Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the UN Committee On The Elimination Of Racial Discrimination, 30 October 2017 Palm Island 152. The Commission notes conduct of officers of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) following the death of 36-year-old Aboriginal man named Cameron Doomadgee (known posthumously as Mulrunji) in police custody on Palm Island.185 The way QPS officers dealt with the aftermath of Mulrunji’s death led to numerous coronial inquests and reviews, a number of court cases and, most relevantly, a representative proceeding brought to the Federal Court of Australia in 2016 by a group of people on Palm Island alleging unlawful racial discrimination by QPS officers during that time. 153. In Wotton v State of Queensland (No 5) [2016] FCA 1457 (‘Wotton (No 5)’), the Federal Court was asked to decide whether, in the police investigation into Mulrunji’s death, in the management of community concerns, tension and anger on Palm Island in the week after his death, and in the police responses to protests and fires that occurred in the aftermath (including a fire at the police station), officers of the QPS contravened s 9(1) of the RDA. 154. Section 9(1) of the RDA provides: ‘It is unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.’ 155. The Federal Court held that the State of Queensland, through the QPS officers, breached s 9 of the RDA.186 The Federal Court found that: (a) The QPS officers with command and control of the investigation did not act impartially and independently.187 (b) There were substantial failures by QPS officers on the island to communicate with the Palm Island community and defuse tensions.188 (c) An emergency declaration was issued which triggered the evacuation of non-Aboriginal people from the island. Only local Palm Islanders could not travel to and from the Island. (d) A special group of armed officers were used to arrest suspects and to conduct entries and searches of houses on Palm Island. They broke into houses with assault rifles raised and confronted unarmed men, women and children. The use of these officers to effect the arrests was unnecessary, disproportionate and undertaken as a show of force against local people who had protested about the conduct of police. 156. The Court found that QPS officers acted in these ways because they were dealing with an Aboriginal community. If the events took place in an isolated non-Aboriginal community in Queensland, the above conduct would not have occurred.189 30