“When making recommendations to people’s mental health we were told it was unacceptable to put in these reports that detention caused harm,” Peter Young said during a hearing in the Senate regarding reports of serious human rights violations at the Nauru center as quoted by The Guardian.
Young stated that the conditions at the Nauru center cause harm to people's mental health, “and it was right and proper to include that in the report.”
Australian detention camps have been repeatedly criticized by rights groups for inhumane living conditions. Immigrant detainees have published open letters in the Australian press and staged many protests, including widespread hunger strikes and acts of self-harm.
In March, a review of the camp in Nauru ordered by the Australian government revealed several dozen cases of sexual harassment and abuse against asylum seekers. According to the document, guards at the camps traded marijuana and cigarettes for sexual favors.
The Nauru Regional Processing Center was established under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Australian and Nauru governments in 2012.
As of February 2015, there were 742 asylum seekers held at the detention center, according to Australian Customs and Border Protection Service estimates.
