Asia-Pacific, Headlines, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Despite Cop’s Acquittal, Furore Far from Over

Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE, Jun 24 2007 (IPS) - Despite last week’s acquittal of a policeman on charges relating to the death of an Aboriginal man in custody, the furore around it – along with concerns about discrimination against indigenous Australians – is far from over.

Wesley Aird, from the National Indigenous Council, says that this case shows that Aboriginal people cannot have faith in Australia’s legal system.

“If I was an Aboriginal person today in police custody, then I would be very wary as to what might happen,” says Aird. “If an incident did happen, then it looks like Aboriginal people do not have much protection through the normal court process.”

Sam Watson, an Aboriginal activist and academic from the University of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, says that justice has not been done.

“The matter won’t end here. We’ve got legal experts looking through the entire conduct of the trial and the family (of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee) certainly is interested in civil action as well,” he says.

A national day of action is being planned in July, in order to protest the decision of the jury to the non-guilty verdict handed down to Senior Sgt Chris Hurley on Jun. 21. Hurley was cleared of manslaughter and assault in the Townsville Supreme Court in relation to the 2004 death of 36-year-old Doomadgee, known by his tribal name of Mulrunji.

Mulrunji died in the police jailhouse in the isolated community of Palm Island, located off northern Queensland. The case centred on whether Mulrunji’s injuries – he died from intra-abdominal bleeding caused by a rupturing of both the liver and portal vein – were sustained accidentally in a struggle and fall with Hurley.

“There are going to be mass rallies and mobilisations right across Australia because people from all walks of life and all backgrounds, all colours, races and creeds, are absolutely disgusted by this decision in Townsville and the way it was reached, and they will be marching to show their support for the family and community of Palm Island,” Watson told IPS.

“An overwhelming body of evidence (was) presented by the crown, expert witnesses, expert testimony from forensic pathologists,” he adds. “There was enough evidence for any jury in Australia, you would think, to convict the defendant before the court.”

Delena Oui-Foster, mayor of the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council, told IPS that the community was expecting a conviction. “We had our community member locked up for public drunkenness and swearing and then in less than an hour he was dead,” she says.

Despite the result, Oui-Foster was consoled by the fact that trial was actually heard. “We called for the case to go before a judge and jury and I believe that justice has served us in that sense. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the verdict that we expected.”

Mulrunji’s death sparked riots on Palm Island following the release of the autopsy report. An outcry over the circumstances surrounding his death led to government intervention.

A coronial inquest followed and a review of Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions decision not to press charges was conducted by respected former New South Wales chief justice, Sir Laurence Street, ultimately leading to charges being laid against Hurley.

But not everyone is disappointed with the outcome. A spokesman from the Queensland Police Union (QPU), which supported Hurley throughout, says that the union was expecting an acquittal.

Following the conclusion of the trial, the QPU released a series of radio advertisements, attacking the involvement of Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney-General Kerry Shine in relation to charges being brought against Hurley.

“We wanted to promote a debate about the very serious issue of whether the politicians should have the power to intervene in the legal process,” says the QPU spokesman.

The spokesman told IPS that the QPU is using the advertisements to voice its concern regarding the separation of power in Australia. “We think that with Chris Hurley being the first person ever in Australia to be charged with a criminal offence by a politician, that now is the time, with the trial over, to discuss whether or not this should happen again.”

Mulrunji’s death and Hurley’s subsequent trial have elicited different responses from Aboriginal leaders on relations between indigenous Australians and police.

The National Indigenous Council’s Aird describes relations following Hurley’s acquittal as being at “a new low”. “What it looks like is that Peter Beattie and (Minister for Police and Corrective Services) Judy Spence have got a lot of work to do to try to rebuild the relationship and to demonstrate to Aboriginal people right across the state that the law operates the same for both black and white citizens,” says Aird.

But Watson argues that the result of the trial will not adversely effect relations between indigenous people and police. “The fact of the matter is that right across Queensland, Aboriginal people and our community agencies do day-to-day business with police officers from all over the state,” he says. “And that relationship just goes on.”

Oui-Foster, the Palm Island mayor, says more needs to be done although ties between the community and police are greatly improved, partly due to monthly discussions between them.

“I believe that we need to ensure that the policing in our community is up to the standard of that on the mainland, and there is an awareness of some of the cultural aspects of our community,” she says.

Oui-Foster argues that the community can only move forward from here. “It can only get better because we’re willing to have a good working relationship (with police) and to ensure that a tragedy like this does not occur again in our community or any other indigenous community.”