Greens push for change over David Hicks’ muzzling post-Gitmo

Greens Senator Scott Ludlum has renewed calls for changes to our Jackboot Justice system, much as Human Rights Doyen Geoffrey Robertson QC did in his recent ABC Lateline  interview.

There is reason to pursue the Australian lawmakers from the discredited Howard regime who legitimized the US shame of “Gitmo” just as moves are underway in America to pursue the legal attack dogs who set up Guantanamo and sanctioned torture and “rendition”

The Human Rights Judge also pointed out that Australia’s lack of a Bill of Rights means this sort of travesty is possible in the future if another morally bereft PM feels so inclined. ( see link to his interview on lateline on this blog or just click “Geoffrey Robertson QC” in the tag cloud on the left )

Today Senator Ludlum released the statement pasted below;

Thursday, 20 November 2008
Hicks case shows need for anti-terrorism review

The public gagging of David Hicks should be ended and Howard’s heavy-handed anti-terrorism laws reviewed, according to Australian Greens Attorney General Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam.

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks today told members of online lobby group, Get Up that he is fearful a new control order will be imposed on him by the Australian Federal Police, and this will prevent him from being able to move forward in his life.

“Control orders are infringement of basic human rights and incompatible with Australia’s broader democratic culture,” Senator Ludlam said.

“Control orders are just one example of some of the draconian and extreme aspects of the anti-terrorism laws the Howard government rammed through the Senate after 2001 – and are yet to be reviewed by the Rudd Government.”

“The laws were passed without any safety net or mechanism for review. Unfortunately, David Hicks is feeling the consequences of that flawed process today. The Rudd government needs to support an independent review so that we can be assured that the rights and freedoms of Australians are not being eroded.”

Last week the Greens supported a Bill initiated by Liberal backbencher Petro Georgio to review the forty pieces of anti-terrorism legislation. The government voted against the measure.

Senator Ludlam has also questioned the legitimacy of David Hicks’ initial sentence.

“David Hicks was subject to an illegal and illegitimate military tribunal process on foreign soil. He was held for five years without charge, the principles of natural justice and rule of law were disregarded and the Geneva conventions were not complied with. The legitimacy of his conviction is therefore in doubt, even more so as the US President-elect Obama has indicated his intention to close Guantanamo Bay. David Hicks has a right to closure and should be allowed to move forward in his life.”

“The control order should not be extended and David Hicks should be afforded the same rights as any other Australia,” said Senator Ludlam.

For more information or media enquiries please call Robert Simms on 0417 174 302
senator.ludlam@aph.gov.au  |  http://www.scottludlam.org.au  |  http://www.greensmps.org.au

QC expects action on human rights from Barack Obama

Respected Human Rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC  ( see story below on his visit to Perth for UN HR anniversary ) has told Australian ABC’s Lateline that he expects a change in the US approach to human rights when Barack OBAMA takes over as US President next January.

He has also predicted sanctions and possibly charges against US lawyers who advised the BUSH ( dubya that is ) regime on issues such as torture and the shameful goings on at Gitmo.

In a 15 minute interview with Tony Jones he also lamented the lack of a Bill of Rights in Australia and foreshadowed challenges to the US occupation of Mauritian territory known as Diego Garcia and the displacement of its Indigenous people.

The Rhodes Scholar and celebrated Silk also highlighted the stupidity we spoke of here recently of martyring people like Hambali and the other Bali Bombers.

see it in full here
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2422192.htm

I wasn’t aware ’til tonight that the island of Diego Garcia was held back from the Independence granted to Mauritius by Britain and then given to the US to use as a strategic base during the cold war. The locals, who are a distinct race apparently now live mainly in poverty on other parts of the Indian Ocean Archipelago

It’s a shame that Geoffrey’s dinner speech in Perth is so expensive, but I figure that the top end of town could probably do with his wisdom and experience, and the big bucks will aid Amnesty’s ongoing battle against abuse.

I hope to speak to the good QC in the next day or so to bring you more

Geoffrey Robertson QC in Perth for Human Rights, Amnesty International.

This is no “hypothetical”- Geoffrey Robertson QC is coming to Perth on behalf of Amnesty International- see the media release below.  

Indigenous peoples, displaced people, immigrants, gays, political and other prisoners, those dealing with mental illness and many other groups of people have yet to enjoy rights most of us take for granted – and females in all groups are struggling even more than the males. 

This is just one event, so check the Amnesty website for how you can make a difference by thinking globally and acting locally.

Geoffrey Robertson QC

Join Amnesty International and the United Nations Association of Australia at Perth Town Hall on 8 December to celebrate the 60thanniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

 

 

Speaking at the dinner is renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC, who is a distinguished jurist member of the UN’s Internal Justice Council, author, and creator of television show Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals. Mr Robertson has been counsel in many landmark cases in constitutional, criminal and media law in the courts of Britain and the commonwealth. 

The event will be hosted by media personality Mary Kostakidis. Ms Kostakidis was a member of the management team that developed SBS Television in 1980 and was the first woman appointed to present a national prime time television news bulletin in Australia – SBS flagship World News, which she presented for two decades. 

2008 is a landmark year in the global campaign to make human rights a reality for all people. It marks 60 years since the birth of its guiding document – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

On 10 December 1948, countries around the globe joined together to recognise that ensuring every person’s rights was the key to founding freedom, justice and peace in the world. The Declaration confirms the acceptance of these 30 rights and is the driving force behind all of today’s human rights standards. It is described as the most translated document in the world. 

Human rights are yours to enjoy, yours to protect.  Celebrate with us! 

Date: Monday, 8 December, 2008 

Time: 7.00pm for a 7.30 pm start. 

Venue: Perth Town Hall (corner of Hay and Barrack Streets) 

Tickets: $175 per person or $1,700 per table of 10 (includes dinner and drinks) 
To book, visit www.bocsticketing.com.au or call 08 9484 1133. 
Regards, 
Caroline Shepherd
Media and Public Affairs Coordinator
Amnesty International Australia
Ph:  (+612) 8396 7611
Mobile: (+61) 403 650 226
Fax:  (+612) 8396 7677
Locked bag 23, 
Broadway NSW 2007
Visit 
http://www.amnesty.org.au/
 

Bali Bombers – any killing is wrong

This blog post  http://jacqueliehanafie.wordpress.com/

and pasted below resonated with me – what do you think? 

I woke up to the news that the three Bali bombers had been executed by firing squad overnight. Given that I am strongly opposed to the Death Penalty in ANY case, the news of this last execution made me feel sick to my stomach – to say the least. Suffice to say, this does not mean I condone terrorism or the acts of the bombers; but in line with universal human rights, I do not concur with this form of punishment. Sure, lock them up and throw away the key. But how does an eye for an eye, a life for a life, avenge the actions of the condemned?

Julian McMahon is a barrister. He has represented numerous people on death row, including Van Nguyen in Singapore, George Forbes and others in Sudan, and works with a number of Melbourne barristers defending Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan from the Bali 9.

I have read hundreds of articles pertaining to the Bali bombers, but this one stood out to me. It was taken from the Herald Sun on 7 November, a day before the executions. It represents my views completely. Well done, Julian McMahon.

Silence from our leaders is not good enough

Where are our leaders? What is happening? In the next day or two, three men are going to be executed by our nearest neighbor, Indonesia. The men deserve severe punishment. But why are Australian leaders, Federal, State, religious and community, being so quiet? Not one voice is speaking up, saying the men should not be executed.

It is too late to speak up after the executions. We are not weak. We are not aggressive. We are friends with Indonesia. We have principles and ideals and should speak up. If principles are worth anything, lets defend them even though its hard. 

Our leaders are not at liberty to stay silent and pretend that these executions are ok. With other Australian lawyers, I have clients in Asia on death row. 

We know that the Asian media and politicians demand consistency from us. If we ignore these executions which obviously affect us as a nation, while later demanding the right to save Australians, we lose legitimacy. 

I have read every name at the Bali memorial. I feel deeply for those victims. Every time I go to the prison in Bali, and I was there last week, I think of my family and hope they don’t suffer such losses. 

But killing 3 more people to avenge those already killed does not honour those names carved in granite. It adds nothing. To dignify their names, we should call for humane but severe punishment – a life in prison, without access to journalists, removed from society. That is always enough punishment. 

I walked away from Van Nguyen’s execution knowing that it was an exercise in futility – that dreadful sense of a person being destroyed, the destruction planned for, practiced over and over, pointless. 
To see his mother, his brother, their friends at the minute of their loved one hanging is to realize that pre planned killing is fundamentally backward. Making people suffer is not what we as a nation are about, even if they deserve it. The suffering of victims does not go away, no one is brought back. We just have another corpse. Resorting to premeditated ritualized killing, and pretending vengeance or disgust or hatred or contempt is justice, is in truth failure. 

Our leaders, State and Federal, and religious, oppose the death penalty. Well, let them say so when its hard, like this Bali bombers case. The region is watching. At law, our country has signed up to international covenants and protocols opposing the death penalty and calling for its abolition everywhere. 

Last December at the United Nations, Australia strongly opposed the death penalty calling for an international moratorium. Last week on Melbourne radio the Prime Minister confirmed his personal and party’s long standing universal opposition to the death penalty. 

If an Australian was about to be executed in Asia, these policy positions would be proudly proclaimed, and relied upon as a strategy to save his or her life. We do not expect our political and community leaders to jump up and down at every execution everywhere.

But the execution of the Bali bombers, like many other executions including of Australians, calls for more than silence. As neighbours and victims and people affected, we have rights and duties. As investigators who helped catch the criminals, we have a say. It will be too late to speak out once the prisoners are shot. 
 


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24616008-5000117,00.html