PRESS RELEASE – For IMMEDIATE RELEASE 26th May 2010
On Sorry Day and the eve of National Reconciliation Week, ANTaR Qld President, Kitty Carra, questioned the use of the word reconciliation in relation to Queensland.
Justice, Rights and then Reconciliation
On Sorry Day and the eve of National Reconciliation Week, ANTaR Qld President, Kitty Carra, questioned the use of the word reconciliation in relation to Queensland.
By definition reconciliation includes contrition, confession, the acceptance of punishment, and finally absolution. In other countries the reconciliation movement is inseparable from the examination of truth.
“Mulrunji’s family have been waiting nearly 6 years for justice. There can be no reconciliation for our community until the truth is recognised and the person responsible is punished. There can be no reconciliation in this State until all truths are recognised and deaths in custody are finally a thing of the past” said Ms Carra today.
Mulrunji/Cameron Doomadgee died in custody after being arrested for drunkenness by Sgt Chris Hurley on Palm Island in 2004. Injuries sustained by Mulrunji included a burst portal vein and a liver cleaved in two. The Coroner delivered an open finding this month stating that while Sen Sgt Hurley caused the injuries, it could not be determined whether they were inflicted intentionally or accidentally. The Coroner also found that there was evidence that police witnesses had colluded to protect Sgt Hurley.
Hurley has since been promoted to Inspector.
ANTaR Qld has been campaigning alongside others to hold the Government to their 2001 commitment to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rates in Qld by 50% by 2011.
“Daniel Yok and Mulrunji Doomadgee should never have been arrested in the first place. Not only have we stolen Aboriginal peoples’ wages but now we criminalise behaviours that need rehabilitation not jail, we under resource the organisations set up to help and we make it virtually impossible for people to access diversion, community service, bail or parole options.”
“The Government must address the excessive rates of imprisonment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland as promised. Not only are the rates getting worse, they are devastating families and ruining lives.”
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need their rights, they need justice and only then we can achieve reconciliation” said Ms Carra
Contact Information
Kitty Carra
President
TAKE ACTION HERE
