Rally hears of mystery in activist's death

May 13, 1992
Issue 

By Liam Mitchell

ADELAIDE — A rally of 100 Aborigines and supporters on May 9 heard of the mystery surrounding the death of long-time Aboriginal rights activist Alice Dixon, 53, found dead in her home on May 6.

Police have said that there are no suspicious circumstances, but have not yet revealed the cause of her death. However, activists with the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee are suspicious of police involvement.

Carno Walker, an activist with the Watch Committee, told the rally that "Alice Dixon fought for her people for many years. The authorities want us to believe that she just gave up fighting.

"The CIB withheld information from her family. The police were the last people to see her alive. We have no reason to believe that she did take her own life. The authorities want us to believe that."

Alice Dixon had spent most of her life fighting to achieve human rights for the Aboriginal people. After her son Kingsley died in police custody on July 9, 1987, she devoted all her time to ensuring that a Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody was held to investigate the deaths of the hundreds of Aborigines who had died in custody.

When the commission reported its findings, without making any recommendations to prosecute any officers responsible for the deaths, Dixon turned to exposing the commission as a cover-up, calling for real justice and an overhaul of the prison system.

Dixon was a co-founder of the Aboriginal Watch Committee. She was due to leave for Europe in three months for a speaking tour on the issue of black deaths in custody and was to be a speaker at the May 9 rally.

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