Soleiman Faqiri's family, civil rights watchdog demand Ford government act on inquest recommendations

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.

"I don't want to be here today — but I am forced to be here," Faqiri said solemnly during a Monday morning news conference.

"We're here today because of the government's continued refusal, continued unresponsiveness, into the inquest recommendations that frankly would serve as a blueprint, ladies and gentlemen, into transforming corrections."

Soleiman, 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.

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.

Yusuf Faqiri said Monday that no one from the provincial government has reached out to issue an apology in the eight years since his brother's death.

"To the premier, I say this to you: You talk about protecting Ontarians and Canadians — but what about protecting vulnerable Ontarians Canadians?" he said.

"Mental illness is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue. It is life and death."

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.

In it, Shakir Rahim, director of the CCLA's criminal justice program, writes that people in custody living with significant mental health conditions are some of the most vulnerable people in the province.

"The crisis in Ontario prisons undermines the basic human dignity of those in custody," Rahim said at the news conference.

"This is no way to treat a person, nor to protect a society."

Asked to respond to the CCLA's 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.

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.