Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 28% of the total prison population in Australia, while making up just over 3% of the total population. Since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, there have been at least 500 reported indigenous deaths in custody and it has been shown that 54% of cases were on remand, in protective custody, or while being arrested or pursued by the police.
No police officer has ever been convicted of murdering an indigenous person in Australia. On 11 March 2022, Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe was found not guilty of murder in relation to the death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker, who he shot three times at close range in 2019.
Following this verdict it has now been revealed that in the two years prior to Walker’s murder, Rolfe had used excessive force and caused harm to four other indigenous men while on duty and had also falsified statements in relation to these incidents. This included a case where Rolfe was pursuing a 17-year-old boy and had turned his body camera off before allegedly banging the boy’s head on a rock. The judge presiding over the trial found that these four cases were not relevant to the shooting of Kumanjayi Walker and only lifted suppression orders after the verdict. The jury consisted entirely of non-indigenous people, highlighting the racist justice system in Australia.
Aboriginal people demand justice!
Bruno Sergi
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 287, April/May 2022
