A week after the first attempt at investigating the situation at the detention centre on Manus Island was blocked by a pair of Governments who don’t want it to happen, a second attempt, this time mandated by a Papua New Guinean judge, has been scuttled after Sydney barrister Jay Williams was ordered to leave the centre on Thursday, and subsequently deported yesterday. Williams had gained access to 70 of the 1300 asylum seekers currently held on Manus Island during the week; access which the Australian and PNG governments had sought to block. The revelation emerging is that, having managed to gather statements regarding the events that resulted in the brutal death of asylum seeker Reza Berati in February of this year, and that now there are two Australian employees of private security contractor G4S who are wanted for questioning.
The statements, obtained by Williams, were passed on to island Police just prior to his deportation, for which no reason has been given. G4S has thus far refused to part in any investigation into the incident without the involvement of the Australian Federal Police, who at this point appear to have little interest in participating, and refuse to comment on the matter.
The two men whom Manus Island police are interested in investigating are Australian expatriates who returned to Australia shortly after the incident, making cooperation with local authorities extremely difficult, due to the stubborn insistence from Government officials that the investigation simply won’t take place.
This blatant, flat-out refusal to cooperate is the major obstacle standing in the way of finding out exactly what happened, and if any unlawful conduct has taken place. With a swathe of Government officials who remain steadfast in their desire for this to simply go away, it’s hard to see any change to this situation in the near future.
It’s clear that something happened on Manus Island. People don’t just simply drop dead in random occurrences when situations like these happen. One way or the other, the truth must be aired. But when avoiding political casualties and public humiliation have greater worth placed on them than that of a human life, what hope do any of us have of hearing it?
Photo: AFP via Getty Images.
