The widow of Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali has described the helplessness the couple felt on Nauru prior to his self-immolation in 2016, but has told a Brisbane court her would-be husband did not want to die.
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Mr Masoumali, 23, died in April 2016 after he doused himself in petrol and set himself alight at Nibok, not far from the regional processing centre on Nauru.
His transfer to Brisbane for urgent medical attention took almost 24 hours and Mr Masoumali succumbed to his horrific injuries.
An inquest into his death, before Coroner Terry Ryan, began in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court on Monday while, outside, a small group of supporters held a vigil.
Mr Masoumali’s widow, known by the pseudonym ‘Pari’ for legal reasons, gave evidence through an interpreter via teleconference.
“Everyone wants to live their life,” she said.
“But once they lose hope, they just lead their life like a zombie.”
Pari described the difficult conditions on Nauru both in the processing centre and in the general community.
Even after being accepted as refugees, Pari said they felt like prisoners on Nauru, as they were not allowed to leave the island.
“That was the worst part of it,” she said.
“It wasn’t like we chose to come there; they took us there.”
Pari told the inquest the couple lost hope when United Nations officials arrived.
During a conversation with one of the UN officers, Pari said it became clearer that they would be stuck on Nauru for a long time.
“When I started to ask him a question, that you came to see how unfortunate we are here, what I understand about their presence was they were bringing more staff so we’d stay longer,” she said.
“As they told me, or as I remember, they said they are coming every six months to check it out so we’ll stay there longer.”
Pari said she told the UN officer him she was depressed and thinking of hurting herself.
As Pari became more and more upset, she said her partner could see her from across the clearing at the processing centre.
The walk back to their demountable home was different this time, Pari said. Normally, they would walk shoulder-to-shoulder; this time, they were a metre apart.
Both were angry and upset. They had no patience to be outside anymore as a result of the conversation. None of the UN people would help them, the couple thought. Instead, they thought, the UN was only there to cause more misery and pain.
Mr Masoumali, described by Pari as a “passionate” person who experienced emotions in extremes, was in shock. He was upset and distressed.
“When we came back, I didn’t want to go outside anymore because it made us upset,” she said.
Mr Masoumali was determined to go back to the centre to find out what was going on, and was “angry” when he left the demountable.
Pari said she stayed for a few minutes as she thought he would return when he noticed she had not followed him.
When it became clear he was not coming back, Pari went back to the centre where she saw Mr Masoumali on fire.
Counsel assisting the coroner Megan Jarvis asked how Pari formed the impression, as outlined in her statement, that Mr Masoumali wanted to survive his injuries.
“He was yelling and screaming ‘I’m burnt I’m burnt’ and was waiting for treatment,” Pari replied.
“He asked me if (his) face was burnt and I said no.”
That concern about his appearance, Pari said, was an indication he wanted to live.
Prior to the events of April 26, 2016, Pari said her husband had been an optimistic presence in her life.
Pari said life on Nauru was grim for all detainees on the island.
“Everybody is talking about suicide, so eventually if you’re by yourself, you start thinking about suicide,” she said.
That was not helped, Pari said, by visits to a psychologist who asked her to describe ways she might kill herself.
Pari thought those questions were designed to provoke such an action, the court heard.
Even moving into the community offered little improvement, Pari said.
“Life was the same because we were stuck on that island,” she said.
“The longest distance you could go around the island was 20 minutes. You would go around and around and see the same people. We got tired of that lifestyle.”
Speaking outside the court prior to the hearing, National Justice Project director George Newhouse, acting on behalf of Mr Masoumali’s family, said the family was desperate to know what happened to him on Nauru.
“I don’t know what Omid would want, but let me put it this way: I can tell you that Omid’s family want change, they want the truth to come out, they want the government’s behavior exposed and they want to make sure that no-one – no refugee, no asylum seeker, no human being – is treated this way again,” he said.
Mr Newhouse said Mr Masoumali’s death “did not occur in isolation”.
“There are 12 other deaths on Nauru and Manus and I’ve acted for more deaths in immigration detention in Australia,” he said.
“There are deaths in PNG and Nauru that are going uninvestigated.
“You’re hearing today of an inquest beginning into Omid’s death, but there are at least four others that we act for that died in suspicious circumstances where the government is refusing to create a judicial investigation into their deaths.”
Human Rights Law Centre director of legal advocacy Katie Robertson said lessons needed be learnt from the tragedy.
“As we stand here today women and men continue to languish in Nauru and Papua New Guinea in urgent need of critical medical care and in urgent need of medical evacuation to Australia,” she said.
“After so much suffering, after so many years of toxic politics, it’s tragedies like the death of Omid that remind us we must embrace compassion, humanity and decency in the way we treat those who come to us seeking safety.”
The inquest continues.
Anyone affected by the topics raised in this story can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78.
