*Ricky Morris* 29/10/2005-18 Years Later
"Thinking Of You And Missing You"
Gone But Never Forgotten
It all started back in May-05 when I decided to do a website on the memory of my brother 'Ricky' and that's when it all began for myself a journey I never imagined. From that date forward to this I have received a lot of information and spoken to all sorts of people from high up to general people whom either knew nothing or some that knew it all.
Today I still speak to a few who have supported me through this journey, without them I'm not sure where I would be today with all of this. Some say "go get them Cheryle" some just show there sympathy for all that has happened and wish me well with it all.
Its been a hard road after 18yrs, I bring all this memory up for some people and for myself I learn the truth about my brothers death, hard yes, heartbreaking yes, pissed off yes, lots of looking back at the early days when Ricky was inside I use to think "what could I have done to make it all different"? And there has been lots of "If only I did this or done that" but as I have learnt now I cannot blame myself for the time I couldn't be there for him. Lots of issue's raised their ugly heads but I have had to deal with them one by one during this time. I after all this time can see a bit clearer and now all I can say is I have to move forward and fight for what Ricky would have wanted and get out of my sad-anger stage.
Grieving is one of the hardest things I've have had to go through and in this case really hard as a lot of things didn't add up, corruption within the system, so many lies and yet still looking for answers to all of this shit. I guess I have received the answers but they weren't the ones I was looking for.
When I started all this I went full forward and not to mention at high speed. I contacted so many people and received so much information it was a great help, but some wouldn't tell as they are still in the system today, although a couple gave me some info that was enlightening. A few that were on the inside at the time contacted me and either sent their wishes whilst others just bragged about there time there and it followed with the typical macho stuff, some I contacted were rude and didn't want any part of it (this showed me who the real dogs were).
I came to accept that it was a hard thing to drag up after so long and to some it was an horrific time and their avoidance in this matter was okay to be left until - if they ever felt comfortable to get back to me with anything, I wont hold my breath.
3 months into this I went bang and hit a wall I was so full of anger and hatred towards the system it wasn't a nice feeling. I was so angry with Robert Wright for starting the protest, I was so sad and in pain as I learnt what my brother had been going through and had been through whilst on the inside... Dirty mongrel screws I hope they suffer today for what they had done back then. I say this to the negative ones who were actually in the unit on the day but then again I say it to any screw who mistreated any prisoners back in the Pentridge, Jika-Jika days "any prison actually".
As sad as it is there were some that had committed suicide or became drunks or just left the system after the Fires back in "87". Those who were there and played their part the best they could no longer stand that dreaded day, tormenting their head. Along another line I have learnt that not all are the same, there a few and far between whom really did the job. On a positive note, some were around but they had to keep their mouth shut in order to keep their jobs, a few have said to me "it should not have happened Ricky shouldn't have been in such a unit" but as usual there is always one story after another, lies-truth-fear-regret-and lots of sorry's.
Somehow I will get the summary of the 'coroners inquest' files added to my site for all to read if you haven't read it yet. I need to do it in a PDF file this I will do, just not sure when. I have done a few pages of a journal from prisoners that they did back in '88'. Oh, and there is some truth in that. Once completed, I have 7 pages to type out and shall add it to my site as well.
It's been a difficult past 6 months for me, as a person who suffers with depression I could only imagine what I have endured with all of this. Thank you to all who have supported me and whom are still here with me today to help me get to the end of my journey. Credits are in my thank you page.
Where am I going with it all? Well after having a meeting with a fellow friend whom is going to help me and contacts he has, *we have a plan* its going to take a bit and a few walls to break through. The system can forget that day as much as they want but hey "I WONT!"
The day it will all come alive will be the 29-10-07, this will be the 20yr anniversary.
Please be sure to drop in to my guest book and remember all those who lost their life on this day back in '87'. For Ricky he never got to spend his 18th birthday outside so please help me by acknowledging him on Saturday 29th October for the 18th yr of his death.
Time of deaths 4.15 to 4.35... R.I.P
I will be adding more please keep checking back or send me your email addy and I'll inform you of updates as they come..
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By NIGEL ADLAM 29 October 05
PRISONERS threatened to riot at Darwin jail after complaining about overcrowding and the quality of food, it was learnt yesterday.
Fifteen officers donned full riot gear including arming themselves with large gas pumps as a group of inmates sat down on the ground and refused to go to a routine muster.
The three ringleaders were whisked away to a maximum security block after a tense two-hour stand-off.
One prison source said: "There was no violence in the end but it was touch and go.
"Once a few of them get together you can have a monster.''
The prisoners are believed to have handed a letter of grievance to Darwin Correctional Centre.
Trouble started at the maximum security B and C blocks on Thursday morning.
Correctional Services director Jens Tolstrup said public safety was never threatened.
"The incident was not a major disturbance,'' he said.
"All the inmates dispersed willingly and voluntarily and without incident.
"There was no lock-down, no violence and the rest of the prison operated as normal.
"The three inmates involved have been moved from the block into other accommodation. This is standard practice for these situations.''
The source said it was "very unusual'' for riot gear to be issued.
He said several of the prisoners had told officers they would "take the blocks out'' a euphemism for a riot.
The source said the prison was overcrowded, adding: "Everybody is hot at this time of the year and tempers fray.''
The source refused to name the ringleaders who are not serving life sentences.
He said they were well-known within the prison system but not outside.
Darwin and Alice Springs prisons each hold about 400 inmates each. Both are nearly full.
By Jill Colgan posted 29 October 05
KERRY O'BRIEN: Now to a first-hand and rather grim picture of life behind bars for the terrorism suspects at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. It's an account from an officer who served there, a former Army Muslim chaplain, Captain James Yee, one of the few people to have regular contact with Australian detainee David Hicks. In an
extraordinary chain of events, Captain Yee himself was charged with spying at Guantanamo and sat in a naval brig, facing the prospect of the death penalty. All the more extraordinary because Captain Yee was later cleared and given an honourable discharge from the Army. Washington correspondent Jill Colgan has this exclusive interview.
JILL COLGAN: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The maximum security prison where more than 500 prisoners sit awaiting trial. The soldiers assigned here come and go, but for one army captain, this assignment cost him his career, and nearly his life.
JAMES YEE, FORMER US ARMY CHAPLAIN: What was going through my mind is what are - what are these people doing? It was a huge mistake, it was a gross miscarriage of justice.
JILL COLGAN: The US military wants Americans to trust its decisions at Guantanamo, but the case of Chaplain Yee shows the military can and does get it wrong. Chaplain James Yee began his assignment in Guantanamo Bay in November 2002.
JAMES YEE: Not only did I advise the command on any issues regarding religion and how it affected the operation. But I also was inside the cell blocks daily, interacting personally on a personal level with the prisoners.
JILL COLGAN: A third generation American of Chinese descent, James Yee had graduated from the prestigious West Point military academy. His father and two brothers also served in the US military. After converting to Islam, he wanted to combine his military and religious roles as a Muslim chaplain. We met him five months into his tour of duty, put up by the army as an example to the media of its adherence to religious rights for the Muslim prisoners.
How do you reconcile yourself as chaplain with knowing that the detainees here haven't been charged with anything and have not been convicted of anything, but are here in ongoing detention?
JAMES YEE: OK, in terms of reconcile, I don't really have anything to reconcile with, but ...
JILL COLGAN: But it turned out that issue was at the heart of an internal struggle the chaplain was then facing.
JAMES YEE: It wasn't my job to determine guilt or innocence. But I was able to interact with them on a personal level. And as a result, it was very hard for me to find that all 660 of those prisoners who are down there at the time when I was there were in some way connected to September 11.
JILL COLGAN: The Muslim captain found himself increasingly torn between his military duties and his defence of the prisoners' religious rights.
JAMES YEE: What I saw down there is this became a systematic way to abuse the detainees.
JILL COLGAN: He claims one form of abuse involved initial response force teams in riot gear, RIFs, to forcibly extract prisoners for even minor infractions.
JAMES YEE: Some detainees had the privilege of having a styrofoam cup. Sometimes they ended up with two, one for drinking, one for hygiene purposes. The second styrofoam cup was unauthorised by the regulations and therefore technically could be called illegal contraband. Now, illegal contraband meant that you had to spend some time in solitary confinement, the guards would call an (inaudible word) team and the guards would come one after the another, line up in one in front of the prisoner's cell. After the prisoner is doused with pepper spray, the door is quickly unlocked and the these six to eight men rushed into the prisoner's cell, man-handled the prisoner down to the ground as forcibly as possible.
JILL COLGAN: He says mass suicide attempts were organised to protest against guards abusing the Koran.
JAMES YEE: It caused chaos in the blocks, and then again, just as you thought it would be calm, another detainee would try and carry out a suicide.
JILL COLGAN: He spoke often with Australian prisoner David Hicks.
JAMES YEE: But on occasion he would talk about, for example, in his interrogations, that he was offered a prostitute in exchange for giving some type of information, but he felt that that was just an insult to him, it was an insult to him being a Muslim, a practicing Muslim.
JILL COLGAN: James Yee says he was one of the few who saw David Hicks after he was charged and moved into isolation. Hicks, he says, passed his time studying Islamic law.
JAMES YEE: He was just really asking that I request to make more visits to him, because I was really essentially the only one he had contact with, the command only allowed me to go once a week, and in those conditions, it wasn't - they weren't open cells, they were completely closed. He had no access to sunlight.
MAN 1: You need to take a break, too, 'cause you work hard, and I appreciate all the work you do, but ...
JILL COLGAN: But despite feedback praising his work, Chaplain Yee's defence of the prisoners brought him and his Muslim co-workers under scrutiny. When he left Guantanamo to visit his family, he was arrested at a Florida airport and spent 76 harrowing days in a navy brig in south
Carolina.
JAMES YEE: I was accused of spying, espionage, aiding the enemy and mutiny and sedition, all of these being capital crimes that carried a death penalty.
JILL COLGAN: James Yee's case never got to trial. In an autobiography about his experiences, he explains how the spying charges against him dropped away. But not before his career was ruined and his family ran up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills. For the record, did you undertake any activity that would've undermined US security or aided and abetted any of the detainees?
JAMES YEE: Everything I did was fully within my role as the Muslim chaplain in Guantanamo. I followed to a T the standard operating procedures, the unescorted access that I had to the prisoners was authorised. My conversations with the prisoners was known by all of my supervisors.
JILL COLGAN: Instead of espionage, the Army pursued Captain Yee on charges of adultery and accessing pornography on the Internet. But even these were expunged from his record when he was honourably discharged from the Army. The Pentagon has refused to comment on the allegations in his book.
Why didn't someone say "Stop, there has been a terrible mistake", when it was clear the charges against you were falling away?
JAMES YEE: This is a great question, why did it go so far? I can only speculate, but I think the important point is it did go that far and someone needs to take responsibility for allowing it to go that far.
KERRY O'BRIEN: Jill Colgan with that report.
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