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I was mistreated even after diagnosis: Rau
The woman who sparked an inquiry into Australia’s immigration system says she was mistreated throughout her detention ordeal, even after she was diagnosed as mentally ill.
Cornelia Rau, an Australian resident with a history of mental illness, has described her time in a Queensland jail – where she was first detained as a suspected illegal immigrant – as horrendous.
Ms Rau admitted she lied about her identity to authorities, saying her name was Anna Bortmeyer, because she feared representatives from a Sydney cult she had once belonged to would track her down. “I didn’t want to get involved with that group again,” she said.
She says she was considered a troublemaker by officials for no apparent reason and repeatedly locked up in solitary confinement.
“It was pretty horrendous and I would never like anybody to go to a jail if they’re not guilty of something,” Ms Rau told the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program.
“I had a really, very bad experience in the prison.
“I was saying my opinion and I got held down by some of the prison guards and just given an injection for no reason.
“And then I was just talking to another person, and … just because of that, they locked me up in this padded cell for two days, you know, just giving me food and water.”
Ms Rau, who came to Australia from Germany when she was 18 months old, went missing in March last year after she checked herself out of a Sydney psychiatric clinic.
She was released from South Australia’s Baxter detention centre in February after being locked up for 10 months.
Ms Rau admitted she lied about her identity to authorities, saying her name was Anna Bortmeyer, because she feared representatives from a Sydney cult she had once belonged to would track her down.
“I didn’t want to get involved with that group again,” she said.
“It would have been known where I was and what I was doing and I just felt pretty vulnerable.”
Ms Rau’s sister, Christine, has previously blamed the cult – the Kenja Communications group run by Ken Dyers – for Cornelia’s mental illness.
On its website, the group describes itself as a personal communication training organisation that practises “Energy Conversion meditation”.
Prime Minister John Howard last week apologised to Ms Rau, after a scathing report found systemic failures in the Immigration Department led to her mistaken detention.
The report, by former federal police chief Mick Palmer, called for significant cultural change within the department.
And while Ms Rau’s lawyer, Claire O’Connor, is pushing for compensation from the government, Ms Rau says all she wants is for Australians to understand she was unfairly treated.
“Well, I think it’s important that I get truth in this matter.
“That people understand that I’m a person who has been unjustly treated and that I’d like to have people respect that.”
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