Latest news with #Faqiri
Global News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Faqiri family demands answers on implementing coroner inquest recommendations
The family of a mentally ill man who died in a provincial jail is demanding to know if the Ontario government has implemented any recommendations that came out of a coroner's inquest, saying they believe nothing has been done. Several dozen civil liberty and mental health organizations have also called for action in a letter to Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner following the death of Soleiman Faqiri and the subsequent inquest. In December 2023, inquest jurors issued 57 recommendations meant to improve oversight of the correctional service and access to mental health care within it. They also ruled Faqiri's death on Dec. 15, 2016 to be a homicide. It is unclear if the province has implemented any of the jury's recommendations. Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman's brother, said it appears the government has done nothing. No charges have been laid in his brother's death. Story continues below advertisement Kerzner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'More than 16 months have passed since that coroner's inquest, and not one, not one of those recommendations have been implemented, including the one with a simple public statement saying that individuals suffering from mental health challenges should not be in jails,' Yusuf Faqiri said at a news conference at Queen's Park. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The family has also demanded an apology from the province, though one has yet to materialize. 'No one in your government has reached out to my family to issue an apology into his tragic death,' Faqiri said in a plea to Ford and Kerzner. 'The system that killed my late brother continues unchanged. Our work and this fight for change must continue and will continue.' The Canadian Civil Liberties Association also called on the province to implement the jury's recommendations, which it says would treat inmates better while also protecting society. 'The crisis in Ontario prisons undermines the basic human dignity of those in custody, the vast majority of whom are waiting for their day in court and presumed innocent,' said Shakir Rahim, director of the association's criminal justice program. In May 2024, the Faqiri family demanded similar actions from the government to act on the recommendations. Story continues below advertisement At the time, Kerzner said his government was reviewing the inquest jury's report. The inquest heard that Soleiman Faqiri, who had schizophrenia, appeared increasingly unwell during his time at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., and many correctional and medical staff members expressed concerns about him. However, Faqiri was never taken to a hospital, nor did he see a psychiatrist, the inquest heard. On his 11th day in jail, a fight broke out between Faqiri and jail guards as they escorted him back from a shower. The inquest heard guards struck Faqiri numerous times, pepper sprayed him and eventually handcuffed him, covered his head in a spit hood and left him face down on a cell floor, where he died. The jury's recommendations included creating an independent inspectorate for corrections that would have the ability to launch investigations, and adding an independent rights adviser and prisoner advocate in all correctional facilities. Other recommendations included establishing a provincial agency to oversee and deliver health care in correctional facilities and ensuring people in custody who have acute mental health issues are assessed by a mental health professional within 24 hours of a court order or remand. Recommendations issued in a coroner's inquest are not binding and the finding of homicide carries no legal liability.
CBC
05-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Soleiman Faqiri's family, civil rights watchdog demand Ford government act on inquest recommendations
Social Sharing Soleiman Faqiri's family and 36 Canadian prominent civic groups are demanding Monday the Ontario government apologize for his death and start acting on the recommendations of a coroner's inquest. Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman's brother, said the Ford government hasn't implemented a single recommendation from a 2023 coroner's inquest that deemed Soleiman's death a homicide and made 57 recommendations to prevent something similar from happening again. Faqiri said he believes the government wants Soleiman's story to be forgotten. His family, he said, has vowed to not let that happen because what happened to Soleiman — who died at the hands of multiple guards inside a provincially-run correctional facility — could happen to any Canadian suffering from a mental health crisis. "This is a life and death issue," he told CBC Toronto. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has written a letter, cosigned by the leaders of 35 civic organizations from across the country, in support of the Faqiri family's call for an apology. The use of force that led to Faqiri's death, it said, was "unjustified." The letter, addressed Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, is also seeking an update on why the government hasn't struck a committee to implement recommendations from the Faqiri inquest, and why it still hasn't created a provincial corrections inspectorate that could look into individual and systemic complaints in correctional facilities. The province has said it is reviewing the inquest's recommendations — which are nonbinding — but hasn't publicly announced any changes stemming from it. "Individuals living with significant mental health conditions in custody are some of the most vulnerable people in our province," Shakir Rahim, the director of the CCLA's criminal justice program said in the letter. The letter is cosigned by groups including, but not limited to: the John Howard Society of Ontario, The Empowerment Council, the Ontario Association of Social Workers and the Black Legal Action Centre. Asked to respond to the CCLA letter, Dakota Moniz, a spokesperson for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, said what happened to Soleiman Faqiri "is a tragedy." "Our thoughts are with his family and all those who have lost loved ones in the correctional system," Moniz said in an email Sunday. Moniz went on to say the Progressive Conservative government has made record investments in the province's corrections system, including spending millions to update and build new facilities and establishing a new health services division to deliver mental health and addictions support for those in custody. The email does not say whether the province will apologize to Faqiri's family or how many of the 57 recommendations from the coroner's office have been completed. Inquest revealed use of force, policy breaches in Faqiri's death The long-awaited inquest into Faqiri's death took place in late 2023 and pulled back the curtain on what was described to jurors as a broken system, plagued by a lack of training and staff, tensions around different layers of management and an overreliance on segregation. WATCH | CBC Toronto's Shanifa Nasser breaks down what the public learned from the coroner's inquest: What we learned at the inquest into Soleiman Faqiri's death 1 year ago Duration 7:35 WARNING: This video contains graphic footage. Soleiman Faqiri died at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., after he was repeatedly struck by guards, pepper-sprayed twice, covered with a spit hood and placed on his stomach on the floor of a segregation cell. Shanifa Nasser explains what jurors were told at an inquest into the 30-year-old's death. Faqiri, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder — a combination of schizophrenic and bipolar symptoms — was taken into custody on Dec. 4, 2016, after allegedly stabbing a neighbour during what his family has said was a psychotic episode. Less than two weeks later, he was dead. The 30-year-old was awaiting a mental health assessment at the Central East Correctional Centre, near Lindsay, Ont., when he died face down on a cell floor after guards punched and struck him repeatedly, pepper sprayed him twice, covered him with a spit hood and left him shackled. Despite the coroner's inquest deeming his death a homicide and finding guards carried out 60 policy breaches in connection with his death, no criminal charges have been laid. All of the 57 recommendations made by coroner's jury are aimed at Ontario government. The top five recommendations include: Develop a public position statement within 60 days recognizing that jails are not the appropriate environment for those with significant mental health issues. Take immediate steps to make sure anyone suffering an acute mental health crisis in custody is admitted to hospital for assessment and, where appropriate, treatment. Adopt a principle of equivalence so that those in custody receive equal quality health care as they would outside. Develop a committee to ensure the inquest's recommendations are properly considered and any responses fully reported on. Establish an independent provincial corrections inspectorate.
