…..AND HIS KILLERS ARE STILL FREE.

The three-week inquest into the December 15, 2016, death of Soleiman Faqiri at the hands of guards in an Ontario jail ended on December 12 last year.  His death was ruled a homicide; the jury made 57 recommendations intended to prevent future fatalities.
They won’t.

The Ontario government can adopt if it chooses all 57 recommendations to prevent further jail deaths caused by staff interactions with inmates.
They won’t and it won’t.

Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman’s older brother, wrote in Toronto’s Globe and Mail four days after the inquest jury’s verdict came down that “Soleiman’s tragic death can be an opportunity for our government to stand on the right side of history and begin necessary transformation of the correctional system.”
Be surprised if they do.

Yusuf also wrote that “the guards who killed Soleiman must be held criminally accountable for their actions.  The coroner’s inquest found nearly 60 policy breaches in the time leading up to Soleiman’s death.  The coroner’s report showed that Soleiman had 50 bruises on his body, his legs and hands tied, having been pepper sprayed under the spit hood.”
We can wish.

Our last Soleiman Faqiri entry back on April 16 last year anticipated a year’s-long wait for an inquest to begin.  The family did wait six years but that it began when it did was a marvel, and so we’re prepared to be surprised.  All the same, the ending of that last post is still relevant.

Nothing will change the narrative around Soleiman’s death without the participation of people like you and like me.
Nothing will change the outcome of future deaths in custody without the participation of people like you and like me.

We sent comments to Ontario’s Solicitor General……

January 29. 2024

The Honourable Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General,
Office of the Solicitor General,
25 Grosvenor Street, 18^th Floor,
Toronto, ON  M7A 1Y6

Re:      Soleiman Faqiri Inquest

Minister Kerzner:

The most important question in determining what led to Soleiman Faqiri’s death at the Central East Detention Centre on December 15, 2016, was and still is, why were guards in his cell?

The jury didn’t ask the question while I was able to watch the inquest, and the 57 recommendations suggest it was never asked.  If it was, the jury members accepted a cursory response and did not pursue a close examination.  Remember that the sole reason guards had their hands on this man was to move him from the shower to his cell.  They had only to close that cell door and walk away.

Two other questions were never put on the table.  As Soleiman was being led down the range, a guard leaned over and said something that agitated him.  What did the guard say?  Then too, outside the cell, with Soleiman still bent over and controlled, a guard pointed a pepper spray cannister upwards and sprayed him directly in the face.  Why?   For one, isn’t it against policy to spray someone in the face and mouth?

As an added observation, the frenzied activity on the range after Soleiman was non-responsive had more to do, in my opinion, with the ramifications for staff if he needed hospitalization or could not be revived than it did for Soleiman’s wellbeing.  There’s no question that opinion is widely shared.

As a bottom line, inquest/inquiries into incidents of harm to federal and provincial inmates have resulted in some progressive prison/jail policy improvements, but the impact on practice is open to serious scrutiny.  The Soleiman Faqiri Inquest will not prevent future similar events, just as past inquests anywhere in Canada have also failed.

Real change begins with a forced inside-out reboot of carceral culture, along with the federal government’s ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

Full stop.

What the Solicitor General’s office wants now is silence.
Guaranteed.
Please go away is the message.