Jon Nichols worked in the island’s Australian backed detention centre for almost two years, and says on two or three occasions he observed asylum seekers leaving a tent in which he believes they were waterboarded. While he did not witness an actual incident of waterboarding, he said staff later boasted about performing it. Nichols told a Senate Inquiry this evening that the asylum seekers targeted were Palestinian, and he observed them leaving ‘tent 11’ coughing up water. “I’ve seen members of the [Wilson] Emergency Response Team exit tents and later I’ve seen asylum seekers come out of these tents, come out of them covered in water, coughing,” he said.
(Max Chalmers. New Matilda 20 August 2015
The helpless refugees are housed offshore in places like Nauru and Manus Island not known for law and order with one cruel purpose in mind. To eliminate or minimise transparency. We know where there is darkness vermins abound. The stakeholders are empowered to exercise cruelty or turn a blind eye about it. The hapless refugees have no avenue of complaint. Lets hope Mr Turnbull will make genuine effort that notwithstanding the internment of these desperate human-beings cruelty of any kind will not be tolerated. Not wanting them into Australia should not equate with making their life Hell. There but for the Grace of God could be anyone of us.