Aboriginal deaths in custody

*Please read this with care, it contains inhumane reports of current Australia

Good evening to each of you. It has taken me this long to sit down and begin attempting to put words to screen. You see, I am feeling quite emotional and fragile today.

Today is the anniversary of the 1991 ‘Aboriginal Deaths in Custody – Royal Commission Report Review’. It has been 30 years since this review and yet … here we are – still my brothas and sistas, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmothers, Grandfathers and cousins are still dying in custody … HOW .. How is this still happening in 2021?! Now I know I am constantly asking this question in my daily life, in my academic life and also here in my blogs … I still do not have the answer to my question or why this ill treatment on many levels and in many facets is still allowed to continue in 2021 to my people. I mean, have people still not gotten the memo we are human and deserve to be treated as such – with dignity and humanity amongst other things all humans deserve to be treated with – you know – human, social and other rights .. nothing major huh.

I am sad, I am hurt, I am frustrated and to be honest – I am majorly peeved. Why you ask? I am all of these emotions as my people should not be dying in custody – period. Pretty much all of the deaths in custody recorded could and should have been avoided – if only the constabulary did their jobs properly and LISTENED to my people, instead of making a joke and thinking it was funny to ‘hand out paracetamol’ to a woman with pneumonia, broken ribs and sepsis from an domestic assault prior – let us not forget that she was handcuffed to a vehicle, and also drug to her cell because she could not stand up or walk, or being shot dead point blank for a crime which was found to be committed by someone else. Then there is the man who died of an asthma attack – that was laughed off. Then there is the fact when mob are in custody, correct protocols to treat and observe are barely followed – if at all! Response times and raising the alarm that mob is unwell is vile compared to non-Indigenous detainees. Not to mention unprofessionalism and inhumane treatment toward my people WHY?? WHY!!

Yes, of course some mob have done wrong, absolutely correct. However, no one deserves to be treated as many of my mob have been treated – resulting in their death.

I must ask – where is the moral compass of these ‘people’ who do harm to others, causing their death, or at the very least contributing to it?! Guess it is in the bin, where the peoples hearts are …

Did you know as of Thursday 15^th April 2021 there has been 474 deaths in custody? That is 474 too many.

Here is something for you to ponder (courtesy of the Guardian 2021)

• Indigenous people who died in custody were more likely to not have been charged with any crime. Those who died on remand, in “protective custody” or while being arrested or pursued comprised 54% of cases compared with 45% of non-Indigenous deaths in custody.
• For both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, the most common cause of death was medical issues, followed by self-harm. However, Indigenous people who died in custody were three times as likely to not receive all required medical care, when compared to non-Indigenous people.
• Indigenous women were less likely to have received all appropriate medical care prior to their death (54%) compared with men (36%)
• Agencies such as police watch-houses, prisons and hospitals failed to follow all of their own procedures in 43% of cases where Indigenous people died, compared with 19% of cases for non-Indigenous people
• The use of force in deaths in custody was similar between both Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths, however for the 21 Indigenous deaths in custody where force was used, agencies failed to follow all of their own procedures in 62% of cases, compared with 39% for non-Indigenous deaths in custody.

 

Every death in custody reported kills my soul a little more.

We really must do better by my people. Ignorance is not going to cut it – it really is not.

I want to write more here, I really do. However, my heart just cannot take the sadness and the pit in my stomach is threatening to overwhelm me.

 

As always, I end this with ngurrbul (love)

Yali xx

I acknowledge all Indigenous Countries/Lands that I learn/study about, write upon, walk/stand, study upon and that all readers read upon.

Always paying my Yindyamarra to Elders past, present, and future.

Sovereignty has never and will never be ceded.

Always Was, Always will be Aboriginal Land.