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Footage of 'inhumane' treatment of jailed Aboriginal woman rattles Australia

The state coroner called the footage "profoundly disturbing."

Jerico Mandybur

on December 16, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A coronial inquest released CCTV footage of 22-year-old Julieka Dhu's time in lock-up before her death in police custody on Friday.

The Indigenous Yamatji woman passed away in August 2014, but her family requested for the footage to be made public.

West Australian state coroner Ros Fogliani called the footage "profoundly disturbing."

Ms. Dhu was in lock-up after it was found she owed AU$3,622 ($2,664) in unpaid fines. Suffering pneumonia and a chest infection caused by a broken rib -- inflicted during an incident in which she was the victim of domestic violence -- she died on her second trip to hospital while incarcerated.

In one of the videos, police can be seen dragging an ill Ms. Dhu to a police van, after dropping her on her head.

Police had, at the time, called her a "junkie" and told hospital staff she was "faking it" according to the Guardian.

The Coroner made a number of recommendations in court Friday, including that jail no longer be an option for the non-payment of fines -- a practice in the state that sees many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reportedly jailed for minor offences.

Indigenous and non-Indigenous commentators alike have taken to Twitter to voice their disappointment in the inquest's findings -- citing a systemic lack of accountability as the reason police officers involved in the case will not face further discipline.

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An "entirely avoidable" death

2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) which issued a recommendation (number 92) that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples be sent to jail only as a last resort. 25 years later, and the state coroner is recommending the same thing, again.

Out of the royal commission's 339 recommendations, just a few have been implemented.

Over 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in police custody since the recommendations of the RCIADIC were passed.

According to NITV, 84 percent of the Northern Territory prison population is Indigenous and in Western Australia, Aboriginal people are 20 times more likely to be incarcerated.

Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make up 3 percent of the population, but are 28 percent more likely to be imprisoned.

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Ruth Barson, the director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre said in a statement Friday: "The Western Australian Government, and indeed all governments across Australia, have largely failed to follow the road map provided 25 years ago by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody both on how to prevent these types of tragic deaths and also, really importantly, how to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's over-imprisonment.

"It's profoundly upsetting that this is a death in custody that was entirely avoidable," she said.

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While Fogliani told the court that Ms. Dhu's treatment by both police and hospital staff was "deficient" and was influenced by preconceived notions about Aboriginal people, Ms. Dhu's grandmother Carol Roe said it felt as though her family still haven't seen justice.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Roe told gathered reporters she hoped the CCTV would show Australia the truth of what happened.

"Her birthday is in 10 days' time," she said.

"We are supposed to celebrate Christmas but we can't because there’s one missing in my family. I have to go to the cemetery, that's my Christmas."

Jerico Mandybur

Jerico Mandybur is the editor of Mashable Australia. Previously, she worked as a digital editor at SBS, Oyster Mag, MTV and ASOS. Tweet her at @jerico_m.