Two Iranian asylum seekers bashed by police on Manus Island, says rights group

TWO asylum seekers on Manus Island have been released from custody after being reportedly beaten by police. WARNING: Graphic images.

Asylum seekers stand behind a fence at the Manus Island detention centre, Papua New Guinea. Picture: Eoin Blackwell/AAP

WARNING: Graphic images.

TWO Iranian refugees who were arrested after allegedly being bashed by up to 10 police on Manus Island on New Year’s Eve have been released from custody.

The Refugee Action Coalition claims the men were detained for 36 hours and had been denied medical treatment for serious injuries including a broken wrist, jaw and nose.

“The arrest and bashing has highlighted the human rights abuses inflicted on refugees on Manus inside and outside the detention centre,” spokesman Ian Rintoul said in a statement.

He said the medical condition of one of the men had deteriorated overnight and he had blood in his urine.

Border Force officers visited the police station on Monday morning and had offered to take the refugees to get medical treatment at the detention centre’s clinic, Mr Rintoul said.

The Refugee Action Coalition said the two men, whose first names are Mehdi and Mohammad, were joining in new year’s celebrations when they were confronted by Papua New Guinea Immigration officials who told them they had no right to be outside the detention centre, and, along with police officers, assaulted them.

One of the two Iranian refugees reportedly bashed by a group of PNG police and immigration officials on New Year's Eve. Picture: AAP

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says he wants to get all the facts before commenting, adding refugee advocates are using the incident to attack the government’s immigration policies.

“If people have had an interaction with the PNG police on a New Year’s Eve night, I would wait to see the full facts of that case before I’d make any comment to say that they were targeted because they were refugees or because they were part of the Manus Island population,” Mr Dutton told 2GB Radio.

“I would wait to see the police side of the story before making any comment.” The PNG government has slated the Manus Island detention centre for closure but no time frame has been set.

However, the Refugee Action Coalition says the Australian government is a “party to the brutality”.

Damage to the face of one of two Iranian refugees on Manus Island reportedly bashed by police. Picture: AAP

“It’s time the government stopped playing politics with the lives of innocent people, and brought all the asylum seekers and refugees to Australia,” Mr Rintoul said.

Mr Rintoul told AAP the men were allowed to be outside the detention centre and were not doing anything wrong.

Photos sent to the Refugee Action Coalition show severe injuries to the mens’ head, face, neck and back.

Injuries on the back of one of the men. Picture: AAP

Mr Rintoul said the men were in custody without charge and had not received medical attention or pain relief.

“Mehdi says he believes that his wrist and jaw may be broken while Mohammed is suffering severe headache and pain and thinks his nose is broken,” he said in a statement.

The Refugee Action Coalition obtained details of the incident through a phone call with a friend of the men who is also a refugee.