Psychiatrists detention plea
By Sheree Went
02jan03
MOST people in Australian immigration detention centres are emotionally
disturbed and an independent mental health review was urgently needed,
psychiatrists said today.
Dr Louise Newman from the NSW branch of the Royal Australian and New
Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) said detention centres were a
breeding ground for mental illness.
The situation was exacerbated by the long process of determining asylum
seeker applications, she said.
"We're currently involved in research but it is fair to say the vast
majority are showing clinical signs of emotional and behavioural
disturbance," Dr Newman said.
"All the children that we've seen in detention have shown emotional and
developmental problems."
She said a shift away from the punitive and penal model of detention
currently imposed towards a model focused on health was needed.
"These are a traumatised group of people who have suffered loss,
persecution, discrimination, combined with cultural dislocation and then
ending up in conditions which can only be called sub-optimal," she said.
Setting fire to buildings and rioting, as witnessed at five Australian
detention centres during the past week, was often a response to being put
under stress, Dr Newman said.
"We need to understand that a breakdown in human behaviour will occur in
any group potentially if we stress them in these sorts of ways and that's
happened in other parts of the world."
RANZCP described the current situation as "part of an ongoing psychiatric
emergency in detention centres" and called for a review of the adequacy of
support and mental health services for asylum seekers.
"We are unanimous in the opinion that there needs to be a overhaul of the
processing and refugee determination process," Dr Newman said.
Fires were deliberately lit at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre on New
Year's Eve after a failed break-out by up to 20 detainees.
That followed blazes at centres on Christmas Island, Port Hedland in
Western Australia, and Woomera and Baxter in South Australia which caused
$8 million damage.
Comment from the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs (DIMIA) was being sought.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5788111%255E421,00.html
Police spray use under fire
02jan03
QUEENSLAND Police Minister Tony McGrady has defended the use of capsicum
spray by police officers after it was used to subdue New Year's revellers
on the Gold Coast.
A televised incident has sparked an investigation by acting Commissioner
Dick Conder.
He will examine whether there was excessive use of the spray after a news
cameraman in Surfers Paradise captured footage of police using it on two
men, who cried in pain as a result.
Australian Council of Civil Liberties president and Queensland Council of
Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman has said use of the spray
appeared unwarranted and excessive.
"The person was already arrested at the time he was being sprayed and was
in a firm torso hold by a much bigger policeman," Mr O'Gorman said.
"He was sprayed apparently deliberately in the eye."
Mr O'Gorman wants the Crime and Misconduct Commission to investigate the
incident and the use of capsicum spray as a crowd control.
"We will be complaining to the Crime and Misconduct Commission about this
particular incident and asking them to review the use of the spray in non
life-threatening situations," he said.
"Capsicum spray was never intended to be used in a minor public order
situation and was intended to be used instead of a police officer having to
draw his gun."
Today, Mr McGrady said while he wanted to see the video footage before
making a judgment on the incident, he supported the use of capsicum spray
to avoid violent situations.
He said capsicum spray played an important role in policing and officers
were well trained in its appropriate use.
"The use of capsicum spray in many cases has in fact prevented people
having to use guns or weapons," he told ABC radio.
"But the important point that people should understand is that it is not
used simply as another tool."
