The wife of an Australian man suspected of being tortured in an Iraqi jail has dismissed assurances from the Foreign Minister that her husband has not been forgotten by the Australian government.
Robert Pether, 46, has been languishing behind bars in Baghdad since April last year on what his family describe as trumped-up charges.
Last month, the United Nations raised concerns he had been "tortured" and it demanded his immediate release.
Mr Pether was arrested alongside his Egyptian colleague Khalid Zaghloul during a bitter dispute over the construction of the new Central Bank of Iraq headquarters on the banks of the Tigris River.
In August last year, an Iraqi court found the pair guilty of deception charges — carrying a $16 million fine and five years in prison.
Mr Pether's wife, Desree said she felt abandoned by the Australian government since the verdict, questioning the commitment of Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to his case.
"Yes, they're doing things to help, and they're giving him embassy support and going to visit him," she told the ABC from her home in Ireland.
"But it's nowhere near enough."
On Tuesday, the Foreign Minister insisted she understood how "deeply distressing" the situation was.
"I think it's difficult to understand the challenges that a family like the Pethers face in circumstances like this where their husband and father has been in prison as a result of a court process in another country," Senator Payne said.
"I respectfully don't agree that we have forgotten Mr Pether."
Over the Easter weekend, Ms Pether said the jailed men were slapped with further charges, with the Central Bank of Iraq chasing an extra $27 million fine to hold them personally accountable for delays to the construction project.
"Eight months later and it's happening again," she said.
"It's playing out exactly like the last court case — where they have no access to their lawyers, they've got this week to prepare because then it's Eid in Iraq and in the Middle East … and then it's the court case.
"It's looking like they're going to have to go to this preliminary hearing at the beginning of May by themselves."
Ms Pether commented on one of Prime Minister's Scott Morrison's Instagram posts recently.
"I seriously think I'll lose my mind if I see another curry photo when my husband's life is at stake and we've been literally begging you for help and begging everyone around you to ask you to help," she posted.
'His circumstances are extremely difficult'
Ms Pether said the family had been told Australian consular officials had cut back their visits to her husband to once a fortnight, and she had relied on the intervention of the Irish government to get longer phone calls with him from jail.
"It is a matter that my post in Baghdad, that my department — particularly through our consular team — and officials have been working on very, very hard for a long time," Senator Payne said.
"I've spoken with the Iraqi Foreign Minister myself, spoken with him on a number of occasions, I have written again and again to him in terms of raising these issues.
"I am aware of the strong level of support that exists and I welcome that for Mr Pether's family, and the strong level of advocacy that of course his family engage in, but I don't accept an assertion that we have forgotten Mr Pether."
Senator Payne suggested the Australian government was hamstrung in its approach to Mr Pether's case.
"His circumstances are extremely difficult," she said.
"They do, however, fall within the operation of the legal system of another country, and Australia does not have the ability to intervene in the legal processes of another country any more than those outside Australia have the ability to intervene in ours."
Ms Pether praised the work of Australia's ambassador to Iraq, Paula Ganly, but said it was "really hard to hear" the minister's comments about her husband.
"I'm jumping up and down on emails all week, every week, asking for more help, asking for more assistance, especially after this thing happened on Easter Sunday," she said.
"It's time to step up and it's blatantly obvious that [the Iraqi government] have a disregard for human rights or international rights or judicial rights.
"They're sitting there in jail for 13 months, trying to work out how they can possibly prove they're innocent and get out."
Shortly after Senator Payne made her comments on Tuesday, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) were in contact with Ms Pether.
Reports Mr Pether lost 15kg in first 12 days of detention
In March, experts from the United Nations raised serious concerns about Mr Pether and Mr Zaghloul's wellbeing.
A report from the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said a source had told investigators Mr Pether "was subjected to acts of torture and ill treatment".
It was reported Mr Pether had lost 15 kilograms during his first 12 days behind bars, and after "severe dehydration, he quickly suffered a serious kidney and bladder infection."
"He is also reported to have had blackouts, to be delirious and has started to forget basic facts."
Distressing comments about the legal process the pair have been subjected to were also outlined.
"The source claims that some of the written statements discussed in court were made under duress and without a lawyer present," the report stated.
"The document signed by Mr Pether in the early days of his detention was written in Arabic and no translation was provided prior to him signing it.
"During the hearing, the lawyers reiterated that they had made many requests and submissions to the investigation court regarding the use of tainted evidence (due to psychological torture and beatings), but that all their requests had been rejected."
The UN working group called on the Iraqi government to immediately release the men so they could receive medical treatment, as they were being held in a cell with more than 20 other men.
"There's no room, the beds are squashed up to the wall through the day, and they all sit on the floor," Ms Pether said,
"And they get out twice a week for up to 20 minutes to exercise, but he uses that time to talk on the phone to us.
"His health is deteriorating."
Earlier this month, DFAT officials told Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong Australian officials had raised the UN report with their Iraqi counterparts.
