Australian PM defends boat people riot response

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Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday defended the police reaction to riots at the remote Christmas Island detention centre after "bean-bag bullets" and tear gas was used.

The facility, which houses some 2,539 boat people, has been hit by a series of disturbances this week involving hundreds of mostly Iraqi and Iranian detainees.

"I understand that police confronted with situations of difficulty do have to make judgement calls about how they will respond," she told a press conference.

"Whether it's on Christmas Island or whether it's in the CBD (central business district) of one of our capital cities on a Saturday night, police have to make those judgement calls.

"So I am not going to seek to stand here and second-guess those judgement calls."

Gillard said the consistent message from the government was that protests would not make any difference to the processing of claims.

"We ask people who are being detained to obey lawful instructions that are given to them, including instructions by the police," she said.

Immigration minister Chris Bowen earlier revealed that as well as tear gas, "bean-bag bullets" were used to quell protests on Monday.

"I have confirmed that they used gas and also they have confirmed that they used what's known as a bean-bag bullet," he said.

"I needed some education as to what a bean-bag bullet is. But as has been explained to me, it's a bullet which the worst damage that can be done is bruising; it's like a little mini bean-bag which comes out of a gun-like weapon."

Amnesty international demanded an independent investigation into the use of force to quell the incident.

"While the full details of the incidents in which tear gas and shotguns were used are yet to emerge, this use of force on Christmas Island is extremely concerning," said Andrew Beswick, campaigns director for Australia.

"Amnesty international expects that an independent inquiry will establish and disclose whether the use of force was appropriate and proportional, and whether the situation was properly managed by authorities and contractors prior to the deployment of force."

More than 6,500 refugees — mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka — arrived in Australia in 2010 on boats from Indonesia, crowding centres to capacity and inflaming debate on Canberra's tough mandatory detention policy.