Death in prison of Soleiman Faqiri: his family still demands accountability

Nearly a year after a coroner’s inquest jury ruled Soleiman Faqiri’s death in an Ontario jail a homicide, his brother says his family is still waiting for the province to act on the jury’s recommendations to prevent such tragedies.

Soleiman, 30, died on December 15, 2016 at the Central East Correctional Center in Lindsayafter being hit several times by guards. The autopsy revealed more than 50 bruises. He was also sprayed twice with pepper spray, covered with a spit hood and placed face down in an isolation cell.

He suffered from schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenic and bipolar symptoms, and had been arrested 11 days earlier for stabbing a neighbor during a psychotic episode.

But according to Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman’s brother, nothing has changed since the jury delivered its verdict, along with 57 recommendations for the Ontario government to prevent further deaths in provincial prisons.

When they continue to ignore the recommendations of coroner’s inquests as deaths mount, it tells us the system needs to change declared Mr. Faqiri during an interview Friday on the radio of CBC.

The documentary My brother, Soleiman follows Mr. Faqiri in his quest for justice. It focuses on the coroner’s inquest, which includes CCTV footage revealing Soleiman’s final moments in prison.

Although the jury’s recommendations are not binding and their verdict has no legal consequences, Faqiri believes the province should be held accountable when vulnerable people die in government custody.

The lives of people with mental health problems are considered unimportant. It is not perceived in the same way as others he declared. It’s very tragic.

Faqiri says his family is still waiting for an apology from the Ontario government.

In May, the solicitor general Michael Kerzner refused to apologize to Soleiman’s family, blaming the former Liberal government.

This happened on the watch of another government. We are moving forward. We are making the necessary investments and we will do everything in our power to keep Ontario safe he said at the time.

Chelsea McGeedirector of communications for the Office of the Solicitor General, said in a statement Friday to CBC that he was categorically false to claim that the government had failed to implement the inquiry’s recommendations.

Significant progress has been made to modernize and improve the correctional system since Soleiman’s death, including new and expanded facilities, as well as program and policy changes, she added.

But according to Mr. Faqiri, the provincial government’s response is incorrect.

He did not act on the jury’s first recommendation: to issue a statement recognizing that correctional facilities are not an appropriate environment for inmates with significant mental health issues.

The jury had recommended that the province release this statement within 60 days of their verdict, delivered 339 days ago Friday.

Faqiri says the government has also failed to create an independent provincial correctional inspectorate to oversee correctional facilities, as the jury also recommended.

Building more prisons is not a solution he declared. Canadians need to know what is happening in these systems.

Mr Faqiri says the government’s inaction has only made it more persistent in its quest for justice.

He says he believes the correctional system will one day change.

This might not happen in my lifetime added Mr. Faqiri. But Soleiman was important. He was a brother, a son, and I will not stop until I ensure that his tragedy impacts systemic policy change in corrections.

With information from CBC