Fighting for Justice

Using the Death at Sea film as an advocacy and awareness-raising tool, our team is aiming to achieve justice for Eritara’s family and set a global precedent that will help fisheries observers going forward.

The Investigation

At the direct request of family, in 2020, the UK charity Human Rights at Sea undertook an independent case review of the investigation into the death of Eritara Aati Kaierua in 2021, a fisheries observer who tragically died onaboard a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel, FV-WIN FAR 636 in March 2020. The investigation highlighted 26 outstanding questions that raised significant concern about the initial investigation’s rigor.

A major concern surrounds the accuracy of the pathology reports, of which three were conducted, the latter two at the request of the WIN FAR 636 owners. Eritara’s case was initially declared a homicide by ‘blunt-force trauma,’ but it was later changed to ‘death by natural causes’ in the following reports - despite his healthy state when he boarded the vessel a month prior. To this day, the case remains open and unsolved, leaving the family without worker compensation or access to information gathered during the investigation.

Future State Engagement

Through engagement with relevant state and international authorities, now leading the justice campaign, Human Rights at Sea International aims to deliver to Eritara’s family worker compensation, a payout that family receives in the event of a fisher incurring injury or death while working.

These efforts will include collaboration with government officials from Kiribati, Taiwan, USA, Australia, New Zealand and international governance bodies including the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Human Rights Council, and regional fisheries management organizations.

Setting a Global Precedent

Through the 2020 independent case review and achievement of worker compensation for Eritara’s family.

We hope to set a benchmark for international best practice that can be followed when a fisheries observer dies at sea. In the over fifteen reported cases of observer deaths and disappearances, no single investigation has identified, let alone convict, an assailant, nor delivered worker compensation to the victim’s family.

Over 15

reported cases of observer deaths and disappearances

Resources

Independent Case Review of death of Kiribati fisheries observer Eritara Aati Kaierua. 19 May 2021.

A full briefing and review of the events leading up to and after Eritara Aati Kaeirua’s death aboard the F/V WIN FAR 636.

14 Jun 2024

Investigations

Timeline of Events in case of death of Kiribati fisheries observer Eritara Aati Kaierua. 19 May 21

A timeline of events summarizing Eritara’s movements before his untimely passing and the subsequent investigation into this death.

14 Jun 2024

Investigations