Opinion: Canada must end the pervasive culture of inhumanity inside prisons

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A coroner’s inquest into the beating death of 30-year-old Soleiman Faqiri by guards at an Ontario jail began recently. Faqiri died on Dec. 15, 2016, in a segregation cell at the Central East Correctional Centre (CECC). He was beaten, pepper-sprayed and restrained face-down in a spit hood, a controversial restraint device used to prevent someone from biting or spitting.

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Faqiri was in CECC awaiting a psychiatric assessment. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 19 and was incarcerated during an episode related to his illness. Nine guards were involved in beating Faqiri. He died with 50 bruises on his body.

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Faqiri’s death was horrific, yet our research into patterns of deaths in custody across Canada illustrates his death is not unique. Preventing more incidents means addressing patterns of violence and a culture of inhumanity towards prisoners. To do so, systemic changes are needed — including banning the use of force against anyone experiencing mental health crises; banning spit hoods altogether; and accountability from guards involved in causing deaths.

We have tracked more than 1,532 deaths in custody across Canada since the year 2000 — 669 occurring in Ontario. Faqiri was one of 85 deaths in custody in Canada that year, and 21 people have died at CECC since it opened in 2002.

Deaths in custody are rarely natural; the average age of all those who have died across Canada is just 44.5. Which tells us that many deaths are due to conditions of confinement, including the actions of guards.

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We know of at least 13 deaths of people diagnosed with schizophrenia who died under force by prison guards. Howard Hyde, who lived with schizophrenia, died while incarcerated in Nova Scotia in 2007. Instead of receiving a mental health assessment, Hyde was assaulted and restrained by guards. Hyde’s death inquest resulted in 80 recommendations, including a call for an end to the use of force towards people in mental health crises. The report was released two years before Faqiri’s death.

In Canada, we have tracked a minimum of nine deaths of people in custody where spit hoods were used. Like Faqiri, Christopher Chastellaine, 40, died in 2014 while being restrained on the floor by multiple guards while in a spit hood. Despite evidence of their danger, deaths related to spit hoods continue. Just last year, Nicous Spring, 21, died in Quebec, while being restrained by guards while in a spit hood.

The use of spit hoods has been deemed inhumane in other jurisdictions. After the 2016 death of Wayne Fella Morrison, an Indigenous Australian who was killed while restrained in a spit hood, they were banned in custodial settings in south Australia. This year, the Australian Federal Police followed suit and banned spit hoods entirely.

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Inquests into deaths in custody are limited in scope and can only determine the cause of death. The process seldom leads to institutional accountability, as recommendations are not binding, and no criminal charges can be applied to those responsible for the death. To bring justice for Faqiri, we must view the conditions that caused his death not as unique, but as part of a pattern of institutional violence and a lack of accountability. Adequate mental health care and supports in the community are also needed so that individuals experiencing a mental health crisis do not end up in the prison system in the first place.

We hope Faqiri’s inquest will be another step in undoing the ongoing institutional harm and pervasive culture of inhumanity inside prisons. But more action is needed for real change and transformation to occur.

Lindsay Jennings is a Research Associate at Tracking (In)Justice. Jeffrey Bradley is a doctoral candidate, Carleton University and Research Assistant at Tracking (In)Justice. Alexander McClelland is Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

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