Statement from Baxter detainees regarding the detention
of Cornelia Rau and the proposed government inquiry

The public inquiry into the happenings of the unlawful detention of Cornelia Rau should not be short-sighted but expanded into an investigation about the inhuman treatment of all those who reside in Baxter detention centre. They are all treated by the same psychologists who are unable to distinguish between severely ill mental behaviour and deliberate misbehaviour.

Severely ill detainees are punished as if it were misbehaviour

Baxter detention centre has a specific compound for this where most of Cornelia Rau's time and [that of] many others is spent, isolated, locked in a room for 18 hours a day and/or constantly harassed in ways hard to understand and always denied - like waking people in a disturbing manner and provoking them into matters of self-harm and anger [and] always being blamed.

Most of the officers working in the compound, Red 1, are new to the centre. It takes a great deal of time for officers to realise that this is not a criminal detention and to treat the detainees as such.

Also in the Red 1 compound detainees are severely restricted. There is next to nothing in forms of recreation; no access to gym or education facilities. Detainees are expected not only to be alone, but alone and feeling that nobody cares, which is exactly the plight of those in detention who are unable to comprehend their situation.

Not understanding why you are in Baxter detention, with no clue of when it will end, together with feeling alone and that no-one cares, brings even someone with strong mental health to the brink of insanity.

Without proper psychological help, detainees may never find their way back

We here at Baxter detention plea for the pious and compassionate people of this great nation to not only look at the small picture of one Cornelia Rau but at the big picture of the humanitarian catastrophe of all those still suffering in this historical precedent of inhumanity. This is called Australian immigration detention.

Baxter detainees extend our best wishes for the recovery and future health of Cornelia Rau

Three and a half years later, we are still finding out what really happened. On Monday, 15 September 2008, ABC-TV's 'Four Corners' program covered the issue of the traumatised workers who staffed these torture chambers. Pamela Curr writes below about one particular cameo from the program:

Monday night’s Four Corners report demonstrates that Australia's refugee policy cannot be swept under the carpet with a few cosmetic changes. The Howard government detention policies infringed the most basic and minimal of human rights. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the film footage of the brutal removal of Cornelia Rau from Baxter.

The film shows four men dragging a frightened Cornelia out of the shower, naked and pleading to be left to shower herself. She is then strapped onto a stretcher with a sheet over her and carried out as she begs for her teddy bear. No female guards were used, no explanation given as to why she was dragged out of the shower naked, and no psychologist, doctor or nurse was in evidence; just brute force.

This incident becomes even more revealing when we consider that this “extraction” was done after it was discovered that Ms Rau was not an “unlawful non-citizen” (UNC) but rather an Australian resident who was mentally ill. During this rough and pitiless handling, the system was in fact on its best behaviour!

The reason for this sudden removal from Baxter was to ensure that Ms Rau was in hospital when the news broke of her illegal imprisonment in an immigration detention centre.

Every incident in detention was filmed, providing conclusive evidence of what really happened. We need a Royal Commission to reveal this proof, not just to remind us what happened under this brutal regime, but to show conclusively why Mandatory Detention legislation must be repealed. Imprisoning people without charge, without the oversight of a judicial process, indefinitely and arbitrarily, must stop.

The Rudd government wants to see Australia, as a good global citizen, take a two year term on the UN Security Council in 2013. The Security Council hears reports from all organs of the United Nations, and can take action over any issue which it feels threatens peace and security, including human rights issues.

How can Australia take its place while breaching the UN Human Rights Conventions with the policy of Mandatory Detention?