ABC Online; Victoria Police will investigate several employees of detention centre operator GSL over the alleged mistreatment of five immigration detainees.
The company has also been fined $500,000 after an independent investigation found the detainees were treated inhumanely while being moved from Victoria's Maribyrnong detention centre to South Australia's Baxter centre in September last year.
The investigation conducted by consultant Keith Hamburger found that the detainees were denied food, water and medical treatment, were forced to urinate in their compartments, were denied exercise and had their pleas for help ignored.
The report concludes that the manager of the Maribyrnong detention centre provided "inaccurate and misleading" information about the incident to investigators.
GSL and the Department of Immigration have both been ordered to apologise to the detainees involved.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone says the incidents are shocking.
"I'm outraged at the treatment of detainees or any human beings in this way," Senator Vanstone said.
GSL spokesman Tim Hall says the incident is not a reflection of its normal practices.
He says the company is appalled by the findings of the report.
"This was a case of a small number of people who behaved in a way which Mr Hamburger found was quite reprehensible," Mr Hall said.
He says the company has changed its ways.
"We've provided, of course, extensive training for our staff so that if there [are] weaknesses or failures, to understand what happened, they can't happen again," he said.
The Minister has not ruled out compensating the detainees.
