Australia: The Secret ShameThe Eddie Murray StoryTen years ago, a royal commission found that Aborigines were dying in custody at the rate of two a week. Today, the situation is worse.
A damning report by Amnesty International found that deaths of Aborigines in prison have reached new record levels. They are dying at almost twice the rate of other prisoners.
The death of Eddie Murray is the Stephen Lawrence case of Australia. Eddie was 21 and a star Rugby League player when he was found hanging in a police cell in the New South Wales town of Wee Waa in 1981.
The coroner delivered an open verdict, but Eddie's parents, Leila and Arthur Murray, have never stopped campaigning for justice.
In 1997, the Murrays' won an important victory. Eddie's body was exhumed and another autopsy carried out. This time, it was found that his sternum had been smashed.
However, no-one has yet to say officially that he was murdered and noone from the police force has been implicated.

Says Leila: "We want the State Government to look at this and see if we can get some answers. We've suffered a lot over the years, and I don't think I can take any more. We can't get justice."

Whereas Eddie Murray may not have committed suicide, the figures for Aborigines taking their own lives out of custody are spiralling out of control.
Without hope of a decent present or future, children as young as nine are ending their short lives.

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