON, CORNER OF ST GEORGES TCE AND BARRACK ST. Rally and speakers, followed by a march on the Premiers office.'

http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=default&featureview=493