WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 2004

ANTaR SUPPORTS CALL FOR PEACE ON PALM ISLAND

ANTaR has supported calls from the Palm Island Aboriginal Council for services to be returned and some semblance of peace to be restored to the island so the community can get on with their grieving processes, says ANTaR National Director, David Cooper.

Mr Cooper said the Council and community were still looking for assurances from the police and the government that there would be no police either present or evident at the funeral and have asked ANTaR’s members and supporters to support those calls.

"The message we have from the island are that the police, particularly those still in full riot gear, should back off and let the island get on with what they have to do as soon as possible," he said.

"So we're asking our membership to support that by writing to the Premier and the Police Minister to ask them to cut down on the numbers of police still on the island as soon as possible."

Mr Cooper said reports from the island this morning suggest police have been leaving the island but in fact were still there in larger than usual numbers.

"We're told there is still well over 20 police on the island where they normally have a presence of just six," he said.

"We also understand that no one on the island believes the young man died by accident, which means if the police remain within sight of the funeral they have the potential to inflame the situation further.

“Community concerns are reinforced by the fact that most of the recommendations from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody have not been implemented.

"All they are asking is to be left in peace and allowed to get on with their lives."

For more information contact David Cooper 0418 486310