Fatima No 9
Title: Fatima No 9
Author: Marilyn Shepherd
Date: 23-01-03
She was young. She was beautiful. She prayed
for peace and she dreamt of freedom. And now she is dead. Her name was Fatima
and she was the ninth person to die from the cruelty of detention.
Over the past two years nine innocent people
have died in the Australian concentration camps run by Wackenhut, the American
prison company employed by the Australian government to torture and persecute
refugees.
Fatima was no 9 - she spent 16 months in hell on
Christmas Island, and island similar to Nauru,
made up of bird shit and the occasional palm tree.
She was supposed to die unnoticed - the
following series of emails sent and received made sure that would not happen.
Message 1
-----Original
Message-----
From: Marilyn
Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday,
21 January 2003 12:23 AM
To:
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
Subject: Death
in custody number 9
Dear
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
I have been
very reliably informed that a refugee woman was removed from Christmas Island to
Perth hospital last week and died of an untreated brain tumour.
There has been
nothing in the media about this tragedy, and the woman's husband and children
are still imprisoned on the island.
Please find out
what happened to this poor lady, she deserves a word or two, or at the very
least an acknowledgment that she existed.
Also what about
the husband or children, they are Iraqi I think.
Two men sent
home from our concentration camps to Afghanistan have been confirmed dead, they
suffocated trying to escape the living hell for the last time. Somewhere near
the border with Iran they were found dead in the back of a truck.
Also it seems
that "Undisclosed Person", is a very unhappy "person" after being forced to deal
with "Undisclosed Agency" and "Undisclosed Agency's" disruption and interdiction
practices from the "Undisclosed Office". Could he be the whistleblower for
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"?
Please try and
find out some of these things "Undisclosed Federal Minister".
My number is
"Undisclosed Phone No", I told Macklin and Crean I wanted no more kids in
detention by the time I turned 50, times now up and they are still there.
Large detention
fires also reported from Nauru from about last Friday, seems they don't like our
rented bird-poo islands any more.
Yours sincerely
Marilyn
Shepherd
Message 2
From:
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
To: 'Marilyn
Shepherd'
Subject: RE:
Death in custody number 9
Date: Tue, 21
Jan 2003 14:41:57 +1100
Marilyn,
I've made some
inquiries and it appears that the young women concerned died as a result of an
aneurism, not a brain tumour. (You'll need to be careful with that information,
because the official I spoke to didn't have all the technical details of the
condition.) That changes the story somewhat, because such conditions often go
undiagnosed.
Nonetheless,
"Undisclosed Federal Minister" made a public call for a full and public inquiry
(there may be a Coronial Inquiry - it's up to the Coroner) and "Undisclosed
Federal Minister" questioned the fact that no public announcement was made of a
death in custody. "Undisclosed Federal Minister" also pointed to allegations by
nurses and others that ACM is often less than diligent in providing medical
care. I'll keep you informed.
"Undisclosed
Federal Minister"
Message 3
From: Marilyn
Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday,
21 January 2003 11:47 AM
To:
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
Subject: RE:
Death in custody number 9
Brain tumour or
aneurysm "Undisclosed Federal Minister" she was offered Panadol and told to
drink water. There are never investigations into these deaths, and no matter
which way its cut the woman died in custody. Brain tumours, Crohn disease,
anything can go unnoticed, but it is usually inquired into. I have dozens of
stories of neglect by ACM as regards to medical care but I will pass this on to
the people who gave me the information. Do we have a name and what about the
husband and kids?
Love Marilyn
Message 4
From:
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
Sent: Tuesday,
21 January 2003 11:57 AM
To: 'Marilyn
Shepherd'
Subject: RE:
Death in custody number 9
Marilyn,
"Undisclosed
Federal Minister" thinks an inquiry is vital and will continue to push for one -
publicly. I have not been able to ascertain the name of the woman or her family.
The husband, poor man, and children came with her to Perth but have, cruelly,
been sent back to Christmas Island.
Regards,
"Undisclosed
Federal Minister"
Message 5
From:
"Undisclosed Federal Minister"
To: 'Marilyn
Shepherd'
Subject: FW:
Death in custody number 9
Date: Tue, 21
Jan 2003 17:34:24 +1100
Marilyn,
Sorry to
bother you again on your birthday, but "Undisclosed Federal Minister" has been
contacted by a lawyer who does pro-bono work for refugees and has had some
experience with a coronial inquiry here. She is offering to ensure that the
family have proper representation in any inquiry. Otherwise, she tells me, the
hearings can be very lopsided.
If you are
able to get the name and contact for the husband in due course from your
informants, we could make sure that he can, if he wishes, instruct a lawyer to
ensure that as much information as possible is before the Coroner.
"Undisclosed
Federal Minister" will be writing to the Minister today urging him to ensure
that such an Inquiry is held and that the events leading to her death are
investigated and made public.
Regards,
"Undisclosed
Federal Minister"
Message 6
From: Marilyn
Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
To:
"Undisclosed Contact"
Sent:
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
8:50 AM
Subject: Fwd:
FW: Death in custody number 9
Dear
"Undisclosed Contact",
Got this email
from "Undisclosed Contact", hope this series makes sense to you and maybe we can
get more information like the welfare of the husband and kids, the names, the
ages, how long she had been ill etc.
Thanks if you
can help
Marilyn
Message 7
From:
"Undisclosed Contact"
To: 'Marilyn
Shepherd'
Subject:
details
Date: Thu, 23
Jan 2003 07:28:13 +0800
Dear Marilyn
The lady who
died in detention was called Fatima Erfani an Afghani. She had been in detention
for approx 16 weeks. She had 3 children and was aged approx 28 years old. Her
husbands name is Ali Reza Erfani. He speaks excellent English. His whereabouts
are unknown, possibly back on Christmas.
Regards
"Undisclosed
Contact"
Message 8
From: Marilyn
Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
To:
"Undisclosed Contact"
Sent: Thursday,
January 23, 2003 7:58 AM
Subject: Re:
details
Thanks
"Undisclosed Contact", don't you mean detention for 16 months - how could it be
16 weeks?
Just giving
"Undisclosed Federal Minister" a name is important to me - I'll send it to
"Undisclosed Federal Minister" and "Undisclosed Contact".
Marilyn
Message 9
From:
"Undisclosed Contact"
To: 'Marilyn
Shepherd'
Subject: Re:
details
Date: Thu, 23
Jan 2003 09:31:28 +0800
Yep 16 months.
Just a little upset as I "helped" Fatima in the camp
Regards
"Undisclosed
Contact"
Message 10
From: Marilyn
Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
To:
"Undisclosed Contact"
Sent: Thursday,
January 23, 2003 9:23 AM
Subject: Re:
details
"Undisclosed
Contact",
I never met her
but when I was told about this on Monday night from someone utterly reliable I
couldn't stand that she had no name.
I am deeply
involved with and have adopted many Afghan families here in Adelaide - I will
send you a copy of the letter I wrote about it to the media and also for your
interest how "Undisclosed Federal Minister" and I prevented Ruddock from hiding
this disaster.
I don't know if
you are aware but I am one of the people working on the sievx.
Marilyn
Message 11
From:
"Undisclosed Contact"
From: Marilyn Shepherd [shepherdmarilyn@hotmail.com]
Subject: Re:
details
Date: Thu, 23
Jan 2003 10:55:30 +0800
Dear Marilyn
Thank you for
your action. This is a piece I have written for the Age. I have been in phone
contact with the editor "Undisclosed Contact" and he is reviewing it now. Will
let you know if they publish.
Regards,
"Undisclosed
Contact"
Send this message to Ruddock for a full
coroner's inquest, she deserves nothing less, and citizenship for the husband
and babies.
Contact Philip Ruddock MP by sending an email
or letter to:
Parliament House Contact:
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6277 7860
Fax: (02) 6273 4144
Email:
minister@immi.gov.au
Electorate Office Contact
Hornsby Office:
Location:
Level 3, 20 George Street
Hornsby NSW 2077
Postal Address:
PO Box 1866
Hornsby Northgate NSW 1635
Tel: (02) 9482 7111
Fax: (02) 9482 7018