media release DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE (WA) Inc. 119 MATHIESON RD ASCOT WA 6104 Tel: 61(0)8 9277-1533 Mobile: 041993-0375 Fax: 61(0)8 9478-4204 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc Tuesday 14 September 1999 Shackled in Death and 3rd World Hygiene In WA Prisons "Tell us news not history" exclaimed Ms Kath Mallott of the Deaths In Custody Watch Committee, when asked to comment on claims made by the Director of Prison Health Services in Western Australia that there are poor standards of hygiene in the Infirmary at Casuarina Prison." "We have been asserting for years that WA Prison Medical Services are horrific." Said Ms Mallott. "It is tragic that a prisoner has to die in shackles in the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Perth Hospital, and the Director of Prison Health Services proclaims, in the Coroner's Court last week, that the Casuarina Prison Infirmary is 'a pig sty', before the media takes up the plight of prisoners' health needs in this State." "The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody investigated the use of 'mechanical restraints' by this State in two prison deaths in 1983, and Commissioner O'Dea noted that the United Nations Standard Minimum Rule 33 required that;" 'chains and irons shall not be used as restraints and 'may be used only against escape during transfer. Such instruments of restraint may not be applied for longer than is strictly necessary.' "Sixteen years later nothing has changed and seriously ill prisoners in this State continue to die whilst shackled to a hospital bed. It is barbaric." Said Ms Mallott. "We call upon, all thinking people, especially medical and nursing staff and their professional bodies, to examine their codes of ethics and conduct, and to demand that prisoners under medical and nursing care do not die in such circumstances, ever again." "Further, we reiterate our demand that the Australian Medical Association's (AMA) 'Position Statement on Health Care for Prisoners' be given the status it deserves and particularly point 2.1 which states:" 'Every correctional facility health care service in Australian States and territories should be part of the general health system and independent of Departments of Corrective Services or their equivalent.' "We call for this to be implemented without delay." She concluded. Media Contact: Kath Mallott 08 9277-1533 041993-0375 Deaths In Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc) 119 Mathieson Road, REDCLIFFE, Western Australia, 6104 "The beginning of the cause of deaths in custody does not occur within the confines of police and prison cells or in the minds of the victims. Initially it starts in the minds of those who allow it to happen." Elder Dr. Jack Davis (OA, MBE) * [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc * ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
