A life of courage and sacrifice

She has had an AK-47 shoved in her face by an enraged Iraqi mob and been involved in the rescue of two British soldiers facing beheading.

And she argued international law as a humanitarian lawyer — and fought perhaps her biggest battle of all by suing the British Government.

Rabia is a fighter.

Pretty well always has been, and says she is determined she always will be.

On Friday, April 25, Rabia, a retired British army major and holder of the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service, will speak at Moama RSL’s Anzac Day commemoration service at Moama cenotaph.

Where she said her focus would be on “recognising the courage and sacrifice of all men and women who have served, are serving and will serve with the Australian Defence Forces”.

“In today’s world, I think, now more than ever we need to be aware of both that sacrifice and the demand for that service,” Rabia said.

“This national sense of spirit started with the Anzacs 110 years ago, they are the one who personified it, but at the same time this is not just a memory, it is a legacy we must recognise and must value as we move forward.’’

Rabia has been on the front line of change and challenge — and sheer terror — since leaving Australia in 1988.

While a university student in Western Australia she worked as a volunteer with the Aboriginal Legal Services and after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, represented prisoners seeking clemency on Singapore’s death row.

Back home she joined the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia before becoming a federal prosecutor with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

But it would be her shift to the United Kingdom in 1988 to work in public liability and criminal law that would change her life for ever.

“I had spent time in South America doing aid work and developed good contacts there within the British military and discovered I could do an entry course through its legal office and be deployed to war zones where people urgently needed dispute representation,” Rabia said.

“It’s the work I wanted to do and while I agree it was an unusual way for an Australian to reach a career goal it was an amazing way to achieve an end.

“Called the professional officer’s course, you had to achieve all the military competencies but in an abridged version.

‘’But if you were going to deal with the most senior military you had to have the basic skills to be credible if you were going to offer pivotal advice to senior officers.

“But the week I was commissioned was 9/11 and then the whole world changed, not just mine.”

The newly minted officer in the Royal Scots (the oldest regiment in the British army) would be posted to Northern Ireland and almost as she touched down for her assignment there two police were killed by a terrorist bomb.

“The troubles became very real, very quickly for me,” she said.

Her service would cover other UK postings, and Germany, working as an army prosecutor in courts martial before, in 2005, she was sent to Iraq.

Where on September 19 after two British special forces soldiers were captured she was ordered in to assist with the hostage negotiations despite no training in that area.

But as a fluent Arabic speaker — her father was an Indian Muslim — who had quickly built trust with local officials, her presence was being demanded by the Iraqi official helping the negotiations.

She reached the cell where the soldiers were held and just as she was close to securing their release the compound was overrun by an angry local mob told the two soldiers were Israeli spies and had killed a local policeman.

They were all seized and moved to another location and Rabia said when the AK-47 was pointed at her she thought she was about to die.

Ten hours later, Rabia, five other officers and the two soldiers were rescued by another British military operation.

Her commanding officer would receive a Military Cross for his role in what became known as the al-Jameat incident, but Rabia was not debriefed and did not rate a single line in official reports. She was also excluded from the official inquiry into the incident.

“Despite all the advice, and warnings, from fellow officers, in 2007 I filed a formal grievance with the army board, suing the UK Ministry of Defence for race and sex discrimination,” she said.

Catapulting her into the headlines where her treatment by the UK media was brutal.

A year later, just before her case was to be heard at Central London Employment Tribunal, the UK Ministry of Defence settled out of court.

“If I had been a man, would I have had to go through any of that? No,” she said.

“I got a public apology, I got official recognition, and the UK military had to acknowledge there were lessons to be learnt from the way this had all unfolded.

“It was not a pleasant time but from that stand flowed profound change in the military culture.

“I also provided equality and diversity training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where my charges included Prince William.”

After leaving the military she returned to the CPS as a crown advocate in the Counterterrorism Division, specialising in the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, hate crimes and crimes against the Official Secrets Act.

Back in Perth in 2011 with her triplet sons, she worked with the Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission and as the Western Australian Police commissioner’s legal counsel.

Today, Rabia works as a transformational coach and mentor, and is an author, sought-after public speaker and media commentator.

And she speaks at events such as Moama Anzac Day.

Moama RSL sub-branch will stage its dawn service at the cenotaph at 5.55am and asks for people attending to be assembled by 5.45am. That will be immediately followed by a gunfire breakfast held at Moama RSL club.

The Moama march will assemble at 8.15am at Echuca St, at the back of the Moama post office. The march will step off at 8.40am to the Moama cenotaph, where the commemorative service will start at 9am.