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The Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre (MWCC) has continued to experience major problems and the women are constantly in a state of stress, anxiety, anger and frustration. Many of the concerns which we have raised in previous newsletters have NOT been resolved, the prison continues in their attempt to avoid any responsibility and the government is failing in their mandated obligations.
Some of the constant concerns relate to medical care or the lack of it. Complaints that women are not being taken to hospital/medical appointments due to lack of staff, the cost incurred or perhaps because the prison management just don't care!
There has been a number of young women who have died within 24 hours of leaving the prison in the last couple of months. The People's Justice Alliance, Women & Imprisonment Group, Federation of Community Legal Centres and many, many other groups have been raising concern about these deaths in custody for many years and yet the deaths continue and no one seems to care. The Office of Corrections doesn't even acknowledge these deaths as 'deaths in custody' and therefore do not record any statistics. It is our understanding that at least 90 women have died shortly after leaving prison since 1990 - this is an alarming rate of preventable deaths. These deaths are the result of the brutality of prison and are therefore deaths in custody. Why do women die in such alarming rates after release? Some of the answers may lie in the fact that there are no adequate pre-release support offered by the prison, no real programs to assist women to prepare for release, the very real feelings of distress, fear and isolation. There is also a lack of support for women after release from prison. It seems that once a woman leaves prison no one takes any responsibility nor care to 'keep in touch'.
There are constant concerns about the insufficient quantity and variety of educational programs, very limited opportunities for work and the development of skills, lack of qualified gambling counselling services and supports for women.
It has been reported that women are overdosing at an alarming rate at the MWCC, just two weeks ago three women overdoses on the same day - one woman had to be revived three times and was then rushed to hospital.
At the same time that all these problems are being ignored by the Government, the General Manager and CCA - these same people seem to be able to find the time to show international government visitors around the prison - purely a marketing and promotional activity - the rumours are that CCA wants to expand and move in Asia and the next 'market' for private prisons! The whole thing is sick and the women don't like it. Some women describe these visits as if the prison was a zoo and the women, animals to show off.
The reports of self harm have continued to flood in, and from our estimates there are at least 4 incidents of self harm per week at the prison - and yet nothing is being done to avoid this. No support for the women, no appropriate medical care and treatment, lack of any appropriate drug and alcohol services and programs.
There are constant problems with the telephones and some women are reporting that money on their phone cards has gone 'missing', and this is not just on one occasion but on numerous occasion's. Telstra report that the 'missing' money is not a result of their telephones!
The cell blocks within the Port Phillip Private Prison are named after the ships of the "First Fleet" which brought English prisoners on the voyage of transportation to begin the first chapter of Australia's white history: the prison colony. Two hundred and ten years later, the experience of English penal colonialism, at the hands of Group 4 Correction Services Pty Ltd, is proving as horrific and lethal as the first invasion.
25 July 1997: The Corrections Working Group of the Federation of Community Legal Centres tours the Port Phillip Prison three weeks prior to its official opening. The Corrections Working Group members meet with Group 4 Corporate Director, Steven Twinn, Prison Service Manager, Karen Linstrom, and Programs Manager, Klaus Walden-Baur. When questioned about why horizontal bars have been built on the inside of cell windows and the design of shower screens provided additional hanging points in 580 out of the 600 cells, Steven Twinn stated that the bars on the inside of the cells are there to "waterproof" the building and that there has been no conscious attempt to make cells suicide proof. Karen Linstrom stated that she had already given evidence in three coronial inquests and that if the Corrections Working Group gave her $600,000 that she would happily screen the internal bars.
18 August 1997: Minister for Corrections, Bill McGrath, officially opened the prison stating that the new facility would be "heralding a new era in correctional facilities" and "would set new standards in correctional standards". McGrath attacked critics of the Government's privatisation agenda stating "Obviously these critics are not concerned about prisoners, their welfare or conditions."
Mid-September 1997: Port Phillip Prison receives its first prisoners.
30 October 1997: George Drinken, a twenty eight year old man, on remand, is found hanging from the shower rail hanging point. First death in custody only six weeks since the prison began receiving prisoners. Federation of Community Legal Centres/PJA demand that the Government comply with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and order the removal of strategic hanging points at the Port Phillip Prison and the Fulham Correctional Centre. Federation of Community Legal centres threatens legal action against the Government and each private prison corporation for failure to uphold their duty of care owed to prisoners and failing to implement the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody by not removing obvious structural hanging points.
6 November 1997: Corrections Working Group member raises issues related to the unacceptable suicide and self-harm risk to prisoners posed by hanging points with the Director of Monitoring and Assessment of the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner(OCSC), Robin Trotter. She rejects demands to remove hanging points and continues to claim that the Government has implemented recommendation 165 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which relates to the removal and screening of hanging points in custodial cells.
December 1997: A private detective, John Barclay, of Cobra Executive Protection, is hired and paid by Group 4 Correction Services, to undertake an "independent" report into George Drinken's death in custody at Port Phillip. Barclay is an ex- Chief Superintendent of the Victoria Police.
16 December 1997: Adam Irwin, a twenty year old man on remand, is found hanged from a two meter high metal horizontal bar that crosses the middle of his cell from the shower screen. Community Legal Centres, PJA, the Prisoner's Action Group, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Liberty and the Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice collectively call for the removal of hanging points and condemn the Government for their management of private prisons. The State Government state that they are "happy" with the design of the prison and that "to remove hanging points from all cells would be to deny basic human rights" (The Age 19/12/98).
4 January 1998: Vienh Chi Tuh, a twenty year old man on remand dies of a suspected drug overdose. 'The Age' (6/1/98) reveals that five men have died in custody at the Port Phillip Prison in the previous nine and a half weeks. Two other men are alleged to have died from natural causes. Both are said to have had terminal illnesses but neither were placed in the secure ward of St.Vincent's Hospital.
6 January 1998: The families of George Drinken and Adam Irwin speak out on national television, against the deaths of their sons and their treatment at the hands of Group 4 and the State Government. Internal prison sources say that there have been over a hundred attempted suicides since the prison was opened; equivalent to one attempt per day. Another prisoner suffers a near-fatal overdose.
January 1998: Mass protests against worsening prison conditions and mismanagement over the New Year period leads to 14 prisoners being transferred to Barwon prison one night. Brutal clashes erupt between staff and prisoners in the Charlotte Unit. The Community and Public Services Union (CPSU); the union representing some Port Phillip prison officers, state that staff levels are massively inadequate and that they received little support from Group 4 management.
30 January 1998: Amnesty International raises the five deaths in custody in a nine and a half week period at the Port Phillip Prison in an international media release commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death in Western Australian police custody of eighteen year old, Stephen Wardle.
1 February 1998: Senior Magistrate, Mr Brian Barrow, recommends for the second time that an Aboriginal person not serve any of his sentence in a private prison because of the offenders vulnerability in custody.
2 March 1998: The Federation of Community Legal Centres Corrections Working Group sends a 25 page submission titled "Hanging Points at the Fulham Correctional Centre and the Port Phillip Prison and the Victorian Government's Implementation of recommendation 165 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody" to the Corrections Minster, Bill McGrath, and senior executives at the Department of Justice, Aboriginal Affairs, and Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) and Group 4 Correction Services. The submission critically examines the issues of hanging points at both prisons in relation to the Victorian Government's refusal to comply with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the ways in which the existence of hanging points constitute ongoing violations of the corporations and the Governments legislated and common law duty of care owed to prisoners in their care and custody. The submission also examines Victorian and Interstate coronial findings involving hanging points and deaths in custody and Victorian, interstate and international research on suicide, self-harm and cell design and construction.
7 March 1998: The 'Herald-Sun' reports that prison staff are fearful of their lives and of a major prison uprisng because of staff shortages. Internal prison sources state that at least twelve cell fires have been lit in the past two weeks. Three cells within the Charlotte unit have been badly damaged and one fire necessitated staff crawling through thick black smoke to rescue a prisoner. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was failed to be notified in such cases.
Massive turnover in staff has lead Group 4 management to hire hard core ex-Pentridge staff.
7 March 1998: A fifty one year old man serving the first day of his sentence is found hanging from a shower hanging point in his hospital room. This man sustained acute injuries and was dependent on a life support system in intensive care at St.Vincent's Hospital until his death on 19 March 1998. The 'Herald-Sun' (8/3/98) also reported that a Victoria Police/Prison Squad investigation submitted to the Coroner's Court states that "the Port Phillip Prison is inadequately staffed and has major design faults which have led to te deaths of at least two inmates". Internal prison sources also claimed that over 62 officers (almost half the jails staff) have resigned in the last six months.
9 March 1998: After the latest suicide attempt the Correctional Services Commissioner, John Van Groningen, states that "he is satisfied with the way Port Phillip was running" (Herald-Sun 9/3/98).
10 March 10 1998: Corrections Minister, Bill McGrath, attacks critics of Victoria's prison and police custody systems by branding them as "bleeding hearts" and rejecting relentless calls for an independent inquiry into the Victorian Prison System by saying" jail is tough".
11 March 1998: The Community and Public Sector Union claim that over 100 people have attempted to kill themselves within the prison in the past six months. Branch secretary, Karen Batt said "The staff have no support from management . They say drug overdoses are a daily occurrence, and they are struggling to cope". Justice Frank Vincent, Chairman of the parole Board, said "Regrettably, the current situation was not only predictable, it was in fact predicted" (The Age 11/3/98).
The Federation of Community Legal Centres calls for the resignation of Bill McGrath on the grounds of incompetence, at a commemoration of the lives of men who have died at the Port Phillip Prison. This commemoration took place on the steps of Parliament House.
11-12 March 1998 (9 pm-5 am): After a fire started in the Scarbarough South Unit, prisoners protesting against the worsening conditions within the prison and the strip searching of visitors, family, children and friends. As well as the bashings at the hand of police at the Melbourne Custody Centre which resulted in a riot for almost six hours, almost completely destroying the 52 bed unit and causing at least $300,000 damage. Security and Emergency Services Group Members and Victoria Police Special Operations Group were rushed to the Port Phillip Prison. In the midst of the riot a prisoner, speaking on a phone stated "We have just barricaded ourselves in and we are trying to protect ourselves ... we are on our last legs here. ... Everything just gets depressed that happens - especially in this prison - everything just gets depressed, depressed, depressed. Everything just gets swept under the mat ... There have been regular overdoses - quite regularly. There are fights going on. Officers who are placed in the units who specifically antagonise people" (Herald-Sun 12/3/98).
The fact that the Port Phillip Prison and the Fulham Correctional Centre could be designed and built in blatant defiance of the recommendations into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is another expression of the genocidal racism that is so entrenched in the Australian "criminal justice" system.
18 March 1998: Group 4 Securitas World Boss, David Banks flew into Melbourne saying he was brought in to "do whatever it takes to address the problems" (The Australian, 21 March 1998).
19 March 1998: Remand prisoner Rodney Koers, 34 was found hanging in his cell at 1.45am. We understand that prior to going to court the previous day, he had been on a SASH Watch (suicide and self harm) yet on returning to the prison from court he was no longer on the SASH Watch.
19 March 1998: A 51 year old prisoner who had attempted to kill himself on the 7th March, died in hospital. The fourth death by hanging at Port Phillip Prison.
20 March 1998: John Van Groningen was appointed to a taskforce to investigate problems at the prison. This is the same man who has defended the prison for weeks/months and who has stated publicly that he has full confidence in the management of the prison!
Already, four men have used the hanging points which form part of the shower. At every opportunity, the Correctional Services Commissioner, John Van Groningen and Bill McGrath have sought to normalise and trivialise ongoing deaths in custody and attempted suicides at the Port Phillip Prison . They have both attacked their critics and shielded Group 4 from public accountability. All this has been done to deflect attention from the fact that both the Minister and John Van Groningen are wholly responsible for what is occurring within the prison and that it is their individual and collective arrogance and inaction that is costing lives and causing unimaginable grief for those families and friends who are left to collect and bury their loved ones. Bill McGrath and John Van Groningen are mandated by the Corrections Act (1986) to "take all reasonable steps for the safe custody and welfare of the prisoners". This statutory duty of care cannot be "contracted out". It is shared by both the prison company and the Government.
Furthermore, John Van Groningen, as the Correctional Services Commissioner, is widely empowered under the terms of the management contract between the Government and the prison corporation to "take such action as he sees fit to respond to a death of a Prisoner while in the Care and Control of the Contractor including conducting an independent inquiry". Clearly, Van Groningen could have demanded that hanging points be screened/ removed after the hanging of the first man to die in Port Phillip Prison, George Drinken, on 30 October 1997. Instead Van Groningen has claimed that to remove specific hanging points would mean that prisoners would be denied beds, televisions etc. This is a denial and distortion of the enormous risk that these structural hanging points pose to prisoners. If it was the sons of Ministers and Parliamentarians hanging within this prison all these issues would have been resolved prior to the prison opening. Bill McGrath's and John Van Groningen's public statements clearly express a view of prisoners' being expendable commodities.
Visitors, lawyers and even the police have complained relentlessly about long delays in order to have visits and no privacy, nor safeguards and legislation governing the use of the hand scan biometric identification system that is being used by Group 4. The biometrics means that every visitor has to submit to a handscan to enter and exit the prison. What happens to this personal information and whether this information is passed on to other government or private sector data bases is unknown and unregulated. Furthermore, the biometric system only works when there is enough staff who are sufficiently trained to operate the system - this is a rare event. What is blatantly clear is that the biometrics at the prison, criminalises prisoners' visitors; their families, friends, children, lovers, parents , lawyers, activists, everyone that provides a life line to the human beings inside the prison.
The most relentless complaints from people held at Port Phillip Prison relate to the fact that there is nothing to do and the few staff in the prison will never give you a straight answer. There is little work at the prison and knowledge and access to education appears to be extremely variable. As one prisoner told us "they let us out for twelve hours then they lock us up for twelve hours". The rules governing the prison appear to change all the time and are applied inconsistently.
Standovers by some prisoners over other prisoners who are on the prison methadone program are rampant. This is also the case at the Metropolitan Womens' Correctional Centre and is the result of the "War on Drugs" this and previous governments have brutally waged within prisons where there is no room for harm minimisation practices such as needle exchanges, bleach, condoms, detoxification units and an expanded methadone program. Complaints about assaults and standovers of prisoners on the methadone program at the Port Phillip Prison were lodged with the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner on the 9th February 1998. Six weeks later there has been no response.
Food has become contaminated at least three times since Christmas. In February prisoners began lighting cell fires to protest the conditions Within three weeks there had been over twelve individual fires. Prisoners have been complaining about the relentless strip searching of their families, children and friends.
Group 4 blames the media, Jeff Kennett blamed drugs and threatened to end contact visits, Bill McGrath became even more incomprehensible than usual and John Van Groningen talked about strip searching babies. No one has taken responsibility for the riot or asked why men destroyed the unit. Since the riot it has transpired that there was no co-ordination of the security and fire fighting procedures, lack of fire fighting equipment in four of the 14 units at the prison and little support for prison staff from management. The Prison Officer's Union have imposed a 23 hour lockdown because Group 4 management have refused to negotiate fully over safety issues. At the time of writing, prisoners remain in 23 hour lockdown - waiting for additional staff and a National Safety Council audit of occupational health and safety to be undertaken. The Union has demanded more staff and access to full riot gear but have omitted to ask for better training and better management.
A Message from Margaret & George Drinken
To parents and government authorities:
We are the parents of George Andrew Drinken who was 28 years old on his death on the 30th October 1997 at Port Phillip Prison in Victoria.
What a drug dependant person really needs, as drug dependency is a sickness and not a crime, is rehabilitation and not incarceration. In most cases average people can't afford the cost of rehabilitation which comes back to the government system where there is not enough money spent on the system. People without the finance available to them are left to wait 12 to 18 months before they can be slotted into the system. In the meanwhile, to support their habits, they turn to crime. By doing this they end up in court and finally they are incarcerated again and again.
Whilst being in the jail the drugs are the least of their problems because they are easier to obtain inside the system than on the outside. If not from their fellow inmates or the prison guards. They get prescribed drugs inside from medical authorities just to calm them down or to stop disturbances inside the jails.
Parents like ourselves think that once their son is incarcerated he is safe from everything which the outside world has to offer. Especially in the new 'State of the Art' prisons like Port Phillip which is not supposed to have any hanging points and around the clock monitoring of all the prisoners to ensure their safety and well being. While their families are being assured that they are safe and being looked after in there properly, while all the government officials are praising the new system which was supposed to be infallible and the best and safest in the country, our son and others have taken their lives in this so called 'State of the Art' prison. This goes to show that the prison is not up to the supposed standard and are undermanned by mainly untrained staff. Unless they change the system and dispose of all the hanging points and have better trained staff and review the whole prison system, the people inside will keep taking their lives.
The people that run the prison system don't seem to care too much about the well being of the inmates, all they seem to worry about is making profits. These new prisons are getting built all over Australia at the expense of peoples lives and without much consideration going into the structure and planning of them, or about the welfare of the inmates concerned. The families that are left behind have to carry the burden.
The Fulham Correctional Centre (West Sale) has been plagued by many of the same problems as Port Phillip and the Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre. There are reports of insufficient education programs, rehabilitation, psychological supports and a lack of work/employment options.
Prisoners and their families have also reported difficulties with visits, and the distance of the prison from the metropolitan prison has had a negative impact in terms of lawyers attending the prison. Issues of drugs and violence are also ongoing.
We are very conscious that there are probably numerous other issues and concerns at Fulham, but because of the distance of the prison from Melbourne, coupled with its invisibility from the media and other concerned groups (largely due to its isolation) it is difficult to know what really is going on.
We ask anyone who may have information about this prison and what is happening to the men in Fulham to contact PJA so that we can work together to raise concerns.
* A Geelong Magistrate hit out against privatisation of the prisoner transport system labelling the contract service "the worst we have experienced" (Geelong Advertiser, 21/2/98). Magistrate Ian von Einem said the service to Geelong Magistrates' Court had been deplorable since the system was privatised. "This court cannot function properly unless there is greater co-operation from them (Group 4 Correction Services) and unless something can be done immediately the contract should not continue".
* Kerry Jones, 34, an Aboriginal prisoner in Goulburn Jail has been protesting over the conditions at Goulburn Jail. As of 9.3.98 he had been refusing food for three weeks, protesting against what he says is racial discrimination and violence inside the jail. (We were unable to get information as to whether his hunger strike is still continuing).
* Twelve teachers employed at Junee Correctional Centre: New South Wales only private prison, were sacked at the beginning of January 1998 to make way for a private contractor to take over the education program. Junee is run by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) and opened in 1993. In the recently published performance review of Junee for the year from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997, the Government's Liaison Officer reported that there had been improvement in education provision!
Overall, the review concluded that "there has again been further improvement in performance of 10 key result areas, with the remaining 42 ... satisfactorily meeting the operational standards ... except in the areas of industries and personnel management."
According to the review, ACM had reduced custodial staffing levels "to a level that may be a cause for concern if further reductions occur". There was also "an unacceptably high level of inmate unemployment ..." and "... a lack of commitment and support by ACM in relation to correctional industry business development proposals ...". There had also been continuing complaints regarding an unfair trading advantage enjoyed by International Cable Manufacturers Pty. Ltd (ICM) which runs an electric cable assembly plant at the prison. This led to a Government review - the findings of which are yet to be published - and to ACM renegotiating its contract with ICM.
(Junee Correctional Centre - Fourth Performance Review, Appendix 46 of the New South Wales Corrective Services' Annual Report 1996-97.)
* Of all New South Wales jails, Junee prisoners made most written complaints to the New South Wales Government Ombudsman during 1996/97. According to the Ombudsman, Junee "retained its position as the institution about which most complaints were made ... the number rose from 36 to 52. Lost property was the most common complaint, followed by problems with officers ranging from alleged assault to threats and abuse, and record keeping and administration."
The Ombudsman noted that "staff at Junee have yet to take to heart the role of our office - and the fact that we can often offer assistance in providing solutions to difficult situations." (NSW Ombudsman, Annual Report 1996-1997).
* The Liberal party has promised a new prison in Canberra. The proposal involves closing Belconnen Remand Centre and contracting out the construction and management of the $25 million jail to the private sector or a State Government.
Attorney-General Gary Humphries says the deal makes financial sense for the territory.
"It also means that the recurrent cost of something like $10 million a year is returned to the ACT, instead of sending that money to New South Wales via a somewhat unsatisfactory service I might say," Mr Humphries said.
* Since the escape of five inmates from Sir David Longlands Correctional Centre in November 1997, there has been a major push toward implementing tougher security measures throughout Queensland's jails. Cabinet has given Corrective Services Minister, Russell Cooper, authorisation to prepare law changes to boost prison security and to introduce these amended laws into Parliament. Under the proposed changes, prison guards would be empowered to strip search prison visitors, including children, to prevent importation of drugs and weapons into the prisons. Guards would also be permitted to use lethal force on escapees and would be protected from prosecution on murder charges if an inmate was "accidentally" killed during an escape attempt.
* Following the escape of three inmates from CCA-run Borallon Correctional Centre, near Ipswich in February, Cooper further recommended the use of armoured vehicles to patrol all prison perimeters. Cooper's "get-tough" stance is in response to recommendations made in a confidential report leaked last December. The report, compiled by investigator and retired police officer, Carl Mengler, recommended a $119 million overhaul of the Queensland prison system, involving special jails and rigid security for high risk inmates.
Other recommendations included a criminal history check and photographing of all visitors over the age of 15, the use of metal detectors to search all visitors, a ban on the use of toilet facilities during visits, the inspection and reading of all mail and an increase in random urine testing and irregular searches of inmates and their cells.
The report stated that cost cutting had plunged staff morale in the prison service to an all time low and had resulted in officers not being trained in basic procedures. Most of the problems identified in the report were said to be a result of overcrowding and lack of infrastructure planning.
There was no mention in the report of the poor standards inside Queensland jails and distinct lack of education and training programs which sparked the riots in Woodford Correctional Centre in April last year, and at Stuart jail in Townsville on New Years Eve.
Instead the Queensland Government is intending to build a new maximum security facility along with the new women's prison, which was put on hold after local resident's around the proposed site lodged an objection to its construction. Despite the poor track record in prison management of private companies like ACM and CCA, the government is calling for expressions of interest from companies to tender for the contract to design, construct and operate a new regional facility for male inmates of all security categories to replace the existing Rockhampton Correctional Centre.
* 11 inmates appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates court on 24/11/97 facing charges over the Woodford incident. After a scuffle between handcuffed inmates and police and corrective services officers, one inmate was dragged from the dock into an adjoining room, where he was subjected to a pepper spray attack by the Safety Response Team!
* According to the 1996/97 Annual Report of the Queensland Corrective Services Commission (QCSC), ten correctional centres, two community corrections centres, the South Queensland Transport and Escort Service, the WORC Programme and four community corrections regions will be market tested. Only the Government's three juvenile detention centres will be spared from the exercise. This follows the restructuring - known as corporatisation - of the QCSC.
However, there are no plans to have the public sector bid against Australasian Correctional Management and Corrections Corporation of Australia when their contracts for the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre and Borallon Correctional Centre respectively, next come up for renewal.
* 26 January 1998: A 19 year old non-Aboriginal remand prisoner was found hanging in Canningvale Prison. This was the third death in prison custody in the month. The WA Deaths in Custody Watch Committee stated that "the whole system is overwhelmed to the point that total paralysis has set in and prisoners are not able to access courses which are compulsory if they are to meet parole conditions.
* 4 February 1998: Another man was found hanging in his prison cell at Greenough Regional Prison. This is the third death in Greenough since 14.11.97.
* 7 February 1998: Announcement that the spate of deaths in custody and claims of brutality in WA jails will be investigated by State Ombudsman Murry Allen. Mr Allen stated the "he had started his own inquiry into Ministry of Justice practices after four deaths in custody since the beginning of the year". The announcement came after "The West Australian" reported last week that remand prisoner Neil Anderson Holt, 18, was held in chains and allegedly bashed in the weeks before he hanged himself in the Canningvale Prison on January 25. Prison sources said that before his death, Mr Holt was treated "worse than a dog", chained at the hands and feet and forced to wear a mask.
* 15 February 1998: A 22 year old non-Aboriginal remand prisoner was found hanging in a cell at Canningvale Prison becoming the fifth death in 1998. Glenn Shaw called "on all concerned citizens and church leaders to condemn the very obvious problems that exist in WA jails and ... call on all prisoners, ex-prisoners and prison employees who can assist the Ombudsman's investigation into WA prison deaths, to have the courage to speak out now before more lives are lost".
* 16 February 1998: A 30 year old remand prisoner died in the Canningvale Prison (Remand Centre). This is the sixth death in prison custody this year.
* 13 March 1998: A young non-Aboriginal woman was found dead at Bandyup Prisons. This was the seventh prison custody death to occur in Western Australia in two and a half months. According to Glen Shaw, Chairperson of the Watch Committee "the Attorney General said in parliament that deaths in custody was not related to prison management". This organisation(the Watch Committee) rejects this claim because we see at first hand what is happening in the prison. We see the despair and misery that is caused by over-crowding. We are told of the totally inadequate and incompetent medical and psychiatric services in the prisons. All of this is confirmed in the shocking statistics of suicide and attempted suicide.
Mr. Shaw also stated that the "appalling conditions in our jails means that every prisoner should be seen as being at risk. The politicians who have gleefully increased the prison population in this State should now take stock of the awful consequences of draconian legislation which removes judiciary discretion to impose prison sentences as a last resort. Our prisons are over-flowing because there are too many people who should not be there and that includes young people on drug related charges, people suffering psychiatric illnesses, and the high number of Aboriginal people who continue to be imprisoned for minor offences".
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