Journalist and novelist Tara Moss has published a stunning report about events at the Manus Island detention facility that are alleged to have taken place last week.
Moss describes her anguish in deciding whether or not to publish the information she received from an unnamed contact on Manus Island. Moss says that she made the decision to publicly release the reports she had heard once they were corroborated by other additional sources.
The information released by Moss relates to the so-called ‘disturbance’ on Manus Island that took place last week, in which 23-year-old detainee Reza Berati was killed. In the statement, she paints a shocking picture of asylum seekers trapped deep in the compound, as about 20 shots were fired around them.
She writes:
One of my long standing crime research contacts informed me of what happened on Manus Island, shortly after it happened. He is currently stationed there and worked on the now deceased Mr Reza Berati for 20 minutes before he passed. He described Mr Berati as an ‘exemplary human being’ showing ‘all the hallmarks’ of someone who would be ‘an asset to any community’.
Moss continues:
My contact, who wished to remain anonymous because they all sign confidentiality contracts, gave me a full run down on the events, before the details became public: the ’20+ shots fired’ (not ‘a couple’ as previously claimed). The spent shells. The evacuation of staff (but not asylum seekers) before the violence began. The fact that people from outside came in and opened fire on the people there. The fact that it happened deep within the compound where people were trapped, far from the entry gate.
She also explains that her contact insisted that the Manus Island detention centre ‘should be shut down as unsafe,’ and that he defended the hard work of many ex-pat Australians working in the centre under very difficult circumstances.
Moss then adds that her source had been uncontactable since he made the claims- although she has since updated social media to confirm that she has once again heard from her contact.
Moss stands strongly by her source’s claims, describing the detail of the information he provided as proving true so far.
The government has supplied only very limited information about what happened at the detention facility last week – so Moss’ reports are being treated very seriously by human rights organisations and those who support a more compassionate approach to asylum seeker policy.
Questions of when the Immigration Minister knew about the details of this incident, and an alleged failure to correct the record when he knew the details he had released publicly to be wrong, continue to be a matter of contention.
Further whistleblowers speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 tonight suggested that the public remains in the dark about what exactly has happened on Manus Island, and corroborated Moss’ source’s account.
More details as they emerge.
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