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Report
from Port Hedland Tear gas was used on detainees in Port Hedland's Juliet Block yesterday. The recently refurbished isolation block held around 24 detainees last night, including one 16 year old boy. Detainees in the recently refurbished isolation block have been left handcuffed, without blankets or mattresses, and for some time without food or water. It is reported there has been use of tear gas, and severe beatings, enough to cause great injury, some having their heads smashed against the wall. DIMIA said on Thursday that 'ringleaders' of 'riots' had been identified and isolated, but the truth is that quiet, gentle people, a suicidal man, a man on crutches, and two boys have been taken into isolation and assaulted. An Iranian man was taken by police to Juliet Block block after complaining of their aggressive presence in the family compound. A 14 year old Iranian boy was beaten while detained in Juliet Block, then released as DIMIA declared he was under age. A 16 year old boy from Iraq remained in Juliet Block last night; he and his father were assaulted there, and it was also reported that electric cattle prods were used on this boy during Thursday's disturbance. New officers who will be employed by Group 4, current ACM officers and WA state police have been involved in these incidents. Detainees are upset by media reports of injured officers. They say it is too easy for DIMIA to gather sympathy in this way, and are disappointed that there never seems to be such sympathetic reporting of injured detainees, of which there are now many. There is suspicion that the incidents were deliberately provoked by management, and detainees want to emphasise to supporters and the media that the issue for them has not merely been the denial of visits to 4 Afghan men, but the denial of all detainees' liberty every day. Tension has been mounting in Port Hedland over the last four weeks. After a rooftop protest during which a guard was injured, there has been an almost constant presence of police and large numbers of CERT team officers in blue overalls carrying handcuffs, batons and capsicum spray. Many people in Port Hedland have been in detention for 3 or 4 years, and two men recently reached their fifth year. They feel overwhelmingly frustrated by the legal sytem which has denied them justice, exhausted by their time spent living in captivity, and terrified that they will soon be deported. Other recent protests in Port Hedland have been over the indignity of being handcuffed at a doctor's appoinment, and the lack of timely and adequate medical attention. An Iranian man pulled his own tooth out with pliers in frustration at his waiting six months to see a dentist. Around 14 ACM and WA state police officers continued to patrol the compounds last night and this morning, searching rooms and attempting to intimidate people. Detainees were confined to their own residential blocks, unable to move freely around the centre or communicate with people in neighbouring blocks. Many are nursing injuries and significant bruises. Phone lines were still disconnected this morning. |