BY SARAH STEPHEN
Alamdar Baktiyari and his uncle, Mahzer, were among a number of detainees caught up in disturbances inside the Woomera detention centre on July 28. Detainees told the August 1 Sydney Morning Herald that an Afghan man required stitches after being struck by guards on the chin, and is covered in bruises from the beating. A spokesperson for immigration minister Philip Ruddock claimed the man was injured when he fell on his mop.
According to Ian Rintoul from Sydney's Refugee Action Coalition, extra Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) guards had been flown into Woomera from the Curtin detention centre in preparation for protests that were expected to coincide with the arrival of a protest bus. The extra guards patrolled the compounds and detainees were warned to keep away from the fences.
Phone contact with the centre was cut. ACM and immigration officers systematically ransacked the detainees' rooms, supposedly searching for "home-made weapons" and alcohol. When Mahzer Baktiyari questioned the actions of the guards, he was threatened and detainees intervened to protect him.
Alamdar Baktiyari, one of the boys who sought asylum in the British consulate on July 18, also intervened to calm down the guards. He was dragged from the room and hit by ACM guards, Rintoul reported. Seven or eight people were taken in handcuffs to the medical centre and isolation cells.
An Iraqi detainee who intervened to prevent the rampage was shackled and taken outside the detention centre. Detainees believe he may have been taken to jail.
From Green Left Weekly, August 7, 2002.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.