NationStates Jolt Archive

An Asian teenager was murdered in Britain by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard today.

Duncan Keys, the assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), said that 19-year-old Zahid Mubarek was killed because warders at Feltham Young Offender Institution in west London "thought it would be funny to see what would happen when they put a young Asian lad in with someone who wanted to kill Asians."

Mr Keyes named Nigel Herring, the chairman of the Feltham branch of the POA at the time Mubarek was killed, as the "instigator" of a game called "gladiator" or "coliseum", which involved pitting inmates against one another and betting on which one would win in a fight.

White inmates would be placed with black prisoners, large prisoners with small, and bullies would be placed together in a bid to spark conflict. Mr Herring thought the game as funny and laughed about it, Mr Keys told the inquiry.

He said: "I had gone to the general secretary and the deputy general secretary of my own union and I had told them of my deep concerns and the information I had. I was subsequently told to shut up."

Fearing his union would do nothing, Mr Keys made an anonymous phone call to the Commission for Racial Equality in May 2004, saying that Mubarek was killed as a result of the game. He also alerted senior prison officer officials about the practice, including the director general of the Prisons Service, Phil Wheatley.

Mr Keys said: "I believed that a cover up was taking place. I was just desperate to kickstart an inquiry, a serious inquiry into the information that I had been given."

Police investigated his claim but brought no charges. In his July 2004 police interview the prison officer told detectives he believed the game amounted to "a conspiracy to murder".

Mr Keys admitted he had no direct evidence linking Mubarek's murder to the
gladiator-style fights.

He had heard this from Tom Robson, a POA national executive committee member with responsibility for Feltham in 2000. He added that the practice was well known by senior union officials.

Mubarak died seven days after he was beaten by his cellmate, Robert Stewart, in March 2000. Stewart, now 24, was later jailed for life for murder.

(Source: The Guardian [UK])


Urgh, if these allegations are true, and this is widespread it's disgusting. They may be prisoners, but they're still human beings.

That said, the police aren't exactly angels... I watched a fly-on-the-wall type documentary about racism in the British police force. They go a few of the new recruits to admit they'd kill a black/Asian suspect if they had a chance. :( Also one has to wonder about deaths in custody in Australia, particularly indigenous deaths.

Argh! Absolutly terrible! However I am not surprised. Even devoloped countries like the UK and Australia, no matter how well regulated still find corruption in the police. I guess Lord Atkinson was right when he said "power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutly." :(

And you wonder why Police segregate prisoners by race and gender when they book them in California :rolleyes:

Urgh, if these allegations are true, and this is widespread it's disgusting. They may be prisoners, but they're still human beings.

That said, the police aren't exactly angels... I watched a fly-on-the-wall type documentary about racism in the British police force. They go a few of the new recruits to admit they'd kill a black/Asian suspect if they had a chance. :( Also one has to wonder about deaths in custody in Australia, particularly indigenous deaths.

Pity. :( If these had just been beatings, I would have found the whole thing rather amusing. But death in custody before trial is simply intolerable. :(

"power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutly." :(
http://www.absolutad.com/gallery/100.jpg
The real quesstion is, does Absolut vodka corrupt aboslutely?

Urgh, if these allegations are true, and this is widespread it's disgusting. They may be prisoners, but they're still human beings.

That said, the police aren't exactly angels... I watched a fly-on-the-wall type documentary about racism in the British police force. They go a few of the new recruits to admit they'd kill a black/Asian suspect if they had a chance. :( Also one has to wonder about deaths in custody in Australia, particularly indigenous deaths.

Could you expand on this more please?

Could you expand on this more please?

Certainly.



3.1 Indigenous people were 16.5 times more likely than non-indigenous people to die in custody between 1990 and 1995. This rate reflects the disproportionately high number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody.

3.2 The disproportion in the rate of death was the highest in South Australia (31.7) followed by Victoria (18.8), New South Wales (17.0), Queensland (16.8), Northern Territory (7.7) and Tasmania (2.8).

3.3 Indigenous prisoners were 1.26 times more likely to die in prison than non-non-indigenous prisoners.

3.4 Indigenous people who died in custody are significantly younger than non-Indigenous people. The rate of death for Indigenous women in custody was higher than the corresponding rate for Indigenous men.

3.5 The proportion of deaths in police and prison custody was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Approximately one-third of deaths occurred in police custody while two-thirds of deaths occurred in prison.

3.6 Deaths from police pursuit have increased for both groups while deaths in police institutional settings have declined.

3.7 Indigenous people were more likely to die from natural causes while non-indigenous people were more likely to die from gunshot and drug overdoses.
Indigenous people are 16.5 TIMES more likely to due in prison than non-indigenous Australians. That's Crazy. I had no idea the number was that high. It does say that indigenous people are more likely to die of natural causes, but they still die in much higher numbers and younger. Why?



4.1 Indigenous people were 17.3 times more likely to be arrested than non-Indigenous people. The over-representation rate in Western Australia is four times the national average.

4.2 Incarceration of Indigenous people in Australia increased by 61 per cent between 1988 and 1995. Incarceration of non-Indigenous people has increased by 38 per cent.

4.3 Indigenous people in 1995 were 14.7 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous people.

4.4 Indigenous people are more likely to be imprisoned for assault, break and enter, motor vehicle offences, property offences and justice procedures offences. They are also more likely to be arrested for good order offences.

4.5 Indigenous people are twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to be arrested in circumstances where assault occasioning no harm is the most serious offence. They are three times more likely to be imprisoned for such an offence. This indicates that provocative policing is continuing through the use of the trifecta (offensive language, resist arrest and assault occasioning no harm).

Now for the interesting stuff...

Policing Practices

6.1 Police custody deaths were lower between May 1989 and May 1996 than they were in the previous period, although the circumstances outlined in some of the profiles indicate that major problems still exist in policing and police custodial practices. There were allegations of rough treatment by police in a number of profiles, although these allegations were not accepted by the coroners. Three mentally ill Aboriginal people, none of whom had a firearm, were shot by police. Police car chases of young Aboriginal youths remain a problem, especially in Western Australia.

6.2 Little improvement has been made in police procedures for dealing with intoxicated persons. In Western Australia, while public drunkenness has been decriminalised, arrests are still frequently made for drinking in a public place.

6.3 The establishment of sobering-up shelters has been a positive development since the Royal Commission, and may have played some part in the reduction of police custody deaths overall since the Royal Commission.

6.4 Many Indigenous people are being placed in custody for trivial offences. Offensive language charges and the trifecta are two ways in which this happens. Police initiated interventions result in the laying of charges – typically using offensive language, resisting arrest and assaulting police ( or similar offences). The relatively high proportion of Indigenous prisoners incarcerated for assault occasioning no actual bodily harm is indicative of the trifecta phenomenon – 12 per cent against 4 per cent for the general prison population.

6.5 Indigenous people are still less likely to be granted bail than non-Aboriginal people.

6.6 There has been some patchy commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community involvement in setting policing methods, but recent indications are that the commitment must be reaffirmed.

Arrested for offensive language? Give me a fuckin break. Then charging them for resisting arrest. Well why wouldn't you if you were being charged for a law that isn't enforced on anyone else?

And why aren't indigenous people granted bail as often as the rest of the population?

Geez, I can't blame indigenous Australians if they have a fear of governmetn institutions.

Those quotes are all from the Royal Comission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. (http://www.atsic.gov.au/issues/law_and_justice/rciadic/indigenous_deaths_custody/report.asp)

Could you expand on this more please?

Despite the fact that Aborigionals in Auistralia consist of about 1% of the population they account for something like 20% of deaths in custody. Or at least these are the stats as I know them. :(

Yup, i saw a figure of around 17%, and it is actually increasing.

Also natural causes and HANGING are the main causes of death, from a different source.

Indigenous people in custody (www.hreoc.gov.au/pdf/social_justice/submissions_un_hr_committee/4_indigenous_in_custody.pdf)

I'm a former criminal defense and civil rights attorney, and have no doubt that this happens. I personally (well, on behalf of a client) sued a juvenile facility here in the U.S. where the warden ordered a group of about 8 gang members to beat the crap out of the member of a rival gang member who was being a smart ass to the warden (the facility settled the suit after the warden and 2 of the guards present were found guilty of child endangerment and had to be fired and a security video tape that would have shown exactly what happened "disapeared" but a 2nd one showed my client being dragged into the barracks crying and the medical records documented a broken ankle the very next day).

Also natural causes and HANGING are the main causes of death, from a different source.

One part of the reason (a small part, and one that could be dealt with easily enough) is that Indigenous people seem not to consider the future as much as non-aboriginals. As a result present circumstances, such as being locked up in a jail, are more likely to cause suicidal depression. These causes have been well known for quite some time.

Living in Darwin, it's clear that the police here engage in racial profiling. There's a park across the road from where I live. Police will regularly drive up to groups of indigenous people sitting around and peacefully chatting, and give them a hard time. I would be willing to bet I could sit there all week and not be bothered once. I've seen this behaviour over and over in Darwin, and not once have I felt threatened by a group of aboriginals. In fact, the only trouble in our neighbourhood has been caused by caucasian people being loud, obnoxious, and violent (probably 3-4 incidents in the last year, none involving indigenous people).

That's sickening. And Britan still makes fun of us. Those cops were disgraceful to themselfs and there country. Technically that's murder, maybe even manslaughter, so I say we throw the police in prison.

Technically that's murder, maybe even manslaughter, so I say we throw the police in prison.
And then make them fight each other!
...
Oh wait, that sounds oddly familiar...

:D