Detainees’ seventh night in Juliet Block
Wednesday, 10 December 2003
Asylum seekers in Pt Hedland detention centre stopped work and hunger striked today to commemmorate United Nations Human Rights Day in solidarity with those still detained in Juliet Block.
22 asylum seekers remain in Juliet Block tonight, including a 16 year old boy. 19 have been in the isolation block for seven days without charge. They began a hunger strike on Monday.
Reports are that blankets and pillows have not been provided within Juliet Block, food has been inadequate (cornflakes, bread and salad only) and people have been kept in their cell all day with little or no time outside. It is reported that some detainees have been stripped of their clothes and handcuffed, and that some have been beaten, perhaps teargassed, inside their cells.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in 2002 issued a report into the treatment of five men detained in Juliet Block. They said in their findings:
“The detention by the Commonwealth of the asylum seekers in “J” block for a period of approximately six and a half days constituted arbitrary detention within the meaning of article 9(1) of the ICCPR; and the conditions of detention accorded to the asylum seekers while they were held in “J” block breached their right to be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity under article 10(1) of the ICCPR.” (HREOC Report No. 24)
Juliet Block was then mothballed while undergoing a $3.3M ‘upgrade’, and is being used now for the first time since 2001. Showers, toilets and sinks are now provided in each cell - with surveillance cameras watching above of course.
Carmen Lawrence said of her visit inside:
"I saw the chilling realisation of their fears in Port Hedland in the form of the refurbished Juliet block, the notorious isolation block used in the past to subdue the dissenters, the angry and distressed. No expense has been spared in transforming Juliet block into a maximum-security prison within a prison. The majority of the thirty plus cells are identical with cells normally reserved in the prison system for the most serious offenders. They are complete with massive, soundproof doors, peepholes, toilets and video surveillance and have been designed to eliminate hanging points." (SMH, 2 September 2003)
DIMIA has made much of their claim that 3 guards were injured during last Thursday's disturbance, intonating that this would justify the holding of 22 people in isolation with for one week without charge in degrading, inadequate and oppressive conditions. One wonders if the officers who hit, kicked, punched, cattle-prodded and teargassed men, women and children on Thursday night will be facing any consequences for their behaviour.
Human Rights Day celebrates the adoption if the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states "All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms".
Like a man released on Monday from Juliet Block said, "You social democratic countries have the human right. What is human right?"
PLEASE CAMPAIGN TO HAVE ALL PEOPLE RELEASED FROM JULIET BLOCK.
STOP THIS ASSAULT ON DIGNITY AND HUMANITY!
Call DIMIA, ACM, politicians. Write to newspapers. Protest.
Sincerely,
Helvi Aarnio
HREOC report on Juliet Block, 2002 http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/human_rights_reports/hrc_24.html
Mohammed Saleh died after spending 13 days in Juliet Block in 2001
SBS Insight: Mohammed and Juliet - A Modern Tragedy
http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/index.php3?archive=1&artmon=5&arty=2003
Weekend Australian: A Deadly Shock to our System
http://www.reportage.uts.edu.au/stories/2002/political/refugeedeath.html
Parliamentary Human Rights Subcommittee: Aspects of HREOC's annual report 2000-01 concerning immigration detention centres
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=53259&table=COMMJNT
Shaun Finegan
General Manager
ACM Detention Services
Fax: 02 9299 0288
Executive General Manager
ACM Operations
Fax: 02 9262 6005
Ross Millican
ACM Managing Director
Fax: 02 9262 6005
Steve Davis
Secretary
DIMIA Unauthorised Arrivals Section
Fax: 02 6264 1100
DIMIA
Ph: 131 881
(wait on hold until you hear a human)
Amanda Vanstone
Tel: (08) 8223 1757
Fax: 02 6273 4144
Electorate Office
Tel: (08) 8223 1757
Fax: (08) 8223 1750
E-mail: minister@immi.gov.au
John Howard
Fax: 02 6273 4100 (Parliament House Office) or
02 9251 5454 (Ministerial Office)
E-mail: HowardJ@aph.gov.au
Mark Latham
Tel: (02) 6277 4606
Fax: (02) 6277 8460
E-mail: M.Latham.MP@aph.gov.au
Stephen Smith
Shadow Minister for Immigration
Tel: (02) 6277 4108
Fax: (02) 6277 8520
Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au
Carmen Lawrence
Tel: (02) 6277 4181
Fax: (02) 6277 8501
Email: Carmen.Lawrence.MP@aph.gov.au
Lyn Allison
Tel: (02) 6277 3076
Fax: (02) 6277 3087
Email: senator.allison@aph.gov.au
Bob Brown
Tel: (02) 6277 3170
Fax: (02) 6277 3185
E-mail: senator.brown@aph.gov.au
John Anderson
Tel: (02) 6277 7680
Fax: (02) 6273 4126
E-mail: John.Anderson.MP@aph.gov.au
Federal Members’s email addresses
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/Email.asp
Federal Senators' email addresses
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/email.htm