An asylum seeker who was forced to wear handcuffs to medical appointments while being held in Australian immigration detention has settled a claim against the federal government and security firm Serco.
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The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) which represented the asylum seeker in his three-year legal battle in Federal Court, said the matter was recently settled on confidential terms.
The centre has only identified the man as Yasir to protect his identity.
It said he had been in detention for about nine years, including on Christmas Island and several detention centres on the mainland.
The advocacy group also said he had been tortured as a child in his country of origin and was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder which was triggered when handcuffed.
Serco guards regularly refused to allow him to attend offsite medical appointments without handcuffs, the centre said on Wednesday.
"I missed many medical appointments because they said they wouldn't take me unless I am handcuffed," the asylum seeker said.
"But when they used them on me, I would have seizures, fall over and hit my head and feel bad for weeks.
"My body would shake, sometimes I would vomit and I would feel terrible. Even talking about or thinking about handcuffs makes me feel awful."
The man said he felt embarrassed at the inhumane treatment meted out by officers.
"I feel embarrassed and like I am not being treated like I am a human when they hold my arms and walk (me) through the hospital," he said.
AAP has reached out to Serco for comment on the case.
In the landmark case in the Federal Court, it was alleged the actions of immigration detention staff, in unreasonably denying the detainee access to essential medical, care constituted a form of discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act.
It also alleged that forcing Yasir to wear handcuffs to attend medical appointments was unlawful because there are no Australian laws that allowed authorities to pre-emptively use restraints on people in immigration detention in those circumstances.
"PIAC took on this case because we believed the way Yasir and others like him were being treated was unlawful and deeply harmful," said principal solicitor Jonathan Hall Spence.
"Yasir was put in an impossible position, where he had to choose between the trauma of handcuffing or being denied essential medical care. His physical health and mental health both suffered as a result."
"The people Australia locks up in immigration detention are human beings. We have a duty to treat them with dignity and care."
The centre said was exploring a class action challenging the use of handcuffs on detainees held in immigration detention centres.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said on Monday that 80 detainees had been released from indefinite detention after the High Court overturned a two-decade-old decision.
Hailed by the United Nations and advocacy groups as a landmark victory, the court found indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.
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Australian Associated Press
