CCTV footage released by Human Rights at Sea International (HRASi) showing the last hours and days of fisheries observer Eritara Aati Kaierua raises new questions. He was found dead in his cabin on board Taiwanese purse seiner Win Far 636 in March 2020.
The CCTV footage shows masked crew members on board Win Far 636 appearing to manhandle Kaierua’s body along a passageway on board, and the video is timestamped as several hours after his recorded time of death.
CCTV also captures Kaierua alive, eating alone in the mess hall and walking through the vessel in the hours before his death.
Notably, 24 hours passed between Kaierua’s last recorded appearance alive and the moment his body was moved – a significant time gap as Kaierua’s absence from duty went apparently unnoticed during this period.
AIS data indicates that Win Far 636 was in international waters at the time, which places the burden of inviestigation on the flag state. The authorities in Taiwan were approached prior to the release of this CCTV footage from the vessel, but have not responded.
Acccording to HRASi, the pathologist who examined Eritara Aati Kaierua’s body concluded that injuries were consistent with homicide. Two other pathologists, brought in by the vessel’s owners and who did not have access to Kaierua’s remains, concluded he had died of natural causes.
Eritara Aati Kaierua’s home country of Kiribati remains the only state to have formally opened an investigation into his death.
