Behrouz Boochani Endangered Manus
Reporter May Be Arrested
By Ruth Skilbeck
We are very concerned for Behrouz Boochani's
safety on Manus Island. Please read this and share this. Behrouz has been reporting on the
attacks on asylum seekers on Manus Island (where the controversial Australian-run 'offshore processing centre' for asylum seekers is based) and his own life may now be in danger. He
should be removed from there immediately by the Australian government, as he is
an endangered writer (please write to the Australian Prime Minister and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, details below).
The latest Facebook news report by
Behrouz Boochani, yesterday:
A tweet by Ronny Knight Member of
Parliament for Manus Province on the 1st of January 2017 reads ‘."Behrouz
Boochani is a liar and has an agenda and should apologise to police. I was the one who called police.
Boochani will be arrested for lying and insulting police’" I, Behrouz
Boochani, am a Kurdish journalist detained in Australia’s immigration detention
prison on Manus Island. Mr Knight’s tweets follow my reporting of a
conversation I had with two men who are refugees who I visited in police cells
after they had been beaten and arrested. I then reported on Facebook that the
two men told me that they had been beaten by immigration officers and police
and documented their injuries.
Those people who know me know I have always had respect for the Manusian people and culture. The intention of my reportings are not to do any harm to the Manus reputation but to highlight the damage that Australia is doing to both refugees and PNG.
In some points Ronny Knight’s statements about the harm that Australia’s neo-colonial actions including the detention prison are doing to Manus are correct.
Those people who know me know I have always had respect for the Manusian people and culture. The intention of my reportings are not to do any harm to the Manus reputation but to highlight the damage that Australia is doing to both refugees and PNG.
In some points Ronny Knight’s statements about the harm that Australia’s neo-colonial actions including the detention prison are doing to Manus are correct.
Exiled reporter, Behrouz Boochani's new works will be published in the PostMistress Press Escape Artists anthology but we are very concerned for his safety on Manus, after he this week reported on the attacks on asylum seekers (published in the Guardian) and the threatening tweet from Ronny Knight Member of Parliament for Manus Province on the 1st of January 2017 saying he will be arrested: On the 1/1/2016 local MP Ronny Knight tweeted a message that reads ‘Behrouz Boochani is a liar and has an agenda and should apologise to police...Boochani will be arrested for lying and insulting police’. PEN is calling on the Australian government and PNG government to ensure Mr Boochani's safety.
Urgent Statement by PEN Melbourne.
3 January 2016.
We are very concerned for the safety of detained Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani, who has been reporting from within Australia’s immigration detention centre on Manus Island for more than three years. Over the past week he has reported on the death of Faysal Ishak Ahmed, an inmate in the detention centre, and more recently on the beating of two refugees by immigration officers and police on Manus Island. On the 1/1/2016 local MP Ronny Knight tweeted a message that reads ‘Behrouz Boochani is a liar and has an agenda and should apologise to police...Boochani will be arrested for lying and insulting police’. We call on the Australian and Papua New Guinean governments to honour their commitment to democracy including the right to free speech and to ensure Mr Boochani’s safety"
Janet Galbraith and Arnold Zable for PEN Melbourne.
Behrouz Boochani Facebook news report:
Behrouz Boochani
added 2 new
photos.
Manus prison.I just visited the refugees who were
beaten by PNG immigration yesterday. They are in police detention now. I could
only talk with them behind the wire for a few minutes because the guard did not
allow me to see them. The refugees were so scared and distressed and they said
the police did not give them any food or medical treatment. Mohammad is in a
critical situation and said he is pissing blood and has stomach pains. Some
local people gave them food but Mohammad vomited the food and Mehdi has started
to hunger strike. He has pain in his hand and thinks his hand is broken. The
detention cell is such a dirty place and they sleep on the concrete floor.
Their wounds are getting infected.Here is two new photos from them
Write
to the Prime Minister of Australia and the Minister for Immigration and Border
Protection calling for their assistance and assurance in ensuring the safety of
Behrouz Boochani.
The Hon Peter Dutton MP
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
PO Box 6022
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Fax: 02 6273 4144
Email: minister@border.gov.au
The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP
Prime Minister
PO Box 545 Edgecliff, NSW 2027
Fax: 02 9327 2533
Email: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
PEN Melbourne
The PEN Melbourne Centre is one of 147 PEN International centres worldwide whose members are united in a common concern for the art of writing and freedom of expression. As an affiliate of PEN International, PEN Melbourne brings writers together from across cultures to share experiences, explore ideas and conduct public conversations about how literature transforms, influences and fosters cross-cultural exchange. PEN Melbourne focuses on women writers, Indigenous Australian writers, writers in prison, and has an interest in the Asia and Pacific region. It campaigns on behalf of persecuted and silenced writers and lets them know they are not alone. PEN Melbourne’s publication The Quarterly provides a forum for members to publish relevant works.
As writers in many countries continue to be silenced the work of PEN is needed more than ever.
If you are a writer, involved in the literary community or share an interest in human rights, you are welcome to join PEN Melbourne as a member.
Support PEN Melbourne
Learn more about our campaigns
PEN International
“People say that (writers) are pretty powerless: we don’t have an army, we don’t have a bureaucracy. But if that were true, then why would writers be arrested?... Because the spoken word is powerful.”
— John Ralston Saul on the work of PEN International
Founded in 1921 to promote literature and freedom of expression, this global community of writers now spans more than 100 countries. PEN International is a non-political organisation which holds Special Consultative Status at the UN and Associate Status at UNESCO. Each PEN centre acts independently but maintains strong links with headquarters in London and with other centres. The organisation works locally, regionally and internationally to understand the needs of writers and to protect them.
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
PO Box 6022
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Fax: 02 6273 4144
Email: minister@border.gov.au
The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP
Prime Minister
PO Box 545 Edgecliff, NSW 2027
Fax: 02 9327 2533
Email: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
PEN Melbourne
The PEN Melbourne Centre is one of 147 PEN International centres worldwide whose members are united in a common concern for the art of writing and freedom of expression. As an affiliate of PEN International, PEN Melbourne brings writers together from across cultures to share experiences, explore ideas and conduct public conversations about how literature transforms, influences and fosters cross-cultural exchange. PEN Melbourne focuses on women writers, Indigenous Australian writers, writers in prison, and has an interest in the Asia and Pacific region. It campaigns on behalf of persecuted and silenced writers and lets them know they are not alone. PEN Melbourne’s publication The Quarterly provides a forum for members to publish relevant works.
As writers in many countries continue to be silenced the work of PEN is needed more than ever.
If you are a writer, involved in the literary community or share an interest in human rights, you are welcome to join PEN Melbourne as a member.
Support PEN Melbourne
Learn more about our campaigns
PEN International
“People say that (writers) are pretty powerless: we don’t have an army, we don’t have a bureaucracy. But if that were true, then why would writers be arrested?... Because the spoken word is powerful.”
— John Ralston Saul on the work of PEN International
Founded in 1921 to promote literature and freedom of expression, this global community of writers now spans more than 100 countries. PEN International is a non-political organisation which holds Special Consultative Status at the UN and Associate Status at UNESCO. Each PEN centre acts independently but maintains strong links with headquarters in London and with other centres. The organisation works locally, regionally and internationally to understand the needs of writers and to protect them.
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