Amnesty International welcomes many of the commitments made by the West Australian Government aimed at improving the justice system following the investigation into the 2008 death in custody of an Indigenous community leader. The organisation urges the Government to implement these without delay.

However, Amnesty International is concerned that some of the proposed changes fall short of ensuring the human rights of people in custody are adequately protected.

The West Australian Government has released a statement in response to recommendations made by the State Coroner regarding the 2008 death of Mr Ward, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons. Mr Ward died of heatstroke after being transported 350 kilometres in the back of a commercially-operated prison van from Laverton to Kalgoorlie for a court appearance.

In his report released in June 2009, Coroner Alastair Hope emphasised that people in custody must be treated in accordance with the international standards that Australia has sworn to uphold.

Amnesty International welcomes in particular the commitment by the West Australian Government to review the Bail Act to ensure that processes are appropriate for people living in remote communities and that police are better trained about their responsibilities under the bail legislation. We also endorse the commitment to improve the training of Justices of the Peace so that they are more culturally aware.

“Many of the commitments the West Australian Government has made are potentially important steps forward,” said Rodney Dillon, Indigenous Rights Campaigner, Amnesty International Australia. “But we want governments to be formally obliged to treat people in custody humanely and in accordance with international human rights standards.”

Amnesty International calls on the West Australian Government to incorporate provisions regarding the humane treatment of prisoners into all relevant West Australian legislation.

“The Coroner recommended in June that an explicit obligation to treat all prisoners humanely be inserted into the legislation governing the powers of the Inspector of Custodial Services but the West Australian Government is not doing that,” said Rodney Dillon. “Not only do we at Amnesty International believe this must be done immediately, we believe these guarantees must be incorporated much more broadly into all state and commonwealth legislation,” said Rodney Dillon.

Many of the conditions identified by the Coroner as contributing to the suffering and ultimate death of Mr Ward are breaches of Australia’s obligations under international human rights treaties. They also represent failures on the part of the West Australian justice system to protect the rights of people taken into custody.

“Moves to end preventable deaths in custody are a long time coming. Ultimately, the government must do everything in its power to make sure nobody is ever again treated the way Mr Ward was treated,” said Rodney Dillon.