Aboriginal death in Katherine after release from custody sparks calls for inquiry, justice

Ray Jackson, President
Indigenous Social Justice Association

Yet another tragedy coming from police intervention in the Northern Territory but this time in Katherine where Mr. Lewis, an Aboriginal man and an amputee with major health problems, was arrested at a card game and held for 24 hours in the Katherine police cells.

Like Mr. Briscoe, there are claims by witnesses that Mr. Lewis was ill-treated and brutalised by the local police. He himself complained to his family that he had been treated roughly by the police and over the 24 hours he had been given no food or drink and, worse, no medication for his diabetes.

He was released after the 24 hours in cells and he went home and then died.

Similar to the circumstances of the recent death of Mr Clark after being sent from the Alice Springs gaol to the Alice Springs hospital where he died, whereby he was refused the status of being a death in custody event, so too Mr Lewis will be fought by the NT police that he, Mr. Lewis, is also not to be categorised as a 'Death in Custody'. It is of the utmost importance that Mr. Lewis recieve a full official autopsy so as to ascertain his cause~ of death and any and all mitigating circumstances that may arise from his 24 hours spent in the Katherine police cells.

We have fought such claims and counter-claims previously and so too we must fight that Mr. Lewis is indeed accepted as a death in custody. his last known interaction with others outside of his family was a 24 hour period in the Katherine police cells. that fact alone, leaving aside the claims of his family and cell witnesses, must raise the concern of the territory coroners department, especially with the violent video footage of Mr. Briscoe being multiply assaulted by the alice springs police.

His sister, Ms. Dorris Lewis, is strongly calling for a full coronial enquiry into her brother's death and states that under no circumstances can the police version of events over that 24 hour period be allowed to be the final word in the last hours of his life. The family and their supporters especially need to view the cell and police station cameras that have Mr. Lewis shown.

We need a campaign and a lot of social muscle to ensure that the Lewis family get their day in the coroner's court. We urge all good people of sound and moral mind to write, call or email those NT parliamentarians listed below and join with the Lewis family in their fight for justice for the death of their loved one.

Dorris informs us that this is the second death in custody event that has affected the family, the first being the NT police in 2004 running over another family member and killing him. of course no charges were laid. for the family of Mr. Briscoe his was the third death in custody to touch that family. I believe that I could quite safely say that for the families living in the NT no family would be untouched by a death in custody event. and that horrific fact clearly shows just how bad the NT custodial system really is.

Patricia Morton-Thomas, the aunt of Mr. Briscoe, has visited the Lewis family to support them in their time of sorry business and need for support. She states that since 2009 there has been 5 police-related death in custody events involving police in the NT. If this does not ring alarm bells with the Terry Mills CLP government and the NT coroners that the custodial system is just not bent but shows unequivocally that the system is broken - and seriously deadly broken at that!

It seems that the NT will continue to be the killing ground of racism and change is beyond the time socially required to make that change. Will chief minister Terry Mills as the police minister and Kon Vatskalis as the shadow police minister finally accept the task of changing police practices and procedures in the Territory? Will Alison Anderson, as the minister for Indigenous advancement, argue as strongly for the much needed change that will turn the loss of Aboriginal life in the NT as she is arguing against bilingual education? I do not agree with her argument but she does have the right to put her personal view no matter how wrong it may be. John Elferink as the NT Attorney-General and Lynne Walker as the Shadow Attorney-General also must play an important role in making the required changes to be brought to a positive fruition. Delia Lawrie, as the Opposition Leader, and Terry Mills must take their parliamentary members, by the throat if necessary, and drag them into making the changes to save the lives of Aborigines who come into contact with the police.

The Territory coroner, Greg Cavanagh, also has a role to play in this social change. His being scathing of the police actions and procedures is of little value if his recommendations do not reflect his disgust, both moral and legal, in his decisions. We urge the coroner to insist that the death of Mr. Lewis must be dealt with as a bona fide 'Death in Custody' event.

It is up to us to make that happen and I call on all readers of this post to make contact with the list below to make your concerns and wishes known to those who run the system - But we need to do more than that - We need to become active and protest that the unnecessary deaths must stop.

To do that you can join our protest outside of the NSW coroners court at Parramatta Road, Glebe at 12.30 on Thursday, 1 November, 2012, to raise our support and solidarity with the families of Mr. Briscoe, Mr. Curti and Mr. Lewis. All three, in our opinion, have been badly treated at the hands of the justice system in the NT and NSW. We stand solidly in support of all families who have lost a loved one at the hands of the custodial systems and, in this case, the proven brutality of the police in both areas.

We offer our sincerest condolences to Dorris Lewis and the family, community and many friends of Mr. Lewis. We know that he now walks his land in peace.

We offer our support to the Lewis family in their struggle for justice.

I am often told that I only ever report the bad and not the good. not so, say I.

I place a report under the article for Mr. Lewis that definitely that accusation to shame.

Good news is there but very rare so herewith another good news article.

fkj

Ray Jackson
President
Indigenous Social Justice Association
Email: isja01@internode.on.net

(m) 0450 651 063
(p) 02 9318 0947

Address: 1303/200 Pitt Street, Waterloo. 2017
Website: www.isja.org.au

We live and work on the stolen lands of the Gadigal people.
Sovereignty, Treaty, Social Justice

``````````````````