Aborigine race row deepens as more officers are exonerated

By Kathy Marks in Sydney

Friday, 18 March 2011

Mulrunji Doomadgee died in a police cell with his liver 'virtually cleaved in two'

Mulrunji Doomadgee died in a police cell with his liver 'virtually cleaved in two'

Two decades ago, Queensland – then governed by an ultra-right-wing premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, with the help of a corrupt and brutal police force – was known as Australia's "Deep North". Now some are wondering if much has changed, following a decision not to take disciplinary action against officers involved in the case of an Aboriginal man who died in police custody.

Arrested for drunkenness and swearing, 36-year-old Mulrunji Doomadgee bled to death on the floor of a police cell on Palm Island, a former Aboriginal penal colony off the Queensland coast, in 2004. He had four broken ribs and a liver "virtually cleaved in two", the kind of injuries usually seen only after a high-speed car crash.

An inquest found that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley caused the injuries by punching Mr Doomadgee in the stomach during a struggle. In 2007, in a bitter blow to the dead man's family, Sgt Hurley was acquitted of manslaughter.

This week the family's anguish was compounded when Queensland Police announced that no action will be taken against six other officers. The six were not involved in Mr Doomadgee's death, but investigated Sgt Hurley's conduct. They included two friends of his, whom he picked up from the airport when they flew into Palm Island to begin their inquiry, before cooking them a meal at his home and sharing a few beers.

Queensland's anti-corruption watchdog, the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) – set up after a Royal commission in 1989 found corruption in the police force and state government – denounced the investigation and a subsequent internal review as a cover-up.

The case was then handed to the Deputy Commissioner, Kathy Rynders, who concluded the officers should face only "managerial guidance". The decision outraged not only the CMC, whose chairman, Martin Moynihan, called it "incomprehensible", but also Mr Doomadgee's family, still waiting for justice six years on. To many, the legal and political saga symbolises the inequities and racism still faced by indigenous Australians. The mayor of Palm Island, Alf Lacey, said the failure to discipline officers had set back relations between police and Aboriginal people by a decade.

The death of Mr Doomadegee, who had never been in trouble with the law, sparked riots on Palm Island. Those involved were swiftly jailed. Mr Lacey observed last year: "If those [investigating] police did wrong, they should be put in jail, just like the rioters. Black or white, what do you say when the system supposed to protect you fails you?"

Thirty-four police officers received bravery awards following the riots. On Palm Island, meanwhile, the community is still grieving. Mr Doomadgee's only son, Eric, hanged himself in 2006.

Sgt Hurley is now an acting inspector on Queensland's Gold Coast. One of the officers involved in the investigation – which the coroner, Brian Hine, found riddled with lies – has also been promoted. Another has retired on medical grounds; a third is on unpaid leave. The other three are still in the Queensland force. The state Premier, Anna Bligh, said this week that the police disciplinary process was being reviewed.

  • 2blue
    You need to get out more mate. The UK certainly has a long way to go but if you take a look at Africa or say the Middle East or perhaps parts of Latin America you will find plenty of countries with far worse records on racism, facism, classism and sexism than the UK. Wake up.
  • DeclanAhern
    Ian Tomlinson did not resist arrest, and look what happened to him! The public understand that many police officers do a difficult, dangerous and unpleasant job whether in Australia or the UK but that does not excuse unprofessional conduct or, when such behaviour is exposed, the failure of the police themselves, the IPCC or the politicians to take action. It is is some ways similar to the child abuse incidents in the Roman Catholic Church, one individuals commits the original crime, but it is the failure of the organisation to react appropriately that causes the problem to worsen. The current situation in the UK with regard to the actions of the Metropolitan Police Service and their involvement with News International is a case in point, the original two inquiries were totally inadequate but Hayman and Yates have not been held to account. For Australia, failure to act in this case and so many others makes the police management, regulators and politicians party to the offence by failing to do their duty properly.
  • This is a disgraceful, shameful episode and shows the deeply ingrained racist attitudes of Queensland police and political establishment. The State Government was disgusting in its response, love to know what the police have got on the leading politicians. We've lived in WA and Queensland and the racism is widespread, witness the racist abuse of an Aboriginal bloke who ran for Federal Parliament and got elected. And yes, the terms Abos and Boongs are deeply racist and the fact that Horse_Feathers feels it's okay to make the comments he/she does is just an indication of their own racist ignorance. Unless you understand the history of Aboriginal dislocation, upheaval and destruction of an ancient culture, you can't understand the present situation. I remember talking to an Aboriginal guy from the Aboriginal Medical Service in WA about where Aboriginal people lived (in one of the "settlements", aka concentration camps) and he corrected me: "where Aboriginal people were forced to live". Never forgotten that.
  • olympic
    australia is a nation that is obsessed with promoting itself as a friendly lovely nation - it is far from it. I met so many australian whites who were upset at their country's attitude towards aboriginal native citizens. Sadly, they are the minority. australia is a country with a relative high standard of living and a good sunny climate and relaxed leisure culture. Most of them simply do not care about their neighbour, fellow citizen or indigenous 'real' australian. They are a selfish nation. Racism is rampant in society, towards non white migrants such as lebanese and italians - let alone the outright hostility towards their own aboriginal people. Only in australia could you have it acceptable to call a lebanese or italian a 'wog'. Ask any australian, they will know exactly what this term means and how shockingly frequently it is used. The australian police are something similar to the 'wild west' sheriffs. They do as they want - have blind support from the community and target anything that isn't white anglo caucasian. They make the british police look decent - and that really is saying something. Australian (NSW) police use to have 'tea' at my local cafe. Cold beer poured into pre chilled teapots, served in mugs. They would pay with a 10 dollar note - and get back 10 dollars in change. This was recently. This example speaks for itself. There are thousands of shocking cases of police brutality, killing and maltreatment of aboriginals in australia - I don't expect it to end any time soon. Their latest toys are tazers - they love using them on aboriginals multiple times during not only arrest but also at the police station for good measure. The UN should investigate this as it's human rights violations and amounts to torture by electrocution.
  • glueball
    You're kidding right? The U.K. is one of the most racist, classist, fascist, ( and even, dare we say it , sexist) neo-nazi countries in the world. And getting worse, not better. Except in ubermenschen toffspring fantasy land.
  • Epiphron
    There seems to be an attitude among certain sections of society that it is perfectly normal and right for people to resist arrest VIOLENTLY if they disagree with why they have been arrested. I'm simply pointing out that if you instigate violence you are likely to get violence in return. Whether the violence used was reasonable in the circumstances depends oddly enough on the circumstances. I, and indeed you, have no idea what they were, or how threatened the policeman felt.
  • DeclanAhern
    Why is this any surprise? Time and time again in Australia police corruption, brutality and incompetence has been rewarded by bonuses and promotions, the very idea of the police being reprimanded for such actions is considered shocking! Once more the politicians will stand back and shake their heads and wring their hands and do nothing. It resembles nothing so much as the UK in the 1970's where countless black men committed suicide by beating themselves to death in police custody! How quik the police were to attack in the riots to make arrests and see people sent to prison while those who committed the original crimes go unpunished. Is it any wonder the Urban Dictionary definition of 'Australian Barbecue' is; "The repeated use of a Taser on an aboriginal person by a member of the Australian police."?
  • olympic
    The police have a health and safety responsibility for the care of the person they are detaining. A detention can take place without murdering the arrestee. I find it very strange that such a high proportion of aboriginal citizens are killed when they have contact with the police. It's a well known FACT that australia is by and large a racist country. It actually had an official 'whites only' policy years back when it took in migrants. This speaks volumes about australian society and their views of the indigenous aboriginal citizens. From the first ever contact with aboriginals, the colonial british and since independence, the view of aboriginals has by and large remained the same - that they are inferior, second class citizens. australia is like south africa - except south africa was honest about their racism and australia wasn't/isn't. there is a virtual apartheid in australia, in terms of health differences, economic, social, educational, democratic participation, etc. Aboriginals are given the worse deal in every situation. The police need to stop their killing and their institutional racism will not end until australia society changes.
  • olympic
    How australian police have 'tea'. They go to a cafe where they intimidate the staff or fail to turn up when there is a problem. They arrange for a pre chilled tea pot, filled with cold beer. They sit at tables and drink the 'tea' out of mugs. They pay with a 10 dollar note - their change in coins is 10 dollars. They leave feeling refreshed and having done a great service to the community. This says it all.
  • olympic
    I posed a similar comment discussing police corruption in great detail and giving an interesting example of it in australia. It was censored. You also cannot discuss a certain country next to Jorden/Syria/Lebanon and cannot refer to a previous blind male home secretary in a labour govt as there is some sort of injunction he's taken out due to his touchy nature that cannot be reported. Australian police are probably the most corrupt in the world by 'western' standards. They kill aboriginals out there practically for sport.
  • DickDesigner
    The Aussie police have obviously had good teachers from the mother country... the white washing of the Ian Tomlinson attack being one of many...
  • mikej999
    my condolences to the family of mulrunji I am a queenslander and this total white-wash is embarrassing and disgraceful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Palm_Island_death_in_custody i have followed this closely and the disregard of due process is breathtaking hurley's mates, sent by commissioner bob atkinson, were sent to investigate, then had a barby with him and a few beers at hurley's house they spoke off the record to witnesses before taking formal statements one witness was pressured to give evidence he later recanted and in the latest episode, the police commissioner at the time of mulruji's death - and still current commissioner- asks his deputy to investigate decisions made by him and others over events that happened 7 years ago well, we all knew what the outcome would be but this one is the most cynical "managerial guidance" means no formal disciplanary actions will be taken against anyone- commissioner down-thus the crime and misconduct commission can't further investigate or prosecute no justice will ever be metered here. it was an injustice to start. arrested for commenting about police actions on a remote island,lying unobserved on a cement floor in a police cell with FOUR broken ribs,a ruptured liver and spleen, and in about an hour internally bled to death .. and no-one saw anything except a video camera watching mulrunji's cell... ... sgt hurley checking for a pulse then 'sliding down the walls of the cell till he sat with his head in his hands' please read the above link,there's plenty more, just google queensland police - who let the dogs out
  • olympic
    Will racist colonial HM prison australia ever learn?
  • the cops in Australia are crooks. I got verballed twice and I'm not even an aborigine. Once set up for drugs [marijuana] and then DUI where the reading was rigged. It came in at .049 and the cops said `bad luck you're just over' at .055. Luckily the magistrate told me to go home. As for the wonderfull other Australians...the less said the better. I used to live in Chippendale [inner Sydney] next to Redfern station and every day they'd approach whoever with `got a dollar? 'got a cigarette?' when they get social security for ever just for being themselves. The local pub used to give them free cartoons of beer just to keep them away. Avoiding the usual violence. But the burgarly rate there was horrendous as were muggings and not from whites. It's a mess.
  • johnd1888
    epiphron, yr an asshole.
  • mikej999
    ok, that posted immediately, yet my original post rquired moderation? why?
  • mikej999
    how long does it take to moderate a comment far less offencive than some posted below?
  • Ihrahim
    These are not new things, it has happen many times, just talk with the Aborigine people I visited in the north of Australia for many years ago they were tell you how they suffer.
  • 00Simian
    If the they (the non-indigenous) don't like them maybe they should get out of their country :p
  • stonebn
    Same attitude the world over and its nothing new. Even in London 2011 the seat next to me will be the last one taken without fail
  • Epiphron
    Should not have resisted arrest should he.
  • HotAired
    Quite...it always surprises me when Australia is held up as some sort of beacon of laid-back, liberal culture when in fact it is one of the most right-wing and uncultured countries in the world. It's only because it is a country which, on the world scene, doesn't really matter, that it has gotten away with decades of repression and violence against the Aborigines. Only a tiny proportion of the white Australians I have met in the UK have even the slightest interest in or knowledge of this issue.
  • scottishclaire
    By the sound of things you have never been arrested,threatened or assaulted by the police. This cop did not feel threatened. He is a vile racist thug who used his position of power to murder a man in cold blood. By defending him you sound very stupid,the alternative is that you think they police should be able to murder whoever they like and get away with it.
  • 2blue
    Yes, but the old country has moved on...or should I say evolved.
  • 2blue
    So if you have no idea, why your original statement. Oh, I get it, it's because you have no idea.
  • What are you saying, Epiphron? That if you resist arrest, it's okay for a policeman to inflict such vicious injuries on you that you're dead within the hour? It might be pointed out that Mr Doomadgee had certainly been drunk, but had been good-natured and not acting offensively until Sgt Hurley took it upon himself to arrest Doomadgee. The man protested at action completely over-the-top in relation to his street behaviour and certainly didn't deserve to lose his life through police thuggery.
  • I just watched all of the episodes of Oprah she did in Australia and after reading this, I wonder if she would have still gone if she knew, really knew of Australia's troubled history with the Aboriginals. It seems kind of redundant for them to spend all that millions promoting the country when they can't even be decent to the descendants of the original inhabitants of the land. I would think the social problems they face are a direct cause of them being displaced from their own land and not being allowed to evolve like other humans do. I tried to watch 'Rabbit Proof Fence' but I couldn't get through it - it was too painful and to think they caused all that hurt and pain without a care.
  • pigswill
    "Indigenous Australians are deeply unpopular...robbery, muggings, car-jacking, ", That sounds like a fair deal. The displaced poms got Australia - anything the indigenous Australians do pales into insignificance.
  • maug11
    OK Horse_Feathers, you got me! Have not heard the dreaded "B" word for years. And what is REALLY wrong with the indigenous persons doing 'bashings, robbery, muggings,car-jacking, racial abuse and villification of non-aboriginal peoples"? They were here first and they can do what they like. As for racial abuse and villification, if you are a non-indigenous person and are called a 'f.....g white c...', or a black or yellow one, just tell them that the word ' white' (or yellow or black) is racist and not to use it. They will happily comply.
  • Horse_Feathers
    Quite. The term 'boongs' is the most popular in Western Australia. Indigenous Australians are deeply unpopular in and around urban WA due to the crime wave associated with them; bashings, robbery, muggings, car-jacking, racial abuse and villification of non-aboriginal peoples.... The list goes on and on.
  • glueball
    Some of your unindigenous people are deeply racist. They can't help it, it's bred into them in the old country mate. Can't fight Darwin now, can you?
  • maug11
    'Abs' is a deeply racist name for our indigenous people. Please try not to use it.
  • When whites consider Abos to be less than human, there's no accountability for beating and killing them. But then Australia has repeatedly been guilty of racism when it comes to the treatment of the Aboriginal population. Think of the Northern Territory Emergency Response as just the most recent campaign to stigmatise and discriminate against an entire community.

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