Tiga Bayles interviews WA Deaths in custody Watch Committee member Marc Newhouse and Khristo Newall, along with Carl Woods Family Spokesperson Mervyn Eades.
This interview is about Carl Woods who died within minutes of being arrested.
MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL 12.01 AM THURSDAY 12TH APRIL, 2007
'PALM ISLAND' SPOTLIGHT ON WA POLICE
Carl Woods, father of three, died at the scene of a home invasion last year
within minutes of being arrested. His death and the circumstances which led
to
it have not yet been adequately investigated or explained, not for his
family,
nor to the wider community. To date, no officers have been stood down, and
the
only investigations into the events of this terrible death have been by the
police themselves.
The Deaths In Custody Watch Committee joins with the family in demanding
that
like the recent case in Palm Island, the Premier immediately stand down the
officers involved in this and any other death in custody until an
independent
inquiry ensures public confidence in their fitness to serve the public. On
this first anniversary of Mr Woods' death we call for an end to the inaction
and to the practice of police investigating their own actions.
Chairperson of the Deaths In Custody Watch Committee, Marc Newhouse claims
that 'despite the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody
producing
over 300 recommendations, most remain ignored and unfulfilled. If these
recommendations had been genuinely implemented many deaths could have been
prevented, quite possibly including that of Carl Woods'. The ongoing
tensions
between Aboriginal people and the so-called justice system must be addressed
with real political will, not just rhetoric.'
We note the recent comments of former governor John Sanderson * currently an
indigenous policy advisor to the Carpenter government * that the situation
of
Aboriginal people in WA is 'worse than the third world', and in other
countries the levels of alienation 'would be seen to constitute a state of
civil war'.
This Black Friday, the 13th of April, a protest rally will take place in the
Supreme Court Gardens, Perth, calling for justice for Carl Woods, his family
and for all those who have died in custody. Hundreds are expected, with
speakers to include family members and leaders from the wider Aboriginal
community, outraged by this death and the inaction. Following the noon
rally,
protestors will march on the Premier's office.
The Deaths In Custody Watch Committee has asked the Premier to meet with a
delegation of the organisation and the family, and to receive a letter. 'We
are calling on the Premier to really listen to the grief of this family and
so
many of us in the wider community, who are both angry and in mourning over
this death and many others. We are calling for Mr Carpenter to expedite a
full
and transparent inquiry into this death, and to recommend the police
officers
involved be stood down while this investigation takes place. We are
demanding
accountability and real justice' states Mr Newhouse.