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Post by Mitch on Nov 8, 2004 16:47:01 GMT
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Post by michele cryer on Nov 8, 2004 16:59:23 GMT
Mitch, thank you for these links and for the 3 articles you have posted regarding this issue.
I wish the families of all the people who have died in police custody/prison/psychiatric institutions the very best in their campaigns for justice.
Please advise if there is any way in which members on this site can become actively involved in any of these campaigns...
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Post by Mitch on Feb 13, 2005 20:38:47 GMT
Something is happening in womens prisons. Young women are dying. The number of suicides is rising - 8 women took their lives in British prisons in 2000, 13 in 2004. Between August 2002 and August 2003 six women took their own lives at HMP Styal and d a m n i n g inquest reports for two of these women, Sarah Campbell aged 18 and Jolene Willis aged 25 have just been released and can be viewed at www.inquest.org.uk - click into Press. These inquest reports indicate procedures and policies gone haywire, lack of staff training, in Sarah's case an abysmal delay from the time of discovering her overdose to getting Sarah to the hospital. Sarah took an overdose after being placed in a segregation unit, despite prison staff being well aware of her vulnerability, and her risk of suicide and self-harm. In the last 10 years 1824 men, women and children have died in police and prison custody. There is a disproportionate number of deaths of black people following the use of force, and there is a crisis now in women's prisons. Despite nine verdicts of unlawful killings returned at inquest, there is yet to be a successful prosecution of police or prison officers. Roger Sylvester's family can't understand why after a verdict of unlawful killing by 11 jurors in only 2 hours this should not have resulted in a conviction. (see - http://www.rsjc.org.uk) This is a horrendous state of affairs, basically State cover-ups - the lack of accountability and transparency in the investigation processes is abysmal, and the treatment of families suffering bereavement of loved ones in custody and in psychiatric institutions is shocking. The way I see it, this is an abuse of all our human rights. There is a clear lack of accountability of State agencies and they are not learning from previous deaths as the numbers continue to rise. Tomorrow, Mon 14th February the inquest begins into the death of Kwame Wiredu who in 2002 collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest at Stoke Newington police station. (see http://www.inquest.org.uk) |
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Post by michele cryer on Feb 13, 2005 22:40:29 GMT
Thanks Mitch...all that info was brilliant...very informative..Please keep us up to date with the Christopher Alder Campaign, and let us know if they/you need any support in any way.
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