Reza Barati was a 23-year-oldasylum seeker[1] who was killed during an orchestrated attack on inmates at theManus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRPC),Papua New Guinea, on 17 February 2014.[2] AnIranian Kurd,[3] he had arrived inAustralia on 24 July 2013 – just five days after thePNG solution was announced – and was sent toManus Island in August.[4]
It was first reported that the cause of death was "severe head trauma",[2] with the Cornall Review later concluding that the actual cause wascardiac arrest as a consequence of "severe brain injury", caused by being beaten by several assailants.[5] TwoManusian men were convicted of murder in 2016, but others involved, said to be Australianexpats, have never been brought to justice.[6]
Reza was born in a small town calledLomar inIlam Province, part of theKurdistan region ofIran, in 1990. He studiedarchitecture at university and was determined to finish his studies when resettled. Due to his kind nature and large build, his friends would call him “the gentle giant”.[7]
Then Immigration MinisterScott Morrison said after the incident that Barati's body would be moved toPort Moresby, where an autopsy would be held before the government would assist with repatriation to Iran, as requested by his family.[8]
At least 15,000 people came out to attend 600 "snapprotests" all overAustralia following the news of his death. Over 4,000 Australians came together inSydney Town Hall on 23 February 2014 to hold acandlelight vigil in memory of Barati.[9][10]
Robert Cornall, a lawyer and former Secretary of theAttorney-General's Department, was appointed in February 2014 to conduct 'a review into the circumstances surrounding the Manus Island disturbances' leading up to Reza Barati's death[11] with the primary focus on management of security at the centre.[5][12][13][14]
The report was released in late May 2014.[5][15] In the report, Cornall described Barati as “a very gentle man” who was not involved in the unrest. The report concluded that “Mr Barati suffered a severe brain injury caused by a brutal beating by several assailants and died a few hours later.”[16]
In December 2014, an Australian Senate inquiry into the three days of rioting at the centre found the Australian government had failed in its duty to protect asylum seekers and that the riots were caused by a failure to process asylum claims and was also foreseeable.[16][17]
In July 2014, a security guard and later aSalvation Army worker, bothPapua-New Guinean, were arrested. Both men were charged with murder. Their trial at Manus Island court was due to start on 2 March 2015. Three more suspects were being sought,[18] two of whom were Australianexpatriate security guards who as of 11 February 2019[update] had still not been charged.[19]
On 19 March 2016, the two 29-year-old Papuan men, Louie Efi and Joshua Kaluvia, were convicted in thePNG supreme court and each sentenced to 10 years jail for Reza Barati's murder. Kaluvia had hit Barati with a piece of timber spiked with nails and Efi had dropped a rock on his head. Five years of thesentences were suspended, and credit was given for time served.[20][16]
In sentencing, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom said they had received shorter prison terms because others not yet charged were also involved in killing Barati, and that the prosecution's case relied on the evidence of one main witness. This witness had reported that a large group of people includingNew Zealand and Australian guards were involved in attacking Barati. Both accused pleaded not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout, claiming to have been set up. The apparent exemption from justice of expatriates working on Manus had long been alleged by Manusians, suggesting double standards of justice.[16]
In July 2020, theAustralian government andsecurity companyG4S have settled alawsuit brought against them by former Manus Islandsecurity officer Grant Potter. Potter claimed he was left with severepsychological injuries after riots at the Manus Island detention facility in 2014 resulted in one asylum seeker dead and 77 people injured.[21]
The documentary filmChauka, Please Tell Us the Time, shot from inside the detention centre by fellow refugeeBehrouz Boochani, contains a first-hand account of Barati's death.[22]
In an opinion piece written forThe Guardian in February 2018, Behrouz Boochani writes an account of the riots and the unfairness of the events following, including the trial. Questions are still left unanswered four years later. He writes of how the main witness in the trial has been traumatised, and about Barati as a person, the "gentle giant and best friend". The piece ends with a poem,Our Mothers, a poem for Reza.[7]
...His heart rate dropped ... leading to his death from a cardiac arrest ... a classic secondary response to raised intercranial pressure secondary to severe brain injury. - Doctor treating Reza Barati
Berati ... was struck from behind .... also kicked and had a rock dropped on his head, before dying of heart failure while being treated by medical staff.