SHRG's submission to the UNHCR

SIKH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP

Report On The Unlawful Detention, Torture and Extra-Judicial Murder of Douglas Bruce Scott
Submitted To The UN Centre For Human Rights

"All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms"

(Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

"All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person"

(Article 10, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)

Douglas Bruce Scott of the Anmatyerre Aboriginal Nation of Central Australia died in 1985 after being unlawfully detained for 60 days in the Darwin prison for the use of 'obscene' language. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody investigated the death of Douglas Scott, ruling suicide. Nevertheless, as this report clearly demonstrates, the Royal Commission systematically neglected crucial evidence that when considered by the experienced independent Forensic Investigative Committee, that explored both John F Kennedy's and Martin Luther King's murder, raised suspicions of non-suicidal and unnatural death. Douglas Scott was unlawfully arrested and detained. While in custody he was tortured, refused bail, legal representation and medical assistance and was finally allegedly killed in the early hours of the 5th of June 1985.

Before proceeding with the present analysis, it would perhaps be useful to note that this report does not aspire to analyse in detail the case of Douglas Scott for it is only a brief overview of the events concerning Douglas' unlawful detention, torture and alleged extra-judicial execution. This report aims to provide for an understanding of the improper inquiry conducted by The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody of Australia into Douglas Scott's case. Based on the brief review of evidence demonstrated in this report, the Sikh Human Rights Group supports the Forensic Investigative Committee's Reconstruction Report, requesting the re-opening of the case.[1]

On February 1985, Douglas Scott was arrested outside the bar of the Darwin Hotel located in the Northern Territory of Australia. The barman had complained that Douglas had slapped his wife, Letty Nupanunga Scott. The arrest took place against Letty's wishes and without her having pressed charges, so the police charged Douglas Scott with the use of 'obscene language' in the company of police officers. This charge was accompanied by a $1 000 bail and a request for Douglas' daily reports to the Darwin Police Station. Notwithstanding the severity of his bail conditions, Douglas was faithful to his daily reports. He only delayed to report on the day of the 27th of May 1985 and for that was arrested and unlawfully detained until the 31st where he was brought before the magistrate Alistair McGregor at the Nelson Building Courthouse in Darwin - with evident marks of torture (Statement of Prison Officer Thomas 13/5/88 p. 2; Statement of Prison Officer Jones, Tippet Submission to the Royal Commission, p.16; Royal Commission Transcript 21/4/89 p. 1600; The Commissioner, Reason of Findings, p. 28). Douglas was then issued a remand warrant according to which he was imprisoned for almost 60 days [2] for alleged swearing in the presence of police officers.
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[1] For more details on the case of Douglas Scott and the evidence provided please contact Elina Stamou, Sikh Human Rights Group (UK), Tel. +44 20 8 840 3222 or +44 20 8 579 8898, Fax. +44 20 8 579 7439.
[2] From the 31st of May till the 25th of July 1985
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Under section 22 of the Northern Territory Bail Act, when an accused person is refused bail by a justice in respect of an offence an adjournment of the hearing by the justice shall except with the consent of the accused person, be for a period not exceeding 15 clear days (Royal Commission Transcripts, p. 1639). Douglas never gave his consent for his extensive detention. On the contrary, according to eyewitness testimonies he kept screaming for bail. Douglas was repeatedly refused bail and legal representation. He was further kept in solitary confinement, tortured, denied medical attention and finally killed on the 5th of June 1985 (Royal Commission Transcripts 3/4/89, 30/3/89; Reconstruction Report 29/6/200; Statement of Prison Officer Thomas 13/5/88 p. 2; Statement of Prison Officer Jones, Tippet Submission to the Royal Commission, p.16; Royal Commission Transcript 21/4/89 p. 1600; The Commissioner, Reason of Findings, p. 28; Statement obtained under duress by Mick Dodson, John Christopherson and Geof Barbaro, Royal Commission Office 4/4/89; Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by Robert Dow 12/4/95; Correspondence Between Solicitor Rodney Lewis and Barrister Daniel Brezniak 4/9/96; Letty Scott 1999, 2000; Interview of Geoffrey Barbaro, Royal Commission by Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 13/3/1995).

There is by now a considerable amount of evidence to suggest that on the night of 4-5th of July 1985 Douglas Scott was bashed to death and hung by prison officers in Darwin Prison. On this, Jeffrey Bindai, prisoner in a neiboughring to Douglas' cell stated, "…I hear the click key in that bloke cell it wake me up I thought it about 12 o'clock. I looked through my louvres 4 blokes with long batons go in that bloke's cell hear that noise Tfffff! Tffffff! And then boomph bomph bomph they musta put a pillow in that bloke's mouth…he been saying 'help, help me'…door open a bit…some of the other boys start calling 'Hey this is our brother, leave our mate alone'…that screw with the eagle on his arm came over to my cell pointing finger at me and saying 'Hey you better shut up or you're going to be next understand?' I said 'Yes sir…" They kept hitting, hitting, hitting…then silence… Next morning, about 6 o'clock, I hear the key I look through that little window in that bloke cell I see him hanging up…facing me…They bashed him up, one eye pointing wrong way and blood big mob blood under that nose…After breakfast screw told me to go and clean up that cell - I go in there, blood on sheet, blood on pillow, blood on wall, blood on floor…" (Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by ex-police officer Robert Dow 12/4/95).

Jeffrey Bindai was brought to the Royal Commission at the Northern Territory Supreme Court Darwin to testify. After he told them what he had seen at the Darwin prison, he was threatened by Mick Dodson, Counsel assisting the Royal Commissioner, and forced to sign a false statement saying "I was a prisoner in Berrimah Goal in 1985 when that bloke died in his cell…I never spoke to that bloke…I never saw him with a black eye…I never saw heard him crying out for help…I can't read or write…"[3] (Statement obtained under duress by Mick Dodson, John Christopherson and Geof Barbaro, Royal Commission Office 4/4/89; Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by Robert Dow 12/4/95; Correspondence Between Solicitor Rodney Lewis and Barrister Daniel Brezniak 4/9/96).
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[3] At this point it would perhaps be useful to quote Robert Dow of the Northern Territory police Service in Darwin. “ There were a number of racist officers in there (Darwin) including senior officers…they gave me hell every time I came to work because they were so filled with hatred towards the aborigines and against anyone who treats aborigines as humans….they call aborigines ‘niggers’…Northern Territory is a very racist place…they called me ‘nigger lover’…”. In a place where ‘whites’ where locked up for days when seen to be ‘associating with aborigines in public’, Robert Dow was continuously psychologically and physically harassed and finally lost his job. He recalls, “It was common for the police to write up false interviews with prisoners and then make them sign…” and continues, “The police (Sergeant Chris Croker) told me not to listen to anything that Letty Scott or her children have to say…they were all mad…” (Statement by Robert Dow 1995).
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The same description of the events that took place on the 4th-5th of July 1985 at the Darwin prison was given by prisoner Laurie Percy who also had to clean up the blood in Douglas' cell as well as Geofferey Moreen who heard Douglas screaming for help late at night in the 4th of July 1985. Geofferey Moreen also saw Jeffrey Bindai and Laurie Percy cleaning up the blood from Douglas cell and removing the bloodstained mattress in the early hours of the 5th of July 1985 following instructions of the prison guards (Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by Robert Dow 12/4/95; Interview of Geofferey Moreen 1995).

Furthermore ambulance officer, Lorraine Graetling reported, "I remember thinking it was amazing that we had not been called until one hour after the body was discovered…his face was swollen…we did not transport the body…" (Lorraine Graetling Statement 15/3/89 p.2).

Douglas wife, Letty Scott Nupanunga, found out about her husband's death two days after Douglas' body was found and was refused access to his body for 12 days.

These testimonies together with numerous other evidence where handed in to The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody for the purpose of investigating Douglas Scott's death. The Commission publicly and categorically cleared the police in the outset, stating that "…individual officers were not at risk for having acted improperly or criminally at the particular range of issues that were coming before the commission…" (Royal Commission Transcripts 30/3/89 p. 564; Interview of Geoffrey Barbaro, Royal Commission by Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 13/3/95).

At the end of the inquiry, The Royal Commission concluded that Douglas killed himself due to depression. On this, Alistar McGregor of the Royal Commission stated, "Probable reasons for his depression were his predicament as one in custody facing serious charges and his reaction to the news that his defacto wife Letty Scott was leaving him". His statement however, seems to contradict court documents reporting that Douglas Scott was only charged with 'the use of obscene language'. Furthermore, it fails to accommodate legal records documenting Douglas' marriage to Letty Scott. The Royal Commission's conclusion finally contradicts strong evidence documenting telegrams send by Letty Scott to her husband expressing her love towards him and her support throughout his detention days as well as her frequent visits to the Darwin prison to see Douglas.

During one of Letty Scott's visits to the Darwin prison Douglas, bearing the marks of torture, was shaking and crying saying "You will never see me alive again, They're going to kill me, they promised…they promised to hung me…" (Statement by Letty Scott 1989; Vanguard 1/11/2000, V37, N21). Letty told this to Geoffrey Barbaro, Counsel assisting the Royal Commission yet her statement was never presented before the Commission as evidence (Interview of Geoffrey Barbaro, Royal Commission by Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 13/3/1995). It was suppressed together with other crucial evidence. For instance, Douglas' letters to his mother where he graphically described his condition and expressed his wish to get out of prison. Mick Dodson of the Royal Commission obtained the original letters and asked the Commissioner to suppress them. In his words to the Commissioner, "…There are two letters written to his mother by the deceased. I have the originals here…for reasons outlined by you earlier Mr Commissioner, and certainly in relation to the statement and the attachments, that ought to be suppressed Mr Commissioner…" (Commission Transcript 23/3/89 p. 261).

Soon after Douglas' death the chief prison officer Birbeck took some Polaroid pictures of the scene. In these pictures, shown to Letty Scott by Geoffrey Barbaro - Counsel Solicitor assisting the Royal Commission - Douglas was hanging close to the ceiling, high off the floor, while the knot of the sheet around his head was tied in a professional noose with several slip knots. The images portrayed in these Polaroid pictures agree with the ones described by Douglas' co-prisoners in their testimonies and Geoffrey Barbaro himself (Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by Robert Dow 12/4/95; Interview of Geoffrey Moreen 1995; Interview of Geoffrey Barbaro, Royal Commission, by Solicitor Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 13/3/95).

Nevertheless, the photographs produced by Darwin police and presented to the Royal Commission as evidence were different to the original Polaroid's (Letter from Counsel Solicitor assisting the Royal Commission Geoffrey Barbaro to Letty Scott 11/4/95). Further, they depict Douglas hanging from a loose noose with his feet touching the floor. According to these pictures a stool appears in the cell. As eyewitness testimonies' suggest, this stool was not there initially (Reconstruction Report 29/6/2000, p. 4-5; Interview of Jeffrey Bindai by Robert Dow 12/4/95; Interview of Geofferey Moreen 1995; Interview of Geoffrey Barbaro by Solicitor Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 13/3/95).

When solicitor Rodney Lewis asked John Tippet, solicitor representing the Scott family, whether he had seen the pictures, Tippet answered "No, I don't think so…there was a reason…don't remember…some suggestion they contained something which was hidden…no-one followed them up…" (Interview of Solicitor John Tippet by Rodney Lewis, International Commission of Jurists 24/2/95). Further, the Royal Commissioner himself states, "I make an order suppressing publication of these photographs and of verbal descriptions of what is portrayed in those photographs" (Royal Commission Transcript 39/3/89 page 544). There is strong evidence to suggest that Douglas Scott was in fact hung twice in Darwin prison, one as portrayed in the Polaroid photographs of chief prison officer Mr. Berbeck and the second as presented in the pictures taken by Northern Territory police photographer Brian Neiman using a normal camera [4].

Throughout the investigation of Douglas Scott's death by the Royal Commission, crucial evidence was clearly suppressed. At the end of it, addressing Letty Scott Nupanunga, the Royal Commissioner Elliot Johnson QC noted, "Listen here girlie, don't you try to fight this case. I'm warning you. If you know what's good for you, leave this case alone, leave it alone…He was only a black man anyway…." (Letty Scott 1999).

Letty Scott Nupanunga, herself a victim of racial abuse has been fighting for justice ever since. Finally, this year the Forensic Investigative Committee of the worlds most prominent experts published a Reconstruction Report into the Death of Douglas Scott questioning both the integrity of the Australian authorities' conduct into the case and the conclusions of the Royal Commission. In particular, according to the Forensic Commission's report there exist inconsistencies in the documents produced by the Coroner and the Royal Commission in relation to the time of Douglas Scott's death as well as the state of the body and the cell where Douglas was found (Reconstruction Report 29/6/2000, p. 4-13). Most importantly, the report states, "(Douglas') internal injuries are more consistent with manual neck compression than with hanging mechanisms" (Reconstruction Report 29/6/2000, p. 15,14). On this, Dr. Michael M. Baden, member of the Forensic Investigative Committee asserts, "It is my opinion, on the basis of the material that I have reviewed, that Mr. Scott died as a result of his inability to breath caused by compression of the neck. The fracture of the thyroid cartilage is much more typical for compression of the neck by baton, hands or feet than by suicidal hanging."

In conclusion, the Forensic Commission notes, "The reported and visible external and internal inquiries, along with observations regarding the scene in which the death occurred, raise serious concerns about the security of the death scene and the possibility of the cause of death other than suicide" (Reconstruction Report 29/6/2000 p. 20). The Forensic Investigative Committee requested the re-opening of the case and the submission of all original documents for further investigation.

So far, Letty Scott's request to re-open the case has been rejected on the grounds that it "does not raise the sorts of major policy issues that would warrant reconstituting the Commission…" (John Howard PM 1/7/96). This justification seems to be rather problematic especially if one considers the increased rate of Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia since 1987 when the Royal Commission was first called to investigate the worrying number of indigenous custodial deaths [5] (Amnesty International 1996; Australian Ambassador to Geneva, Howard Bamsey 1996).

There have been recorded approximately 300 indigenous deaths in custody in Australia since 1980 with only 90 investigated by the Royal Commission. Of those, 30 were by hanging, concluded by the Royal Commission to be suicides. These conclusions need to be seen in the light of the Royal Commissioner's, Elliot Johnson QC, statement: "…a number of those who in fact suffered death by hanging had little idea of the dangers of constricting the neck…" (Royal Commissioner Elliot Johnson QC, National Report V.1 (3.2.3-4)).
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[4] The possibility of the second set of photographs that had being re-staged is clearly expressed in the Reconstruction Report of the Forensic Investigative Committee (Reconstruction Report 29/6/2000 p. 7).
[5] Civil proceeding for ‘unlawful imprisonment and homicide’ have also been dismissed on the ground that “An employer is not normally liable for acts done by employees which are outside the scope of their authority” (NT Supreme Court 22/10/98).
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Racism and systematic discrimination against Aborigines in Australia remains unabated. In the meantime the growing number of custodial Aboriginal deaths is justified by the Australian authorities with appeals to the racist 'suicide theory' according to which Aborigines, for some undetected reason, simply tend to kill themselves while non-aborigines refrain from such practices.

The Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights for all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…" (UDHR 1988). The death of Douglas Scott, just like most of the continually growing custodial deaths of Aborigines in Australia, violate articles 2 (3), 6 (1), 7, 9, 10 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 25 (1), 28, 29 (2, 3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (ICCPR 1991; UDHR 1988).

As there seems to be a loss of confidence in the domestic legal remedies, the Sikh Human Rights Group supports Letty Scott's campaign to raise international support for an independent inquiry into the custodial deaths of hundreds of Australian Aborigines. The re-opening of the Douglas Bruce Scott case and the conduct of further investigation into his death can be a step towards the right direction. Thereby, in the interest of justice, we request that the United Nations High Commission For Human Rights urgently intervene in this matter, instructing the Australian Government to initiate a full judicial inquiry into Douglas Scott's death and those of all other Aborigines in custody since 1980. Further, the injury must be compelled to report biannually to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Roberson, until the investigation is completed. Moreover, we request that a biannual progress report be published and accessible to all national and international human rights organisations. Finally, we urge the United Nations High Commission For Human Rights that if any persons are found to have been criminally involved in the deaths of Aborigines in custody on the basis of prima facie evidence before the Investigative Commission, they be judged according to International Law without unnecessary delay.

Elina Stamou, Sikh Human Rights Group