All Deaths in Custody Must be Reviewed

All deaths in custody and public institutions must be accompanied by a fatality review.

Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice asks that all deaths in custody and public institutions be accompanied by a fatality review. We call for a public inquiry into his death and all deaths of people held in provincial custody. We call for the Province to answer the questions raised by Mr. Hiles’ mother Sheila Hiles.

Gregory Hiles was found dead in his cell last in August, 2019 at the East Coast Forensic Hospital. Earlier this summer, Mr. Hiles filed a habeus corpus application against the ECFH over the cruel and unusual treatment to which he was subjected as a patient. He was denied open visits with his mother and his children and experienced isolation and overly restrictive conditions.

We agree with the Nova Scotia Advocate who says “A Fatality Inquiry must determine the specific nature and sources of the injuries causing Mr. Hiles’s death. It should further explore what preventative measures are required in order to ensure that similar tragic deaths in custody do not occur at the ECFH.  Such an inquiry should take specific account of whether reforms are required to law, policy or practice to ensure that the ECFH is fully meeting its duty to protect the health, safety and eventual community reintegration of forensic patients.”

Wellness Within works for reproductive justice for people experiencing criminalization in Nova Scotia. We object to the Province’s practice of routinely denying contact visits in carceral facilities including ECFH and the adjacent Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility.

By provincial and international law, including the United Nations Mandela Rules, the Province is required to provide health service to incarcerated people. Mr. Hiles was denied appropriate care. He was treated unjustly. He died because of it.

We demand forensic patients and incarcerated people receive health care to community standards.