The release of the Cornall report into the events on Manus Island has confirmed what the asylum seekers said all along – that they were attacked on the night of 17 February by PNG police and local PNG staff (accompanied by some expats).
The report clearly reveals that the killers of Reza Barati still patrol the fences of the detention centre and the local staff that attacked Reza and other asylum seekers are still on Transfield’s payroll.
“If Scott Morrison has handed an un-redacted version of the report to the PNG government or the police, he will have directly put asylum seekers lives at risk. There are no witness protection arrangements in place in either PNG or Australia. All the asylum seekers are vulnerable to reprisal attacks,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“It is even more obvious that Scott Morrison is unwilling to take responsibility for the death of Reza Barati and he remains unwilling to provide safety for the Manus Island asylum seekers. And we are still a long way from knowing the truth about Reza’s death and the attacks on 17 February. The Cornall report is a long way from being the independent report that’s needed. And nothing in the Cornall report can wash Reza’s blood from the hands of the Minister.
“The report uncritically accepts a G4S self-serving account of the events – an account which is contradicted by the asylum seekers themselves. Cornall makes no attempt to highlight or resolve that contradiction. Consequently the report perpetuates the myth that there was a major protest inside Mike compound on that night.
“Shamefully, both Cornall and Morrison have attempted to exonerate the PNG police from responsibility for the unprovoked violence on the 17th. The asylum seekers must be brought to Australia. Manus Island must be closed.”
Photographs of Amin (at right), an Iranian asylum seeker in Oscar compound whose throat was cut by a G4S staff member on the night of the 16 February – something that revealed the horror of the attacks on the asylum seekers, but something Scott Morrison, until now, neglected to make public. The man, fearful of another attack has been on hunger strike for a week. “I can’t sleep. I fear that I will be attacked again,” he told the Refugee Action Coalition.
It is also a small, but not insignificant error that the Cornall report says that one person lost an eye as a result of the bashing on 17 February, when in fact two asylum seekers lost eyes.
National protests and vigils are planned on Wednesday and Thursday this week to mark the 100th day since Reza’s death – 100 days without justice for Reza or the other detainees on Manus Island. In Sydney a vigil will be held at Sydney Town Hall, Thursday, 26 June, 5.30pm.
“We will make sure that the Minister and the Australian government are held to account – and ensure that Reza and the offshore asylum seekers are not forgotten,” said Rintoul.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
