The Australian government has reached a confidential settlement with the family of the refugee Reza Barati, nine years after he was murdered by guards inside the Manus Island detention centre, and two years after his parents sued over his death.
Barati was 23 when he was beaten to death by guards and other contractors during a violent rampage inside the Australian-run offshore detention centre in February 2014. His assailants attacked him with a length of timber spiked with nails, repeatedly kicked and punched him once he had fallen and dropped a large rock on his head.
The government and the security firm G4S have now settled civil proceedings with Barati’s parents, Ita Torab Barati and Farideh Baralak.
“We still feel the pain of Reza’s absence every single day,” his parents said from their village Lomar in Iran’s Kurdistan region.
“Reza came to Australia seeking safety. Then he was murdered in a detention centre where he should have been kept safe. He had done nothing wrong.”
Barati’s parents said they hoped no other parent “has to go through this pain”.
“While there is nothing that will bring our Reza back or lessen the pain of his loss, we are glad that this case is over. We are satisfied that we fought for justice for Reza and are relieved now that we can try to move on with our lives.”
The terms and conditions of the settlement – two years after legal action was launched in the Victorian supreme court – are confidential. The settlement does not include any admission of responsibility by the Australian government.
Seventy-seven other refugees and asylum seekers were injured in the riot, including some who were shot and others who had their throats slashed with knives.
Two men, Louie Efi and Joshua Kaluvia, were convicted of Barati’s murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison, later reduced to five years. They have since been released. Kaluvia worked for the Salvation Army inside the detention centre and Efi was a security guard for G4S.
The pair consistently maintained others – including expatriate staff working in the detention centre – were also responsible for attacking and killing Barati. “We have to take the blame for them,” Kaluvia told the Guardian in a prison interview in 2015.
Eyewitnesses gave statements to police and to court that up to 15 guards – from Australia and Papua New Guinea – were involved in attacking Barati, including kicking him as he lay on the ground. An Australian government report found Barati was killed by “a brutal beating by several assailants”.
Australia’s detention centre on Manus Island was ruled illegal by the PNG supreme court in 2016, which ordered that it be closed.
About 75 refugees and asylum seekers, most of whom were sent offshore a decade ago, remain held in PNG, most in the capital, Port Moresby.
The Australian government has a contract with the PNG government to provide support for those still in the country, but it has consistently refused to release details of its cost or duration.
Jennifer Kanis, principal lawyer and head of the social justice practice at Maurice Blackburn, which brought the case to court, said she was pleased Barati’s family had won a measure of justice over his death.
“While this settlement is an important step, they will forever grieve his absence. We must not forget that at the heart of this legal case is the story of a family who lost their child and brother in the most brutal of circumstances.”
Kanis said the injustices faced by Barati and others detained offshore underscored the need for Australia to establish a national human rights charter.
Freya Dinshaw, acting legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said Barati’s murder had become “a symbol of both the brutality and impunity of the offshore detention system”.
“He came to this country seeking safety and was killed by the very people meant to be protecting him.
“Offshore processing has inflicted untold suffering upon people merely asking for safety while private security operators made multimillion dollar profits. The Albanese government must urgently evacuate the 75 people still stranded in PNG, and end the harmful policy of offshore detention once and for all.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs declined to comment on the settlement.
G4S did not respond to requests for comment.
