BATHURST: BACK TO THE SEVENTIES Thirty years ago Bathurst Gaol was infamous for its bashings, floggings, atrocious conditions and oppressive restrictions. On 3 February 1974 long-festering resentments boiled over into a riot which saw the gaol gutted. The uprising was brutally put down, with guards shooting prisoners in the back and forcing them to run the gauntlet of their batons. Now prisoners say the bad old days are on the way back. This is their account: Bathurst Correctional Centre is ready to explode. The enforcement of archaic deprivations has created a level of tension not felt for years. In a single week last December, there were two bashings, one hanging, three stabbings, one inmate setting light to himself and two escapes. The air is thick with violence and standover problems. The gaol's reactions to all issues at Bathurst seems to be to withdraw more from prisoners until they yield. Problems started when the workers in the Upholstery and Electrical Departments staged a strike on 19 November after staff were advised that cooking equipment was to be withdrawn from working areas, leaving only a toaster and kettle. The inmates were given the excuse that an inmate was suing the Department for food poisoning resulting for using an electric frypan whilst at work. (No evidence of this was offered and no inmates were aware of any such recent event.) The strike was handled in a most authoritarian and demeaning fashion by the Governor. In true Bathurst style, the workers were locked out ñ on the coldest morning for months. Those who chose to remain in their cells to avoid the confrontation had their electricity supply cut off. Extra staff were evident from Goulburn and another escort truck was located in the reception area. A delegation was elected and three delegates went to see the Governor, but "no cooking, back to work now or no work again" was the dictum. No negotiation, no trade relations, no compromise. No acknowledgement of the universal right to deny one's labour as available to all other workers in Australia. Later in the month, a lockdown for a whole day was enforced to allow the screws to attend a medal presentation with the Minister. We were allowed out for showers (Bathurst has showers on the ground floor). Then another lockdown for a training day. Then another lockdown because the screws wanted to go to a funeral. This lockdown was for 39 hours and denied all the inmates shower facilities. The impact on everyone's income of two to three days without work is able to be felt in the yards. The average inmate cannot afford even a modest purchase of tobacco or Christmas cards. After all that time locked in, you don't have to be Einstein to know that something is going to happen. Two inmates are seriously assaulted at the buy up with their purchases. No custodial staff are anywhere near the buy up shop for the entire period. The ruckus involves ten inmates and various implements are used in the stabbings. The whole gaol is locked down again immediately and for the next day. That night, another inmate hangs himself in his cell using his sheet. Another burns himself. On the weekend, the exercise yards are open, there is another fight. The gaol is locked down again for another day. Two escapes from young offenders who cannot handle the stress, and we are locked down for another day. When will the authorities learn that much of the tension comes from the very deprivations that they cause. Bathurst is an old gaol, the cells are hot (or cold in winter), there are a few showers with an inadequate supply of hot water. That's if you can get a shower with a shower rose: The showers in one wing have not had shower roses on them for at least six months; the Ombudsman was invited to look at the shower facilities, but would not do so for fear of Hep C. (What about the inmates?) There's nothing in the yards, not even one chair. The cells have few chairs and no desks. There is no covering for the windows and the electrical circuits are adventurous in the extreme. The lack of legal resources at Bathurst has reached an all time crisis point. After visits from the Ombudsman and the Inspector General, undertakings were given that anyone who needed legal assistance and library access could obtain it via the welfare staff. This was a lie told to inmates in order to quell their disquiet. Phone calls to solicitors from Bathurst cost $5 each. Three phone calls equals one week's wages. Bathurst CC's library doesn't even lend out the Prisoner's Rights Handbook (it is locked up). Page 169 of the Handbook says: There is no limit to the number of legal papers relating to current maters that prisoners can have in their possession. If a prisoner needs legal resources for matters concerning their detention and/or other legal matters, governors must make sure that they (prisoners) have access to this information. This includes access to their lawyer, prisoner legal services Š This is the law but what happens at Bathurst? There is no prisoner legal aid. There are 30 inmates on remand at Bathurst. There are no legal resources at all, no books, no access to computers, no legal education, and not even a copy of the Bail Act so they might explore the opportunities of Supreme Court Bail. There are no wing delegates, no work delegates. Education is almost nonexistent, work supply has almost run out and wages are low. The Governor and the Deputy Governor refuse to see inmates with issues until it becomes a major strike or protest. Recently an inmate made over 30 requests to see a Deputy Governor about important legal matters, only to be refused. When he complained, he was shifted to another gaol. Is it really any wonder that the gaol erupts? Justice Action got these reports in December and has been trying since then to get some action on them. We brought it up with the Bathurst Governor (no response worth noting) and then with the DCS Head Office, which referred it on to Assistant Commissioner John Klok (yes! the Bathurst basher! the very same!), who referred it on to Regional Commanders. We've been promised a written reply, but we're hardly holding our breath. COORDINATOR'S REPORT Happy New Year folks and we look forward to a brighter 2002, despite the fact that it is likely to smell of fried scapegoats and farting politicians. With a NSW election on the horizon for 2003, we can expect the usual distortion of law, order and security issues, increasing police powers, and further erosion of civil liberties that the pollies think they have to go in for if they want to win votes. The wheels are already in motion, with brand-new ministers in police and corrective services and frightening new developments in their portfolios (see pages 4 and 10). The expected hype of the upcoming election campaign will conveniently fall alongside an increase of 1800 cells to the NSW prison system. This increase reflects the global trend to an expanding and profitable prison industry, driven by corporate interests and characterised by the silencing of community voices. The atrocities of September 11 have already been redesigned to favour and further the interests of those in power. Antiterrorist laws include increased ASIO powers of arrest and detention for up to 48 hours and the removal of the right to silence under questioning. There's been an upsurge of interest in the security and prison market as a result of these events and their expected consequences such as greater immigration control and detention centres. In this climate, JA is keen to place the daily struggle of prisoners and against authoritarian abuse in a broad global perspective that includes an analysis of war and the plight of refugees. The summer just ending was marked by extreme bushfires and extreme calls for juvenile punishment. We had Kerry Chikarovski baying for blood ("throw the book at them"), and letter-writers to the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting young arsonists be displayed in cages at Taronga Zoo or burnt at the stake. Carr first went for custodial sentences, then for restorative justice measures such as having the boys visit the burns wards of hospitals and make reparation. It was rare and strange to hear the term "restorative justice" coming out of Carr's mouth but no, no magic transformation had taken place: he promptly went on to undermine a key restorative justice principle by presenting the measures he had in mind as punitive rather than rehabilitative: "Jail's too good for them, they should have their noses rubbed in it, etc." Another chance passed up to show some real political leadership and differentiate Labor from the slathering Libs. On the flip side, we'd like to congratulate the new Greens Senator, Kerry Nettle, on an election campaign won on issues of social and environmental justice!! (See ñ it can be done!) Kerry worked for six months as the Coordinator of Stop the Womens Jail and we confidently expect her commitment on prison issues will carry through to the Senate. Framed has now been placed in prison libraries all around Australia (except NT ñ still working on that!). We've sent out black folders, with vibrant pink stickers on them, for the reference section of libraries so the issues can be stored together and you can't miss them. Prisoners and library staff: Are the folders in your library? What do you think of the format? How useful are they? Give us feedback, please write to us. We had a meeting with DCS and the Office of the Minister for Corrective Services on 24th January, at which DCS undertook to report to us on the process that led to Brett being banned from NSW prisons (see Framed #41). The Department has acknowledged that the fact he wasn't issued a notice informing him of the decision to ban him was a breach of Departmental procedure. We're not letting go of this one, or other issues related to community access to jails, which remains a major issue for JA. Finally, this is the last coordinator's report I'll be writing before Alecia Simmonds, a highly energetic activist with experience in community law, joins the team as the new JA Coordinator. Noha Go strong, Noha! We will miss your vitality, pride, hard work and global perspective. Hope you'll send us postcards from your travels and that you'll be back soon. Meanwhile, a big welcome to Alecia; we hope you like it in the new JA office just set up in the revamped Breakout premises. Ed. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Framed - Issue No 42 Coordinator's Report JA and Breakout's joint 2002 New Year card, sent to everybody on the APU list (see page 12). If you're a prisoner and you want to be on the list and get stuff like this, just write in and let us know. JUSTICE ACTION is a community-based organisation of criminal justice activists. We seek to: ï uncover and expose police and penal abuse ï assist those who suffer from the abuses of the system ï oppose law-and-order policies which criminalise the socially disadvantaged ï promote viable non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment We decline any funding that could compromise our work. Instead we rely upon your community support ñ and we need it badly! ï Advertise in Framed (call (02) 9281 5100) ï Subscribe to Framed (subscription form on back cover) ï Donate to Justice Action JUSTICE ACTION B E C A U S E TH E J A I L S A R E TH E C R I M E >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> IN BRIEF CIVILISATION? The September 11 attacks, we're told, were not an atrocious act of rage at US support for Israeli state terrorism (as we might have thought) but an attack on civilisation itself. But alleged/suspected/ imagined al-Qaeda prisoners now at Guantanamo have been bound, drugged, hooded, shackled and placed in open-air cages. (Sensory deprivation, let's remember, is a form of torture.) The US apparently thinks this will convince the rest of the world of the superiority of its way of life. Good on those other Americans who've shown the true strength of their traditions by filing a habeas corpus writ on behalf of the prisoners on the basis of breaches of the Geneva Conventions and the US Constitution. REFUGEES STRIKE The Australian Government has shown no interest whatsoever in protecting Australian Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks from torture and caging. Meanwhile it is still holding Afghans who fled the Taliban (who should therefore supposedly be our friends?) in concentration camps at Woomera and elsewhere. The horrors of these camps (which are run by ACM, an offshoot of notorious US prison profiteer Wackenhut) have been highlighted by a recent heroic hunger strike by detainees. Again, good on those citizens of the Lucky (or should that be the Lonely?) Country who've initiated hunger strikes and other actions in support. Close the camps! Set them free! REFUGEES DEPORTED In past issues of Framed we have reported on Australia's indefinite detainees ñ permanent residents who arrived in Australia years ago as refugees, who are being held in prison after the expiry of their sentences because Minister for Racism Philip Ruddock has cancelled their residency. In mid-January three of them were deported to Vietnam. They were given 48 hours notice in which they were meant to prepare for life in a new country and make arrangements to leave the one they had called home. The rest are still in jail here; the latest report is that Vietnam has not agreed to take them back. Some are asking that if they're going to be deported, get on with it (some finished their sentences as long as three years ago) and are demanding to be given at least three weeks notice. SA WINDS BACK ON POT The criminalisation of cannabis has been an issue in the recent South Australian elections, where the "legal" plant limit was recently cut from ten to three and more recently still from three to one. James Dannenburg stood (unsuccessfully, we're sorry to say) as a HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) candidate. He deplores the windback (naturally) and says that the relaxed laws brought in in SA in 1987 allowed users who had previously bought from dealers to seize the means of production and grow for themselves and a circle of mates: "It is far better from society's point of view, from the police corruption point of view, from a criminological point of view, to have lots and lots of Mr and Ms Smalls, each making a little bit of money, than Mr Big making squillions." We couldn't agree more. Drug prohibition is filling the prisons, as we know. The law is the crime! DUMB DOGGIES As we reported in Framed #41, sniffer dogs are one of the newest weapons deployed in the aggression against communities that goes by the name of the War on Drugs. Sniffer dogs have been in action for the last 15 months, in localities as diverse as Nimbin, Cabramatta and inner Sydney nightclubs. Legislation to legalise them was passed by the NSW parliament late last year after a magistrate found that the use of the dogs constituted an unlawful search. There have been numerous incidents where the police have subjected non-drug users to humiliating public searches after dogs have mistakenly identified them as carrying drugs. The US Customs and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, we note, have been recruiting their sniffer dogs from the drop-outs at the New York Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. Maybe the 14 NSW dogs are not the brightest either. Another reason to let the poor mutts ñ and us ñ live in peace. RYAN IN THE SHIT Finally, let's hear something about Peter Ryan, the NSW Police Commissioner: "Until he can clean up the sewers of corruption in his own service, about which we are reminded every day and which even the Royal Commission couldn't fix, then that will be over my dead body ñ although one should perhaps not make jokes like that in New South Wales". That's Chris Puplick, NSW Privacy Commissioner, commenting last December on Ryan's proposal for compulsory ID cards. Costa Cops for Comment Some envious glances shot from the NSW ALP backbench when Michael Costa was elevated to Minister for Police after only 17 days experience in parliament. But jealousy may soon turn to pity as Costa struggles to put an acceptable public relations face on a deeply divided police force which has utterly failed to meet the challenge of reform posed by the Wood Royal Commission in time for its key role in Bob Carr's law and order re-election strategy. The shiny new minister has moved quickly to shore up the crumbling facade of the NSW Police, providing plum jobs to its most vocal critics and hobbling embarrassing inquiries into police malpractice. At the same time he has continued the NSW government policy of rolling back Wood Royal Commission reforms, with the formation of specialist crime squads and proposals to allow police to moonlight as security guards flying in the face of some of the strongest recommendations made by Justice Wood. Last year was not a good one for the image of the NSW police. The Qualitative and Strategic Audit of the Reform Process (QSARP) was not "terminated forthwith" as Commissioner Ryan had wished, but instead delivered a stinging indictment of a police administration which has lost its way on reform and failed to implement measures identified as vital to reducing corruption. A parliamentary inquiry into policing in Cabramatta produced a report which confirmed the QSARP findings ñ revealing a management culture of command by fear and a decision-making process totally out of touch with community experience of crime and policing or input from front line officers. More embarrassing has been the stream of stories of corruption and incompetence coming out of the Police Integrity Commission hearings all through 2001, with more set to come in 2002. In spite of careful media management of Operation Florida revelations of extensive bribery, framing of suspects and greenlighting of drug dealers in Sydney's northern beach suburbs, it remains to be seen whether the NSW public will swallow the government line that this is proof of a new "corruption-resistant" police force ñ especially given recent suggestions that the Florida investigators themselves engaged in corrupt practices. The argument will start to look increasingly tatty, in any case, later this year after Operation Rosella reports on police corruption in the Bankstown area and Operation Dakota reveals what it has discovered about serious misconduct among senior officers. That is, if they don't suffer the same fate as PIC Operation Malta. Malta had been holding hearings throughout 2001 into allegations of sabotage of reform from the top levels of police management and had already heard serious allegations against the highest ranking NSW police. Head of Internal Affairs, Mal Brammer, told the inquiry that Commissioner Ryan's implementation of Wood recommendations "bordered on maladministration", while other witnesses had identified Deputy Commissioner Ken Moroney as the head of the "Black Knights" ñ a group of senior police officers dedicated to sabotaging reform. Alarm bells first started ringing last November when Malta hearings were suspended shortly before Commissioner Ryan was due to give evidence ñ allegedly so that resources could be concentrated on Operation Florida. Suspicions that the fix was in were strengthened in January when the key counsel assisting the inquiry quit to become a Supreme Court judge ñ barely a month before he was to finally begin questioning Ryan. In a cynical move which seems to confirm the nobbling of Operation Malta, Ken Moroney has now been promoted to Senior Deputy Commissioner and given command of all anti-corruption operations. Unwilling or unable to address the deep and complex problems besetting the NSW police, Bob Carr has always preferred simplistic law and order rhetoric ñ so it is hardly surprising that he has sought help from its chief purveyor in NSW, Sydney shockjock Alan Jones. The situation was made clear to Michael Costa from the beginning when he was sent by the Premier to receive the Blessing of the Parrot before being appointed Police Minister. It has become even clearer to the people of NSW as a succession of 2UE staffers and Jones cronies have been appointed to key positions in advisory panels and the Police Ministry ñ with junk science "criminologist" Richard Basham the only member of Jones' inner circle yet to announce a prestigious new job. Jones himself has been offered a place on the board of the Police Citizens Youth Club ñ as has his fellow infotainer, Daily Telegraph editor Campbell Reid. It is not clear whether Australian Broadcasting Authority regulations will now require that Jones name the NSW Police Force as sponsor before delivering an "opinion" piece on law and order. Costa will have to do some impressive juggling over the next 12 months as he tries to please two masters ñ the Premier and the Parrot ñ while playing down corruption revelations, placating dissident police and maintaining the hypocritical "tough on crime" rhetoric of a government in election mode. If he fails, he will lose his ministry and perhaps the elections. If he succeeds, he will confirm himself as "Premier-in-waiting" as he condemns NSW to another term of rising police corruption and collapsing civil liberties. ROLLER COSTA Hardly a day goes by without some new act of repression in NSW. Since December Carr and Costa have passed laws allowing: ï the use of sniffer dogs around entertainment and public transport areas ï young people sentenced to juvenile to be transferred into adult jails when they turn 18 or 21 ï increased penalties for those who "harbour an escapee" ï increased maximum penalties for a whole range of "gang" related offences They've also halved the amount of cannabis people under 18 can carry for personal use without being charged (from 30 grams to 15) and proposed changes to the Bail Act which will create a presumption against bail for wide ranges of people, violating the presumption of innocence and breaching the principle that the refusal of bail should be the exception. And hell! The election's not even on till next year!! Terry Falconer: Killed in Custody Terry Falconer was on work release from Silverwater Prison at an Ingleburn car smash repair workshop on November 16 last year when he was taken away by three men, one wearing a police uniform. Two weeks later, a couple of men fishing in a boat at the Hastings River near Wauchope found dismembered human remains in a plastic industrial bag that had been wrapped in chicken wire and weighted with rocks. Police found five more bags containing dismembered remains near the high tide mark. The remains have been identified as Falconer's. Falconer, a father of adult children and former tow truck operator, was due to be released on parole on December 29, after serving five years. Corrective Services said he had been a model prisoner, qualifying for work release before his scheduled parole. According to the receptionist at the Ingleburn workshop, the men who abducted Falconer said they were from a police station, but she could not recall which one. Nor did she hear what they said to Falconer before he was pushed against a wall and handcuffed. They bundled him into a car and that was the last anyone saw of him until his remains were found. Detective Superintendent Kaldas said police were baffled as to the motive and the elaborate lengths taken to abduct him and conceal the killing. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Falconer was an exbikie convicted of manufacturing amphetamines and that his abductors were "posing" as police ñ the clear implication being that he was taken away and killed by other bikies. But was he? The Falconer case raises many questions and presents grave fears for the safety of prisoners on work release. How much training and information do employers and work colleagues of prisoners on work release get to prepare them for situations like this? And then: How did Falconer's kidnappers get a police uniform and/or other police identification? In December last year, at the inquiry into police corruption at Manly, it was revealed that former Manly detective David Phillip Patison had sold his badge for $2000 to a burglar who wanted to use it to rob people at dance parties. New police minister Michael Costa has said he's going to change the name of the Police Service to Police Force. He says it better reflects the "tougher approach" he wants the police to be taking, but is it really because he can't account for missing badges and uniforms? Anyhow, would this be the first time bikies have done a job for police, or vice versa? Remember, this is the state that gave the world Roger Rogerson and Neddy Smith! When Falconer's body was found the police announced that a task force had been set up, but there's been no news since. We wonder why? Falconer's murder puts the safety of the work release program in jeopardy and we call for a complete investigation of any police involvement in it. Meanwhile, prisoners on work release: Oppose any attempt by police (or people posing as police) to handcuff you or lead you off. Contact your prison governor if anyone claiming to be police approaches you at your workplace. Tell your workmates to be on the alert. Even in the fox hunt in England, the fox gets four minutes head start. Falconer got nothing. INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND: A HARSHER CLIMATE Over recent decades, New Zealand became famous for its restorative justice initiatives, particularly with young people, and for its attempts to incorporate traditional Maori methods of conflict resolution into the justice process. The dark shadow of the prison empire has now fallen over their efforts, but resistance continues. Activists Pat Magill, Kathy Dunstall and Rose Hollins report: Kathy Dunstall, Howard League for Penal Reform, Canterbury: In October 1995, as part of public sector reform, the rather benign Prison Division of the NZ Department of Justice was transformed into a glossier, stand-alone, Department of Corrections. With it came managerialism, greater centralism and control, national standards, and a new focus on outputs rather than outcomes. As a consequence, all aspects of imprisonment have become harsher, more controlled, more rigidly defined, more mean-spirited and less humane. Prison watchdog work has become even more demanding in such a climate. Alongside standard penal reform work ñ visiting prisons, organising lawyers, lobbying, making submissions and public statements ñ the League fields a constant stream of complaints from families of prisoners and prisoners throughout the country. These complaints cover a gamut of problems including abuses of legal rights, the rigidity of the new visiting regime (which turns away elderly parents, children, and out of town folk who are not in the computer system), excessive use of force by prison officers and increasing costs being transferred to prisoners and families for clothing, telephone calls, education and aspects of health care. As in Australia, public anxiety and fear about crime continues to be fuelled by political rhetoric, poor journalism and the victims' movement. A referendum during the 1999 general election overwhelmingly favoured harsher punishment, suggesting we are a punitive lot. Factual information about downward trends in violent crime, both internationally and locally, is ignored. Instead, this year, NZ will introduce tough new sentencing and parole reforms, moves likely to see less rather than more social justice and increased work for the League. Pat Magill, Napier Pilot City Trust: Years ago, I realised the stupidity of prison for most people, so I joined ICOPA (the International Conference on Penal Abolition) and soon became aware that many police, prison administrators, church people, lawyers, teachers, and even a few politicians, are also aware that using incarceration to solve our people problems is decadent. Yet we are unable, collectively, to move politicians towards effective prison reform. There remains, in this beautiful country, a mean, devious lobby of people intent on harsher penalties and the return of capital punishment. (Beware, Australia, of politicians who have no understanding of who comprise a community!) Here in Napier, a small conservative city of 55,000 people, we have the Sensible Sentencing Group, who want to deny parole and have longer sentencing and who threaten any politician whom they consider is "going soft on crime" with publishing their names before elections. Talk back and letters to the editor re longer sentencing are constant, and the Nats, who were denied participation in power by the Labour-led coalition, will be using law and order at the next election. They've just released a new policy: Life Will Mean Life. Maori incarceration is on the increase, and more prisons are to be built in areas where Maori predominantly live. Education in school and community about our founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, is very limited, and many Pakeha leaving school have little idea why many Maori are incarcerated. To me, this is very dangerous, as without some background of history, these coming young administrators will vote for the return of capital punishment (it was abolished in NZ in 1962), especially when society is looking to the USA and reverting to individualism and making more money, rather than collectivism. Somehow we are leaving too many behind. Sounds all doom and gloom, but someone has to give a prophetic warning, and hope we are wrong. Rose Hollins, Te Atatu Marae Coalition and many other things: As is the case elsewhere in the Western world, the NZ prison system is in expansion mode. Three jails are well-advanced in planning, in the mind of the Corrections Department anyway: at Ngawha Springs in Northland, Te Kauwhata in North Waikato (called South Auckland) and the women's in Manukatu City. However, local communities, especially Maori, are making concerted efforts to prevent them. Ngati Te Ata, a South Auckland-based Maori tribe renowned for its stroppy women, have come out publicly against the women's jail in Manukatu, as the site is wahi tapu (a sacred site), part of a huge area of very anciently settled volcanic "stonefields". Ngawha Springs, too, is wahi tapu, a (sacred) active geothermal field, and Northland Regional Council has refused to grant resource consents for the jail, on grounds of Maori cultural and spiritual concerns. The Crown is trying to get the refusal overruled at the Environment Court; the hearing recently finished with no decision due for two months. In North Waikato, the North Waikato Action Group is opposing both the jail and a nearby landfill project ñ five marae of local hapu (subtribes) are the backbone of local opposition to both plans. The strength of intersection in the issues and the clear-eyed rejection by locals of the idea of any results being beneficial, means the battle is far from over! ï NZ's rate of imprisonment is 150 per 100,000, second only to the US amongst Western nations ï 51% of male prisoners and 59% of female prisoners are Maori, although Maori comprise only 14.5% of the total population ï Complaints of racist comments and lack of culture programs and food feature large. ï Young prisoners have even been told to stop singing Maori waiata ï 70% of women prisoners are imprisoned outside the region where they normally reside; 56% of these women have dependent children and most of them were caring for their children single-handedly before they entered prison ï There is no provision for overnight accommodation of babies or children with their mothers in prison ï Women are routinely separated from their newborn babies when the baby is three days old ï Only some 50% of prisoners with major mental disorders had received any form of mental health treatment since entering prison, according to a 1999 study (the first detailed study ever done). Those with schizophrenia and related disorders had received the least treatment ï Four of seven planned youth prisons for males have been built since 1999 within adult prison complexes. Young people complain that they feel less safe in these units. WOMEN IN PRISON CONFERENCE International Women in Prison Conference "If this system is the answer, it must have been a bloody stupid question" ñ Women at BWCC, in their presentation to the Sisters Inside conference In November 2001, eight campaigners from Stop the Womens Jail travelled north to attend a gathering of feminist prison activists from all over the world. Brisbane-based organisation, Sisters Inside, played host to the State, National and International Women in Prison Conference for three days of challenging debates, intimate discussions and network meetings which brought together folks from all walks of life. The conference could not have been held at a more crucial time. As the speakers and participants stressed across the three days, more and more women are going to prison, for longer periods of time. The trend is global. All over the world women are the fastest growing group of the prison population and in countries such as Australia, USA and Canada, it is Indigenous women and women of colour who are being locked up at the highest proportional rate. The conference boasted a range of excellent local and international speakers, such as Melissa Lucashenko, Murri novelist and a founder of Sisters Inside, who attacked the complex issues of race and gender privilege, Aboriginal women and violence. "We are the people we've been waiting for," she stated, empowering us all to become the struggle and know our own wisdom. Angela Davis - former Black Panther, exprisoner, prison activist and academic - spoke on the Prison Industrial Complex as it relates to global trends, immigration, and the "War on Terror", and placed the struggle for prison abolition within a broader movement for social change. Amanda George, Victorian prison activist and criminal lawyer, spoke on the campaign against privatisation and the abuse of public funds to extract profit through the mistreatment of women in the former Deer Park women's prison. Kim Pate, from the Canadian association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, spoke about the Canadian situation, similarities with the plight of prisoners globally, and the importance of international coalitions. But the most credit goes to all the women ex-prisoners who spoke in the workshops and various panels. Your voices rang out loud and clear, and gave insightful and thought-provoking views on the prison system, the struggle of post-release, drugs, violence and many other important topics. You reminded us not only of the pain but the joys and solidarity that can come out of negative experiences like imprisonment. The participation of ex-prisoners was vital to the feel of the conference, and was strong enough to outweigh the unpleasant presence of some Corrective Services Staff (including the Governor of the BWCC, a tedious and embarrassing presentation) and their usual Government lies and recruitment drives (no we won't work for your jails!). On the other hand, some Corrective Services staff were seen in one panel actually taking notes. Yes! We reckon it's about time that Corrections staff sit in the audience and listen to different voices for a change. A highlight for SWJ was the Young Women in Detention workshop, which was wholly prepared by a group of girls inside Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and showed an awesome insight into how these intelligent and we thought damn ace girls manage their situation. The Violence panel was overwhelming in its content and the amount of information presented. Stop the Womens Jail had daily debriefing sessions where we shared our feelings on the good and bad of the day's proceedings. We talked about how the conference was highly emotive and information-heavy. We would have liked to have seen more discussion about what we can do to change the current situation, practical ways to help women as well as ways to stop women from going to jail, as well as time for strategic networking. This would have counterbalanced what can be fairly depressing information with a positive way of how to move forward. As an abolitionist campaign group, we were disappointed at how reform was discussed in the absence of long-term strategies for de-incarceration. Real reform, we believe, can't happen without stopping jail construction and shifting power in society at large in order to dismantle the conditions that lead to women going to jail. Perhaps a whole new conference? (Or a revolution?) All in all it was an excellent way for SWJ to consolidate a year's worth of hard work. It was great to be inspired by so many women ex-prisoners and prison activists and for us to realise that there is a support community of people struggling for change. Thanks go to the UTS Students Association, the Wollongong SRC, Bankstown SRC, Christine and the Wollongong kids and Justice Action for their finances and resources to get us up to Brisbane, as well as to Sisters Inside for their amazing effort in organising the conference. Also for helping us with registration costs. ï Sisters Inside is putting together a CD ROM of the conference papers: Contact Sisters Inside PO Box 3407, South Brisbane, Q 4101, ph 07 3844 5066 or email admin@sistersinside.com.au ï Stop the Womens Jail plans to run a series of workshops and discussions to share what we learnt from the conference and discuss ideas for campaign activity in 2002. If you want more info or to get involved please contact Justice Action. "When Mum Went to Jail" Illustration by Janine Clancy in Sisters Inside publication My Prison Experience, by JK. The Bankstown rape case late last year has brought the question of penalties for rape into glaring high relief. There has been media-fuelled public outrage, statements from the victims and their families to the effect that the judicial system is "protecting the defendants and not the victims and it's wrong", and calls for the offenders (all teenagers) to be strung up. There was also, however, a reaction from women in the form of a petition circulated on the Internet (see box next page), making it clear that the proponents of longer incarceration did not speak for them. As we go to press, appeals against the supposed "leniency" of the sentences imposed (5 to 6 years) are in process. As JA women we oppose violence against women (or anybody else) and do not condone it in any way whatsoever. We have participated, and will continue to participate, in Reclaim The Night and other women's initiatives to make our lives and bodies free from danger. But our opposition to violence against women does not mean that we are in favour of harsher custodial penalties for those convicted of rape. Prison brutalises. The longer the sentence, the more it brutalises. Prison fosters violence, including rape. Prison produces a permanent underculture of people with little stake in broader community values. Prison doesn't rehabilitate. Nor does it mean that we consider rape is adequately dealt with in the current judicial system, marked by patriarchal thinking and an adversarial court system. Time was that women didn't even report rape in the first place because they thought/knew they'd get nowhere, or be called a slut, or be told it was their fault for being stupid, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, for sending the wrong messages etc. It was not so long ago that rape was seen as more an offence against the man who "owned" the victim than against the woman herself. (Rape within marriage wasn't made illegal until 1984.) If you didn't belong to any man in particular, you had a hard time proving you'd been raped ñ you were obviously "fair game" for all. It was also not so long ago that rape victims were allowed to be torn to shreds in court under defence crossexamination. In fact, all of the above is still happening. Rape victims often feel they've been dudded by the process: that their pain, their suffering, their experience has not been acknowledged. This was one of the issues in the Bankstown rape case too. A criminal justice system built primarily on a philosophy of vengeance and punishment does not produce fairness, to either victims or offenders. Vivien Stern, Secretary-General of Penal Reform International, says: In the current retributive system victims are left out. An offence is against the state. The process by which we deal with convicted people minimises rather than increases a sense of responsibility. What happens to people who are caught and convicted? They are put through a process that teaches them to think only of what is happening to them. They might be guilty, but it is up to the state to prove it. If there is any chance of their being found not guilty they will plead not guilty. All these processes come between the criminal and admitting an obligation to another human being who has been wronged. We believe the answer should be looked for in restorative and transformative justice rather than retribution. Restorative justice seeks to redefine crime, interpreting it not so much as breaking the law, or offending against the state, but as an injury to another person or persons. It is essentially community-based, it encourages the acceptance of responsibility by all concerned, and it draws on the strengths of the community to restore (or bring about) peace. It both obliges and enables the offender to be accountable. It enables the victim to heal. Restorative justice has demonstrated its efficacy in cases such as arson, drunk driving, aggravated robbery, fraud and assault. However, one crucial part of a restorative justice process is usually a conference between victim and offender, in the presence of the offender's family and the victim's support people, guided by a facilitator. Because of the power the rapist has held over his victim, such a direct confrontation is likely to revictimise the victim. "Restorative justice" in a patriarchal framework would be a nightmare. New Zealand's Restorative Justice Network argues, though, that restorative justice principles might still have application: Restorative justice is a philosophy that calls for lateral thinking and its hallmark is flexibility. It must therefore contain a broad vision and a wide scope. For example, one might expect that a victim of serious sexual assault might not want to initially be part of a restorative process. But that may change. Such victims may in time wish to be part of the process. Most victims above all else want acknowledgement by the offender that they have been wronged Š Surely more than most others, violent offenders need to see the effects of their offences and face the consequences of their actions. Restorative processes offer that opportunity. (Restorative Justice ñ Contemporary Themes and Practice) Meanwhile, one possibility is for the victim's family (the "secondary victims") to speak on her behalf. Another idea, which cropped up in the course of discussions about this article, is to use the writings that rape victims often do as part of their therapy. These might be read out to the offender by somebody else, without the victim having to actually be present. One limitation on restorative justice is that most commonly a restorative justice conference is held when an offender indicates a willingness to plead guilty. If this is not so, it's harder ñ in the case of rape, pretty much impossible, we'd say. For the foreseeable future, anyway, there will clearly be times when it will be necessary to remove an offender from the community, for the sake of women's safety. But this doesn't mean, either, that we have to resign ourselves to accepting the present horrible prison system as it is. We can look at other resources and options for both prevention and protection. This leads us into transformative justice, a wider communal effort, of which restorative justice is an important part, that seeks to solve the systemic issues created by class, race and gender divisions. In the aftermath of the Bankstown rape case, there was no announcement of educational programs to target schools in the area or anywhere else. Funding for the NSW Rape Crisis Centre has never been quite adequate, even for counselling and support services; its budget for community preventative education has been practically nonexistent. Violent behaviour can be a symptom of trauma; it can become the norm in families where there have been cumulative intergenerational impacts of trauma on trauma on trauma, expressing themselves in present generations in violence on self and on others. This is of relevance to Aboriginal communities, which have suffered and are still suffering invasion and colonisation. It is also of relevance to migrant communities, born of war-torn countries and now enduring racism and economic disadvantage in Australia. The Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody acknowledged appalling levels of violence (including rape) against Aboriginal women and children and one of the objectives of its recommendations was to reduce the custody rates of young Indigenous men. Despite this, the Aboriginal academic Judy Atkinson notes, there was not one recommendation out of the 339 which allowed for women as victims of domestic violence and/or rape, or as the wives, daughters, mothers and grandmothers of violent offenders, to access funds for services in this regard ("A Nation is Not Conquered", Indigenous Law Bulletin, Vol. 3 No. 80, May 1996). She also says that she constantly sits with men who are concerned about male (sometimes their own) behaviours and who voice rising frustration and concern at the lack of support in establishing programs for Aboriginal men who are violent. Rape is men's business; men (including men prison activists) should be condemning it, analysing its causes, and committing themselves to eliminating it. Clearly there's a long way to go in the transformative justice aspect of dealing with rape and other forms of violence against women. We don't expect solutions to come easily, and we don't expect them to come without strong independent community movements committed to affirming the human worth and dignity of both men and women. In the US, Incite!, an organisation of radical feminists of colour, and the prison activist group Critical Resistance have been getting together with other organisations to discuss and strategise about the connections among sexual/domestic violence, racism and colonialism in the lives of women of colour, with the aim of building a movement to end violence against women of colour in all its forms: state-sponsored as well as sexual/domestic. Their conferences (one of which will be held in Chicago this March) must be an amazing intersection of approaches and experiences. There's a lot more we need to know about what's working, what's not, and what will work in the long term. But this we do know: The patriarchal prisonindustrial complex does not have our interests, as women, at heart. And we oppose any attempt to use our demand for safety as an excuse to expand it. Not In Our Name. Badge from the campaign to make public transport safe for women at night (and any time) R E C L A I M I N G J U S T I C E PLEA FOR REAL SOLUTIONS TO SEXUAL ASSAULT ñ FROM THE WOMEN OF AUSTRALIA We the undersigned are seriously concerned at the continuing high levels of sexual assault in the community and the low level of conviction even amongst reported cases. However, we object to the political and racist use of the problem to gain cheap political points. We urgently appeal to the Government and Opposition in NSW to address these problems. We oppose life sentences for sexual assault in company for the following reasons: ï If sexual assault in company and murder carry the same maximum penalty then offenders might more commonly resort to murder in order to eliminate the witness of their crime. ï In the 1980s the life sentence option for sexual assault was repealed as it resulted in fewer guilty pleas and fewer convictions. ï International experience of incarceration has shown that longer sentences do not act as an effective deterrent. ï Greater social and economic investment is urgently needed in education, re-education and rehabilitation to change the behaviour of those who commit or are at risk of committing sexual assault. We urgently appeal to the NSW Premier to withdraw his legislation and look for other ways to reduce all forms of sexual assault. In the name of the estimated 100,000 women who suffer sexual assault each year in this country, we urge the Premier to find genuine ways to reducing the incidence of this terrible crime. JOHN KLOK: WHAT NAGLE SAID One of the first things Woodham did was appoint John Klok Acting Senior Assistant Commissioner. Justice Nagle, in his Report on the Royal Commission into NSW Prisons, 1978, had a lot to say about Klok, who was a prison officer at Bathurst in the early 70s. On 19 October 1970, there was a riot at Bathurst provoked by appalling conditions; the prisoners surrendered in the afternoon on an assurance that there would be no "biff" (physical assault by way of reprisal). Resentful at not being allowed to suppress the riot with physical force, a number of prison officers (not all) formed groups the next morning and went from cell to cell, hauling inmates out and beating them up with batons. Ringleaders ñ or those believed to be ringleaders ñ were singled out for special punishment, but even prisoners who had not taken part in the riot were bashed. Justice Nagle, in his Report on the Royal Commission into NSW Prisons, 1978, describes the episode as "a disgrace in terms of ordinary human behaviour and repellent to any standard of decency to be expected of a prison system" (p.61). He reported about Klok specifically: Prisoner JV Bobak was in a cell on the top landing of C Wing, with another prisoner. A number of officers entered the cell. They included Prison Officers Mutton, Klok and Milton. Mutton hit Bobak on the head with a baton, sending him to the floor with blood running from the wound. He was kicked while on the floor, then thrown against the wall. He stood against the wall and was hit with batons on the arms, neck and back. He described them as really hard blows and said that he screamed as he was being hit. Prison Officer Klok denied the allegations, but the Commission does not accept his denial. (p.58) Š Prisoner Officer Aitken hit a prisoner Brian Castle with a wooden baton, without reason ... Later Castle, in a semi-conscious condition, was hit by Prison Officer Klok, opening up a bad scalp wound. Klok's denial is not accepted. (p.59) Prisoner JA Kelly heard prison officers entering B Wing and the opening of cell doors on the ground floor. Soon afterwards, he heard a lot of banging and crashing, screaming and yelling. He and the other three prisoners in the cell with him barricaded the door with mattresses as the sounds came nearer. The door was eventually opened by prison officer Mutton, who ordered them to throw out their weapons and threatened them with a steam hose if they did not. Weapons were thrown out and the prisoners left the cell. They were ordered to strip. One of the prisoners in the cell with Kelly was AT ("Meggsy") Morrison. Before he was able to remove all his clothing, he was hit with batons and fists by Prison Officers Mutton, Klok, Best, Draper, Judd and Morgan Š Kelly was placed in a separate cell, and Prison Officers Mutton, Klok, Tuck and Best entered it. Kelly was told to spreadeagle himself against the wall, and he was then struck a large number of blows with batons over the head, neck, back, legs and feet. He received injuries to an ankle and his mouth was split. (p.59) A prisoner who had been a spokesman [in the negotiations to end the riot the previous day] was Errol Baker. Prison Officer Atkins saw Prison Officers Aitken and Klok hit Baker, who apparently possessed a knife. They continued to hit Baker even after he had been disarmed Š Prison Officer Klok said that he did not know Baker. He said that he had had to disarm a dozen or more prisoners with knives or similar weapons, and did no more than use his rubber baton to strike these prisoners over the forearm or shoulders to make them drop their weapons. He denied continuing to hit any prisoner after he had been disarmed. The Commission accepts the evidence of Prison Officer Atkins and finds that Prison Officers Aitken and Klok applied unjustified force in continuing to hit Baker after he had been disarmed. (p.60) Klok was still working at Bathurst three and a half years later, when the big riot occurred in February 1974. Again Nagle mentions Klok by name for his part in the repression which followed. In the aftermath of the insurrection, surrendered prisoners were taken out of a yard, where they had been held overnight, for transfer to Sydney; in the process they were subjected to strip searches and some were bashed. Klok, says Nagle: Š hit a prisoner called Bloomfield with his fist three times. Klok was six feet five and a half inches tall and weighed nineteen and a half stone. Bloomfield was five feet eight inches tall and weighed less than ten stone. Klok's denial of the incident is not accepted. This was a disgraceful assault. (p.102) This is the man Woodham has appointed. No wonder the NSW Upper House wants to know what's going on in Corrective Services. On 21 March it was announced that the NSW Upper House will hold an inquiry into Ron Woodham, the newly-appointed Commissioner for Corrective Services, popularly known as Rotten Ron. Woodham, whose appointment was announced in January this year, is the first lock-level prison officer to hold the post in the Department's 128-year history, and has wielded power in the malignant law enforcement system for decades. Insiders found his appointment as Commissioner unbelievable and sinister. For some of the information that's given rise to the inquiry, see articles on this page and the next. The inquiry will be conducted by the NSW Upper House General Purpose Standing Committee No. 3, which comprises 3 Labor, 2 Liberals and 2 crossbenchers. The terms of reference are wide. Briefly they are to inquire into the appointment of Woodham and senior officers of the department (including Acting Senior Assistant Commissioner John Klok) and they will also be looking at the relationship between senior officers and inmates to ensure professionalism and integrity. Prisoners inside jails see a chance for hope in this Inquiry, and have expressed a personal and group discipline to help it happen. We have the opportunity for change in the NSW prison system before us. The Inquiry will be starting as early as the end of April. We're collating material to present to the inquiry. Anyone with personal involvement with these people should get the info to us ASAP. New Commissioner Ron Woodham WOODHAM: THE CV ï 1965: Joins the prison service and rises through the ranks to officer in charge of the farm at Long Bay. Becomes famous for his disciplinary measures on the woodheap, to which prison "boys" aged 18-21 are assigned for punishment. ï About 1977: Starts up the Malabar Security Unit, which later develops the Malabar Emergency Unit, an empire of commando-style teams (which he calls "my wild men") specialising in putting down riots, handling hostagetaking and shanghai-ing troublemakers. The MEU acquires rifles with image-enhancing scopes, a mobile air chamber fitted with fans, a microphone that listens through doors and windows, an emergency response truck equipped with $500,000 of gear, and a HERV (a thing like a tea tray on wheels for use in hostage situations). Other prison officers describe the MEU as Rambos, and grumble that money is never a problem when it comes to buying Woodham his toys. MEU men, hand-picked by Woodham, start making their way into the many senior positions throughout the prison system which they now occupy. ï 1970s: Grafton continues to be ñ as it has been since 1943 ñ a prison where prisoners classified as "intractable" are sent in order to be subjected to an infamous regime of brutality. As head of the MEU, one of Woodham's jobs is to take "intractables" out of normal prison communities and transport them to Grafton. Part of the regime they are subjected to is a "reception biff" consisting of a physical beating by two or three officers using rubber batons. ï 1978: Justice Nagle hands down his Report on the Royal Commission into NSW Prisons. Concludes that "every prison officer who served at Grafton during the time it was used as a gaol for intractables must have known of its brutal regime." Woodham, however, is not named. ï 1985: Prison officer Roger Cumming, a marksman in Woodham's Hostage Response Group, is shot with a blank round in the groin during a joint police/prison officer training exercise and loses a testicle. Cumming successfully sues for negligence. Woodham admits that it was decided that "for the sake of the exercise" the police report on the incident would say, falsely, that Cumming had accidentally shot himself. Woodham also admits visiting Cumming in hospital, but denies that he tried to persuade him to go along with this version of events. Cumming gets $160,000 for physical injury, psychological trauma and loss of career. Woodham survives and prospers. ï 1985: Founds the notorious IIU (Internal Investigation Unit), supposedly to tackle corruption among officers and drugs in the prison population. Builds up another empire to complement the MEU hardware: a network of prisoner spies constructed on a combination of threats and promises. One such informant describes Woodham as a "bizarre man who controlled my life by terror tactics"; another describes him as "powerful and vindictive". An atmosphere of distrust and suspicion pervades the prison system. One prison officer is awarded $150,000 compensation after being on the receiving end of Woodham's heavyhanded investigative tactics. As for his prisoner spies, they live in constant fear of retribution, and eventually "Dog Hilton", a prison-within-aprison at Long Bay, has to be built to house them. Woodham survives and prospers. ï Late 1980s: Anthony Denison, a prisoner at Cessnock, alleges that Superintendent Joe Baldwin, then in charge of the prison, has offered him early parole if he does not give evidence against two prison officers in a sexual harassment case. Woodham as head of the IIU decides to take no action, even though he believes the charge. He later tells ICAC that he and Baldwin are "very good friends". ï Late 1980s: Enquires into the bashing of prisoner Maria Jason by two prison officers at Mulawa. Produces a report that virtually exonerates the officers, recommends that no action be taken against them, and criticises an officer who had reported the assault. Ombudsman's office eventually reinvestigates. Is highly critical of Woodham's report, saying it "amounted to wrong conduct". Considers his criticism of the whistleblower "disgraceful". Recommends he be reprimanded. The two officers who assaulted Maria Jason are sacked. Woodham survives and prospers. ï Late 1980s: Woodham has an argument with John Horton, then director of prison operations and potential Commissioner, and tells him: "Don't you give me orders. The man who owns the guns has the power around here." A report by Woodham on Horton, based on surveillance years before, is mysteriously leaked. Horton's career crashes. Woodham survives and prospers. ï 1991: ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) launches investigation into the use of prison informers. Hears allegations that Woodham has surreptiously taperecorded conversations with prisoners, offered to alter a prison officer's file, urged prisoners to fabricate evidence about a prison murder, and leaked information that led to the bashing of an informer. Woodham denies any impropriety, but does admit that he "bent over backwards" to get an early release for William Cavanough, who as well as being one of his informers was, according to ICAC, also a drug dealer, standover man and all round thug. ï November 1991, in the midst of the ICAC inquiry: Is appointed acting assistant commissioner in charge of prisons operations, thus gaining control of the fastest growing public service fiefdom in NSW. ï 1993: ICAC hands down its report. Commissioner Ian Temby rejects almost all allegations against Woodham due to lack of evidence. He does find him corrupt in relation to the Cavanough business, but a court later throws the finding out. Woodham survives and prospers. ï 1997: Is promoted to Senior Assistant Commissioner in charge of inmate and custodial services. ï 2001: Inspector-General of Prisons refers to ICAC an investigation into rorting of the DCS promotion system involving Woodham. ï 11 January 2002: Achieves his life ambition. Named Commissioner. Sources: Sydney Morning Herald 29 July 1989, 24 July 1991, 25 July 1991, 26 July 1991, 15 August 1991, 3 September 1991, 14 September 1991, 23 November 1991; NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard, 11 March 1993; Woodham v ICAC judgement 25 June 1993; exprisoners' personal recollections. "WE DON'T CARE" Statements of the Program Manager and the Area Manager to inmates at recent Classo Meetings at Bathurst, as heard by prisoners: "You only get the legal files we decide that you can have." "We are not interested in your Court Order or what the Court says, we can make the decision as to what you have or don't have. We don't have to follow Court orders. It's a security issue, that's how we get over that." "There is no obligation for us to give you access to your legal papers." "There is no obligation upon us to give you legal access to library resources or anything else. We don't have to and we won't." "We don't care what the Ombudsman says, you are not to see the Governor unless she wants to see you." "If you make any complaints, you will keep your present Classo and be on the first truck to Grafton." The Australian Prisoners Union, set up in 1999, is an organisation of prisoners formed in the knowledge that outside groups (such as JA) will support its actions and advocate on its behalf. Prisoners: If you want to be on the APU list to get Framed and other stuff like Xmas cards, write in and tell us. We'll also send you APU letterhead if you want it. Assad Barakat told prison officers he would be killed if he was sent to Parklea prison. But the 23 year old, arrested for allegedly selling cocaine, was sent there regardless and within an hour of his arrival on January 4 he was lying in the exercise yard in a pool of his blood, dead of stab wounds to the heart. According to police and Corrective Services, Barakat "got involved in a fight between rival gangs". Corrective Services have offered no explanation as to how rival gangs come to be yarded together in Parklea. Parklea prison has a long history of abuse and violence, much of it going back to its time as home of the "Young Offenders Program". In 1998 NSW Magistrate David Heilpern published findings indicating that Parklea had the highest rate of prison rape in NSW, with 40% of prisoners under 25 reporting being victims. Now Parklea prison is being used to house remandees ñ in spite of the welldocumented increased risk of assault, rape, self-harm and suicide. Parklea prison has become a stark example of the failure of NSW Corrective Services to exercise its duty of care to prisoners. Why Assad Barakat was sent there by Corrective Services over his objections may never be known, but it clearly wasn't done out of concern for his health and wellbeing. (continued from page 1) "You show us respect, and we will respect you". These poignant words, on display at the reception area of the Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre (MRRC) at Silverwater, are as far from the truth as you can get in one sentence. The Centre ignores the fact that most of the inmates are not criminals, or "crims" as they are called by the custodial staff. They are accused persons. Why are "accused persons" therefore subjected to conduct which includes common assault, gassing, beatings, death by negligence or denials of basic legal rights which, in some cases, is the major contributing factor in obtaining convictions? I have experienced: ï Being locked into a cell in the Darcy Pod which had previously been a death cell. Blood on the floor, mattress blood-stained. No cleaning materials provided, no time to clean. Pushed in and shut the door. I have no history of violence. ï Not being provided with basics such as toothbrushes, soap, towels, for three days. ï Being assaulted by the MEU when they were doing a cell search. I asked to watch them conduct the search and was grabbed by the throat, pushed up against the wall and told: "You got something to fear". When I said, "Yes, my rights" I was savagely pushed into the wall. Pod 13 is now so badly run that it is becoming a tension focus. The squad were going to gas the pod recently. An officer said to me, "We were going to gas them and give a few of them a flogging". What are the problems? For example: Whilst there for a few days, I was not given phone access ñ the phone registration forms are only sent in once a week. When I got phone access finally, it was only for one phone call as the accounts are only credited once a week. On two occasions there was a lack of meals and the custodial staff tried to lock inmates in at 3.30 with no provision of an evening meal. It was only after several inmates grabbed hold of a custodial staff member that this practice stopped. There is not sufficient linen, not enough sheets and inmates are forced to share rolls of toilet paper as there is inadequate stock management. Access to the library for reading materials and legal works is the latest joke. Only opened occasionally, for one hour, MRRC refuses written requests to the library, even formal "blueys" are never processed. This solves the problem. People on remand sometimes take months to type simple instructions to their lawyers. Complaints of mail censorship are endemic. Letters to members of parliament or to Prisoners Action Movements are censored. The method of censorship is "put it in the bin". Despite the fact that this is sealed mail, with a stamp, the custodial staff just destroy it. The visitors' section is a disaster. Families are told in the morning that inmates are there, bookings are confirmed and then, when visitors arrive, the inmate has already left on an escort. There is no connection between the transport and visitors, so many inmates are traumatised by knowing their family has arrived in the visitors' section and they are in the holding cells waiting relocation. This is particularly harmful for country inmates where travel times are extreme. AND THIS IS FOR NON-SENTENCED INMATES Name withheld for obvious reasons [Ed's Notes: For those on the outside: The MEU is the Malabar Emergency Unit, i.e. the riot squad, which was headed by Ron Woodham for many years ñ see page 11. "Pod" is the latest administrative term for a section of a jail ñ peas in a pod, maybe. A "bluey" is an application or statement form, with a unique registration number on it, provided to prisoners as the official way in which they can communicate requests etc to prison administration.] Each morning the sun rises highlighting the sombre grey forbidding structure of Long Bay prison. Unbeknown to the average Australian, a large number of prisoners are starting the day with a cocktail of drugs, designed to dull the confusion and pain that this evergrowing number of prisoners feel. We the responsible citizens of NSW and ultimately Australia are blindly allowing the governments to criminalise illness. The shocking truth is while the number of people suffering some form of mental illness skyrockets throughout Australia, less and less resources are being made available. At the Conference on Mental Health, Criminal Justice and Corrections, held in Sydney in October last year, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr Sev Ozdowski, told us that 1.8 million Australians suffer from some form of mental illness, but, as many of these people have multiple diagnoses, the real figure is only around one million. God forbid. Is that all. I have looked closely at the alarming number of people being imprisoned for being mentally ill and took time out at the conference to speak to Mr Ron Woodham, then Senior Assistant Commissioner for Inmate Services at DCS [and now Commissioner ñ see page 11. Ed.]. I asked Mr Woodham why were there around 1200 people in prison just because they were sick; he informed me I was wrong ñ there were only about a thousand, and if I listened to his presentation I would see he was personally doing something about it. I did listen and yes, he has allocated $400,000 for a house to care for 10 to 14 of these men and women held illegally by uncaring governments because it is cheaper to jail the sick than treat them. Let all the governments of Australia be on notice: Over 6000 deaths a year are a direct result of governments' neglect in the area of mental illness and sooner rather than later people will begin to sound the legal alarm bells. Is it then, and only then, when faced with huge compensation claims, that the ill will be properly taken care of? I'm Eric McCormack ñ take me on in any form that stops the imprisonment of the sick. I'm awake ñ oh was I asleep, that's strange! Sorry! My thoughts were entangling in my mind strongly about some of the many issues and experiences that have happened to me whilst still getting over the fact that I am actually in gaol again. Being back in Mulawa ñ spending only a few weeks outside & I wouldn't call that freedom because alcohol/ drugs attack me as soon as I face freedom. Girls' faces that are so familiar they appear in my dreams, whether imaginative or a nightmare. Lately I'm beginning to feel a part of this place like an old brick in one of the many buildings floating around the compound. The first time being in here, I said to myself, "This is the first and last time & I will never be back" & I cringe when I hear the first timers say this as that was me & now this is my 5th time inside ñ "Why?" ñ because of my addiction to alcohol/drugs which draws me like a magnet to crime & I am no criminal but a woman who has problems & needs help with my underlying issues. I don't believe someone with a drug/alcohol problem should be locked up, but be rehabilitated. They are in the process of building another women's prison at Windsor? I am strongly against this ñ they could easily build more houses in the large area at Emu Plains? But I believe the precious money, that so many do not even have a chance of knowing about in this poorrich man's society, should & would be more productive on rehabilitation centres, re-integration centres for the women who want & need to find themselves and their lives again ñ not only for themselves but for their families and children. So much is being wasted in gaols ñ the food you wouldn't believe the amount ñ it could feed Africa, East Timor, Taliban etc. Which makes me so angry and upset! I don't want to be locked up & believe I shouldn't be also. I want to be with loved ones, I want to be successful. It's the evil of alcohol/drugs that so easily entices me & wants to destroy me ñ that's the hardest part of all: Yes or No & knowing where the consequences lead to, and by now I should know! & am sure a lot of you girls and guys inside know too? So just say No & be proud & get stronger & love yourselves, let go of the past & move into a future that can be filled with love and happiness and peace that we do deserve if you believe in yourself. With my hope to you all inside. Kelly-Maree Hogan [Ed: Letter edited for length] FROM INSIDE Survival I got bashed, but I survived, Three broken ribs and two black eyes They did it on one Sunday afternoon I was punched on the floor, up in my room. I'm a quiet type, I don't scream and shout I'm really timid, but they wanted a bout. Two onto one, well it's not fair A messed up face and blood in my hair They knocked me down, onto the floor I couldn't get up, nor get out the door I fought back but they were on me Pummelled my head, I could not see "Clean up the blood" they said as they left I was alone in my hell and I needed a rest. I was sore and sorry, but there was more to my hell Another two came into my cell A punch in my ribs and I was really in pain The trouble was, they did it again and again Where were my friends while all this happened Taking no notice and playing backgammon I didn't want my wife to see me on the visit I had two black eyes, but I survived it. Micky Junee Held Captive Another planetary rotation Pondering isolation My solitary contemplation Mere mental masturbation? Seeking elevation To rise above this stagnation Another cancellation A ludicrous situation Monitored conversation Hasty communication No lengthy dissertation A meaningless amalgamation You want an explanation? "Held captive by the corporation". Matt Convey Fulham Flight This is Astral Airways Liberation Flight. To Freedom Via Loveland Now boarding At Runway Hopes & Dreams Tom Carroll Natasha Lee Samuels I was going to send this to a Koori friend in Bathurst Gaol. Hope they receive Framed at Bathurst? This is my meaning or interpretation of the drawing but you could see your own things (meaning) through it. Natasha Lee Samuels Done while at Mulawa Correctional Centre Code ï The circles represent me, or us, as people on our own when we come to jail ïThe lines are when we meet others in here that we can relate to ïThe handprint in all its different colours [which unfortunately we can't reproduce ñ Ed.] shows us all the different races and nations here in jail ï This heart and lock shows you how all of our hearts and inner selves are locked away while we are in here ï The tears are the ones that we have shed by being in here ï The eggs represent the newcomers ï This snake is our jail and that's what's locking each and every one of us within our own selves up ï The face inside the snake wants to look out towards freedom, the stars, and because I cannot see them it brings the tears which fall FROM INSIDE FROM INSIDE FROM INSIDE FROM INSIDE Are you in custody, seeking bail or facing criminal charges? Contact an experienced Criminal Advocate. Rodney C Van Houten Solicitor & Barrister Public Notary Specialising in Criminal Law Van Houten Solicitors & Barristers Telephone: (02) 9890 9669 Mobile: 0412 200 175 (24 hours) Pager: (02) 9430 6451 (24 hours) Level 2, Suite 9, 374 Church Street, Parramatta We instruct experienced Criminal Law Barristers Mr Charles McNamara Barrister-at-Law 5 short films about women in prison Stranger Baby Productions, USA Released, the result of a collaboration between filmmakers, exprisoners and artists, brings together 5 short docos to give a kaleidoscopic spin on various issues to do with women's imprisonment and institutionalisation. It is a fastpaced depiction of the multidimensional facets of incarceration, weaving in and out of the surrounding issues and conditions of our society. JA has a copy! Contact Alecia. Revolving Door System Processed like cattle then onto the truck Fodder for the system ñ no one gives a fuck Enemies of society, out of sight and sound Screws do as they please, paid to keep us down Rotting away in cells, wandering 'round the yard A useless fucken existence, staring through the bars Some of us got months, some of us got years You lock away your Œcriminals' but still you live in fear Treat us like outcasts, treat us like a plague Is it any wonder so many choose to stay? Revolving door system running at a profit Money to be made ñ that's why they won't stop it Š Matt Convey Fulham F R O M I N S I D E NAME ADDRESS POSTCODE I ENCLOSE $10 $20 $50 I WOULD LIKE TO DONATE $TOWARD THE PUBLICATION OF Framed FOR FOUR ISSUES: UNWAGED $10, Framed IS THE MAGAZINE OF JUSTICE ACTION. EDITED BY LYDIA REDLANDS GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRINTING BY BREAKOUT DESIGN + PRINT WE WELCOME MATERIALS, SUGGESTIONS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, PHOTOS & GRAPHICS, RELEVANT PRINT AND MEDIA REVIEWS AND ANY QUERIES. WE ENCOURAGE REPRINTING OF THE MATERIAL WITH CREDITING MADE TO Framed AND A COPY OF THE REPRINT SENT TO THE EDITOR. VIEWS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES ARE CONTRIBUTORS' OWN AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF JUSTICE ACTION. STATEMENTS OF FACT ARE BELIEVED TO BE TRUE, BUT NO LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IS ACCEPTED FOR THEM. Justice Action acknowledges the NSW Department of Correctional Services for enabling distribution of Framed to prisons without censure, in the best tradition of freedom of expression. JA has undertaken to put any critical material naming prison staff, to such persons, for them to respond prior to publication. Framed is circulated free of charge to prisons in all states and territories except NT. JA recognises that Sovereignty of this Land was never ceded. This is Aboriginal Land. Always was, always will be. We acknowledge and thank the traditional owners of the Land where we are based, the Eora/Gadigal Peoples. Send contributions to PO Box 386, Broadway NSW 2007 Phone: (02) 9281 5100 Fax: (02) 9281 5303 E-MAIL: ja@justiceaction.org.au Justice Action & Framed home page: www.justiceaction.org.au SUBSCRIBE! Black Deaths in Custody It's not only the Aboriginal culture that suffers deaths in custody but all cultures all over the world. Why is this happening? I feel strongly about this as this happened to my cousin in custody, from a small country town. I have written the following about my feelings on this: He went to the hotel for a drink, then was thrown in the clink. Why was he put there, it wasn't fair! Was it? The colour of his skin ñ was that the reason that they put him in? They found him hung in his cell Hanging high as a bell. How could he get up there, cause in the cell there was no chair He could not climb on the roof, then again we have no proof? There were some hung down below; of those we'll never know. But why would he take his own life? He wasn't in real strife. Something there is surely missing; we really needed the Royal Commission! It's not only the male population but the female population. This is so wrong, how can we have justice in this world? Natasha Lee Samuels Mulawa RELEASED This year ICOPA, the biennial International Conference on Penal Abolition, is being held in Lagos, Nigeria. JA will be there ñ with bells on. Dates are August 24thñ29th. Registration $150 US Anyone interested in going? Contact JA or e-mail the organisers at prawa@linkserve.com.ng