Photo: Supplied/ Benham Satah
WARNING: This story contains content some readers may find upsetting.
The roommate of a refugee bludgeoned to death by guards and other local contractors in an Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island nine years ago is not stopping in his fight for justice.
"How could you beat a refugee who is lying on the ground?" Benham Satah, who witnessed 24-year-old Reza Barati's murder, said.
"And you see that blood is coming out of his head, blood showering from his face."
Satah, a Kurdish-Iranian, took on a journey from Indonesia to Australia to flee persecution.
He ended up on Christmas Island before being "forcibly taken" from there to Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, where he was held for six-and-a-half years.
He met Barati, who was also Kurdish-Iranian, in Indonesia. They were in the same hiding spot there.
"He was such a nice guy, like a giant person with a very beautiful heart," Satah said.
He recounted the horror of watching the murder of Barati, his friend.
People places flowers and cards next to the portriat of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati during a candlelight vigil in support of asylum seekers, in Melbourne on February 23, 2014. Photo: AFP PHOTO / ESTHER LIM
In February 2014, tension was high on Manus Island. Over the course of three days, the detention centre was stormed and there were riots.
One man's throat was slit, and another man was shot, according to eyewitnesses.
Satah remembered seeing around 200 people injured with about 70 receiving treatment.
Guards - 15 of them - including New Zealand and Australian nationals, who were expected to keep them safe, were involved in attacking Barati before he died, Satah said.
Barati was tortured, beaten with a plank lined with nails, kicked repeatedly in the head while he was on the ground by men in boots and then a rock was dropped on his head.
An asylum-seeker holds a picture of Reza Barati who died at the detention centre. Photo: AAP
The Australian government has finally recognised the suffering and misery inflicted on Barati's family and reached a confidential settlement, according to the family's lawyer.
"There were no findings against any of the parties involved," Jennifer Kanis, principal lawyer and head of the social justice practice at Maurice Blackburn, said.
"However, in this case, there have been numerous inquiries and it's pretty clear what occurred on Manus Island that evening," Blackburn said.
But Satah was not happy that the result was being kept confidential.
He iwa overwhelmed at the thought that others, including Australian and New Zealand expatriates, who he saw beat Reza, remained free.
'They don't care'
The refugees and asylum seekers that were on Manus Island at the time had fled their homes in the hope of seeking safety.
They arrived in Australian waters by boat, but instead of finding safety they were detained, many for almost a decade.
"They [Australian government] don't care. They are the people who are supposed to care, who are supposed to make decisions. They don't care."
The process, he said, reflected the "horrific reality of Australian racism".
While Australia struck a deal with the PNG government to wipe its hands clean of the remaining refugees, about 70, including those who were injured in the 2014 riots, were moved to Port Moresby.
One man was so traumatised he stays in his room and is not fit to go through the resettlement process despite Satah's efforts to help from France, where he has found freedom.
When it comes to New Zealand, Satah held no hate.
He simply wished for the government to find the New Zealanders involved in the murder and hold them accountable.
"Bring these people to the court and ask them if you're a New Zealander, how did you contribute to a murder that Australia wanted you to do?"
Two PNG men were sentenced but Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul labelled them as scapegoats.
Rintoul said there was a "lack of political will" to follow up the allegations made against the other guards.
Satah said while no amount of money would bring his best friend back, heal the mental distress inflicted on the other refugees and asylum seekers held on Manus, or solve the physical issues, compensation was needed.
He will not allow the world to forget the refugees who continue to suffer from the harm inflicted at Australian-run detention centres, he said.
Family reacts
Barati's grieving mother, in Iran's Kurdistan region, was glad to see the back of a case against the Australian government and security firm G4S, nine years after her son's murder.
"The parties have settled those claims on confidential terms," Jennifer Kanis said.
"For the mental harm that they suffered as a result of their son's murder."
The confidential settlement was reached instead of taking the case to the Supreme Court in Victoria.
Jennifer Kanis, the head of the social justice practice at Maurice Blackburn. Photo: Supplied/Maurice Blackburn
Kanis was pleased Barati's family had "won a measure of justice".
She said his parents said they still felt the pain of their son's death and his absence daily.
"Their son came to Australia seeking safety. And he was then murdered in a detention centre where he should have been safe," Kanis said.
"They know that nothing will bring their son back or lessen the pain of his loss.
"They're satisfied that they have fought for some justice for their son and are relieved that they can now try and move on with their lives."
Rintoul said the settlement was a small step forward but would never heal the gaping hole left after Barati's murder. He said it brought a little bit of closure and a little bit of recognition for all the suffering and misery.
"We're continuing to campaign in Australia for the Australian government to bring all those people in Papua New Guinea to Australia where they should have been allowed to stay."
RNZ Pacific contacted both the New Zealand and Australian governments for comment.
New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Ministry has sent the request to the Official Information Act request department to deal with.
A spokesperson for Australia's Home Affairs Department said: "The Department does not comment on the details of confidential legal settlements."
Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul says they continue to campaign for the release of those still stuck in PNG. Photo: Supplied
