Sarah Mumme
A man died. A UN representative is asking questions. Yet protests in Kalgoorlie and Perth haven’t rated a mention. Have you heard of Mr Ward?
Unpack the issue...
Cast your mind back to last summer. Do you remember what it felt like to get back into a car after it had been sitting in the sun for an hour while you were at the beach or in the shops? It was pretty uncomfortable and
oppressive, right? So what did you do to alleviate the problem? Open a window as you drove away? Crank up the air-conditioning? Open the door and let the car ‘breathe’ for a few minutes before getting in?
Now, imagine it’s the middle of summer. It’s 42 degrees outside. You get into your old has-seen-better-days-car because you have to make a 380km journey. Your air-conditioning doesn’t work. You can’t wind your windows down. Almost 400km in those conditions — it doesn’t sound like a journey anyone would willingly undertake, does it?
On 27 January 2008 a Western Australian man was in a similar situation but was forced to make the 380km journey. The result? He died. Here’s what we know.
In March of this year, the Coronial Court in Kalgoorlie heard evidence that Mr Ward, a 46 year old Warburton resident, died of heatstroke in custody after he was arrested for allegedly drink-driving. Mr Ward was a well-known and respected local resident. He was arrested for a traffic offence — this doesn’t make him a high security risk. But, having been denied bail, he was sent by private contractor Global Solutions Limited (GSL) from Laverton to Kalgoorlie, to be held in custody.
For four hours he was locked in the back of the van with no air-conditioning. The air-conditioning was working in the front of the van, where the GSL officers travelled in comfort, but was not working in the back of the van, where Mr Ward was being slowly cooked alive. The trip was over 370 kilometres on a day when the temperature outside was 42 degrees. It would have been much hotter in Mr Ward’s unventilated, un-air-conditioned compartment. In fact, a chemist who assisted in a re-enactment of the incident in similar conditions told the Coronial Court that the air temperature in the back of the van reached 50.4C. He also told the court the surface temperature of the metal floor in the back peaked at 56.6C during the re-enactment.
Mr Ward was given a pie and a 600 ml bottle of water for the four hour-journey. This was obviously not enough water for a four-hour journey; particularly since, as the Coroner heard, Mr Ward was likely to have been very dehydrated to his high blood alcohol level when he was arrested the previous day. Mr Ward had been placed in a dangerous situation from the very start of the journey.
The only time the GSL officers stopped during the four-hour journey was when they heard a ‘thump’ in the back of the van. This ‘thump’ was Mr Ward collapsing onto the floor of the van. After hearing the ‘thump’, the GSL officers stopped the van and partially opened the back door (the door had a security chain keeping it mostly closed) to check on Mr Ward. Upon finding Mr Ward unconscious on the floor of the van, they headed to the hospital in Kalgoorlie, where Mr Ward later died. Doctors found Mr Ward had third-degree burns on his stomach, burns consistent with being in contact with a very hot surface.
That Mr Ward was subjected to such torturous treatment is appalling. That Mr Ward’s death should be caused by such treatment is inexcusable. That the media, government and public should react to Mr Ward’s death with such apathy is sickening. What if it was your relative that this had happened to? Mr Ward most certainly deserves justice.
By the way, Mr Ward was an Indigenous (Wongai) man. While it shouldn’t matter whether or not he was Indigenous, I can’t help but wonder if it did.
Would a white man or woman ever be sent four hours in the back of an un-air-conditioned van in 42 degree heat to be held in custody? Highly unlikely. Would the media, government or public have been so apathetic towards the death of a person in custody had it been a white man or woman? Definitely not.
Sarah Mumme is justice and mission officer for the Uniting Church Synod of WA.
Unpack the issues...
Footage
Footage of June 20th public rally has just been released. Watch a 30min video of the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc's Public Rally for the 'Ward Campaign for Justice'. Or if you're on Facebook, go to: http://www.facebook.com/deathsincustody.
- What did you think when you first heard about this story? Where you shocked?
- What can be done to ensure this doesn't happen again.
- Do you think race was a factor in the death of Mr Ward?
- Perth Indy Media photos from public protest held in Perth 3 April
- Add your voice to the call for justice through Amnesty International
- National Human Rights Consultation
- Join the DICWC’s fast growing network of supporters for change. Follow the campaign and other Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (WA) events and activities.
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written by Ben Mitchell , June 15, 2009
I can not believe that Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is continually raising it's head in Australia. A constant promise of this will never happen again etc etc etc and it does not stop. It is a continued culture of racism involving the prison system in Australia. When I was put in jail in Queensland at the age of 17 a prison guard said to me his last name was Mitchell too and that him and I would be the only white people with this last name all the rest were black. This culture of racism crimes against aboriginal people in the corrective services division of Australia needs to be investigated and I think that from now on the only way for this never to happen again is that Aboriginal Elders are responsible for all things when it comes to Aboriginal Prisioners. This may sound an unrealistic answer to this problem to some but I believe it is an obtainable goal. What happened to Mr. Ward is just something that can not be put in words and as perusual no one will be made accountable but all will give empty apologies and make false promises.
written by hannah peard , July 23, 2009
The death of this well respected elder is an act of injustice and downright cruelty. I am appauled and shocked that these transporters would allow this to happen in a country in which we treat other as "equal". I hope justice is served to these barbaric and savage human beings.
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