Reza Barati

Reza Barati was a 23-year-old asylum seeker who was killed during rioting at the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRPC), Papua New Guinea, on 17 February 2014. An Iranian Kurd, he had arrived in Australia on 24 July 2013 – just five days after the PNG solution was announced – and was sent to Manus Island in August.

It was first reported that the cause of death was "severe head trauma", with the Cornall Review later concluding that the actual cause was cardiac arrest as a consequence of "severe brain injury", caused by being beaten by several assailants. Two Manusian men were convicted of murder in 2016, but others involved, said to be expats, have never been brought to justice.

Barati's life
Reza was born in a small town called Lomar in Ilam Province, part of the Kurdistan region of Iran, in 1990. He studied architecture at university and was determined to finish his studies when resettled. Due to his kind nature and large build, his friends would call him “the gentle giant”.

Government and public reaction in Australia
Then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said after the incident that Barati's body would be moved to Port Moresby, where an autopsy would be held before the government would assist with repatriation to Iran, as requested by his family.

At least 15,000 people came out to attend 600 "snap protests" all over Australia following the news of his death. Over 4,000 Australians came together in Sydney Town Hall on 23 February 2014 to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of Barati.

Cornall Review and Senate enquiry
Robert Cornall, a lawyer and former Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department, was appointed in February 2014 to conduct 'a review into the circumstances surrounding the Manus Island disturbances' leading up to Reza Barati's death with the primary focus on management of security at the centre.

The report was released in late May 2014. In the report, Cornall described Barati as “a very gentle man” who was not involved in the unrest. The report concluded that “Mr Barati suffered a severe brain injury caused by a brutal beating by several assailants and died a few hours later.”

In December 2014, an Australian Senate inquiry into the three days of rioting at the centre found the Australian government had failed in its duty to protect asylum seekers and that the riots were caused by a failure to process asylum claims and was also foreseeable.

Arrests and trial
In July 2014, a security guard and later a Salvation Army worker, both Papua-New Guinean, were arrested. Both men were charged with murder. Their trial at Manus Island court was due to start on 2 March 2015. Three more suspects were being sought, two of whom were Australian expatriate security guards who had still not been charged.

On 19 March 2016, the two 29-year-old Papuan men, Louie Efi and Joshua Kaluvia, were convicted in the PNG supreme court and each sentenced to 10 years jail for Reza Barati's murder. Kaluvia had hit Barati with a piece of timber spiked with nails and Efi had dropped a rock on his head. Five years of the sentences were suspended, and credit was given for time served.

In sentencing, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom said they had received shorter prison terms because others not yet charged were also involved in killing Barati, and that the prosecution's case relied on the evidence of one main witness. This witness had reported that a large group of people including New Zealand and Australian guards were involved in attacking Barati. Both accused pleaded not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout, claiming to have been set up. The apparent exemption from justice of expatriates working on Manus had long been alleged by Manusians, suggesting double standards of justice.

In July 2020, the Australian government and security company G4S have settled a lawsuit brought against them by former Manus Island security officer Grant Potter. Potter claimed he was left with severe psychological injuries after riots at the Manus Island detention facility in 2014 resulted in one asylum seeker dead and 77 people injured.

Eyewitness account in film
The documentary film Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time, shot from inside the detention centre by fellow refugee Behrouz Boochani, contains a first-hand account of Barati's death.

Homage to Barati 4 years on
In an opinion piece written for The Guardian in February 2018, Behrouz Boochani writes an account of the riots and the unfairness of the events following, including the trial. Questions are still left unanswered four years later. He writes of how the main witness in the trial has been traumatised, and about Barati as a person, the "gentle giant and best friend". The piece ends with a poem, Our Mothers, a poem for Reza.