[IPSM] [Fwd: solidarity needed! call for international day of action in support of Lex Wotton, Aboriginal political prisoner]

[aaron at resist.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: solidarity needed! call for international day of action in
support of Lex Wotton, Aboriginal political prisoner
From:    "red kimba" <redkimba at gmail.com>
Date:    Tue, October 28, 2008 8:41 am
To:      undisclosed-recipients:;
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Dear friends,


please find below a call for an international day of action on*
November 7*in support of Aboriginal Australian political prisoner, Lex
Wotton.

Lex is currently facing life imprisonment for his involvement in the 2004
Palm Island uprising against police racism and brutality.    The 2004 Palm
Island uprising took place in the wake of a coroner's report stating that
the death of another Aboriginal man, Mulrunji Doomadgee in police custody a
week earlier was an "accident".



Mulrunji had died (approximately an hour after being arrested) from massive
internal injuries including a ruptured spleen, four broken ribs and a liver
that had been 'almost cleaved in two' from a huge compressive force.

Mulrunji's death was the 147 Aboriginal death in custody since the handing
down of the 1990 Royal Commission report into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

 The 1990 Royal Commission report was a result of growing outrage of the
number of Aboriginal deaths in custody.  The  commission examined 99
Aboriginal deaths which occurred in police custody or prison between the
period of January 1980 and May 1989 (33 died in prison, while 63 died in
police custody and 3 died in juvenile detention)

The final report issued a range of recommendations, including:

   - measures to divert Aboriginal people from custody
   - strategies to address alcohol and substance abuse
   - remedy social disadvantage
   - proposals for self-determination, empowerment and reconciliation
   - improvements in the operation of the criminal justice system and
   relations with police.

However, not a single recommendation from the report was ever implemented
and Aboriginal men and women have continued to be imprisoned and die in
custody at an unprecedented rate .

For example, in 2003, 20% of prisoners in Australia were Aboriginal
(however, Aboriginals make up less than 2% of Australia's population).  In
addition, of the 39 prisoners who died in custody in 2002, 10 were
Aboriginal.

***

In the wake of Mulrunji death a public campaign forced the Queensland state
government to try the police officer, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley who had
been found responsible for Mulrunji's death (previously the government had
refused to charge the Hurley and send him to trial).   Hurley was acquitted
of manslaughter and has since recieved a promotion and 100,000 in
compensation.

In contrast, Lex Wotton now faces life imprisonment.

To find out more about Lex's trail and the issues and politics behind it you
can access Chris Graham's articles for the National Indigenous Times at
http://www.nit.com.au/news/

In addition for a basic overview of the what happened in relation to the
2004 Palm Island Uprising you can find at entry on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Palm_Island_death_in_custody

Emergency rallies in support of Lex are also being organised for November 1
in several Australian cities (the Melbourne/Victoria rally demands include:
Free Lex Wotton, Free all political prisoners, Stop Aboriginal deaths in
custody, Jail Hurley and all killer cops.  Rallies are also scheduled for
Brisbane/Queensland and Sydney/New South Wales).

Further rallies will be held on November 7 as part of the global day of
action.

If you can support the campaign in any way please contact the email address
listed below in the call out or please feel free to email me if you have any
further queries or require any information on the campaign.

In solidarity, Kim

*****

7 November 2008
International Day of Action to Free Lex Wotton!

Lex Wotton: Aboriginal Political Prisoner

*On October 24th an all white jury found Lex Wotton, an Aboriginal man from
Palm Island, guilty of 'rioting with destruction' for his involvement in the
2004 Palm Island uprising. On November 26th 2004 the people of Palm Island
set fire to the local police station, court house and police barracks after
a pathologist's report claimed that the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee, a 36
year Aboriginal man in police custody a week earlier was an 'accident'.

Mulrunji died in a police cell, one hour after he had been arrested for
being drunk. He suffered massive internal injuries, including a ruptured
spleen, four broken ribs and a 'liver that had been 'almost cleaved in two'
from a huge compressive force.'

Following Mulrunji's killing, Queensland's then Premier, Peter Beattie
declared a state of emergency. Balaclava clad Paramilitary style police,
armed with semi automatic weapons, roamed the streets arbitrarily arresting
Aborigines. Police tasered several people. Houses were stormed and children
were forced facedown onto the ground with guns pointed at their heads.

The officer, who arrested Mulrunji, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, claimed
that Mulrunji had fallen on stairs. A coroner's inquest found that Hurley
was responsible for Mulrunji's death, as the injuries were consistent with a
fierce beating. However, Hurley was found not guilty for manslaughter and
has since been promoted to the position of police inspector on Australia's
Gold Coast.

In comparison Lex Wotton is now facing a possible life sentence in prison.
He is being held in custody until his next court appearance in the
Townsville District Court on November 7. Following Australian Prime
Minister, Kevin Rudd's apology for past injustices to Aborigines earlier
this year many people in Australia and around the World assume indigenous
Australians are no longer treated as second class citizens. The continuing
unjust imprisonment and persecution of Lex Wotton shows that Aboriginal
Australians are still treated with racist contempt.

November 7th is a global day of action to free Lex Wotton. Lex's friends and
family are calling out for people around the world to picket Australian High
Commissions and Consulates. Please send any details of demonstrations,
solidarity messages and pictures of protest action to
freelexwotton at gmail.com. They will all be passed on to Lex inside of prison.

Stand up in solidarity with the people of Palm Island against racism and
police brutality!*
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