Federal Court upholds Australian Government support of torture

CANTERBURY- BANKSTOWN PEACE GROUP
MEDIA RELEASE April 26, 2009

Federal Court upholds Australian Government support of torture

The Federal Court has dismissed Mamdouh Habib's appeal against the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) decision not to return his passport.

The former Howard Government withdrew Habib's passport after his release from Guantanamo Bay. The reason given was that he might commit some illegal act if allowed to leave the country. The basis of this assertion was "secret" because of "national security" issues.

In a very controversial case, the AAT supported the Government position.

"Never mind that more than 80% of evidence was not presented in open court," Raul Bassi from the Canterbury Bankstown Peace Group commented. "Habib and his lawyer received hundred of documents mostly blacked out for national security reasons."

"The most dreadful part of the Tribunal ruling was that even the presiding magistrate accepted that Mamdouh was tortured. Yet whatever he said under torture was accepted by the Tribunal as evidence against him. On this basis the AAT denied Mahdouh his passport."

Bassi continued: "With the election of the Rudd Government, Habib was hopeful that the approach to his case would change. But in relation to human rights, as with Aboriginal issues, the war in Afghanistan and the anti-terrorist laws, there is a line of continuity between the old and new governments.

"Yesterday's ruling confirms that. The same lawyer who represented the Howard government in the first case represented the Rudd government in the appeal, and with the same arguments.

Bassi added that there was no doubt about the existence of torture by the military and security agencies of the United States and its allies. "The Obama administration has accepted that the US has been using torture as a common procedure supported by the highest authorities in the country at the time. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police originally denied any knowledge, but lately its has come to light that their agents saw Mamdouh Habib in Guantanamo Bay clearly in distress and that he told them that he had been tortured."

"The question now is what Mamdouh can do to achieve justice. All judicial avenues seem closed and appeals to the government have fall on deaf ears,. The Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group wrote to the Attorney-General last year asking for an inquiry but he refused to do anything about the case."

Bassi concluded: "The Canterbury-Bankstow n Peace Group is committed to supporting its member, Mamdouh Habib in his quest for justice. We are organising different actions to take his case to Canberra, into the international arena, and to let everyone know what the Australian government is capable of.

We initiated the campaign to bring Mamdouh and David Hicks back from Guantanamo Bay. We could never have guessed that he was coming back to a country where his rights would be almost as restricted as when he was in prison."

For more information: Raul Bassi 0403037376

May 1 - Rally Against Prison Privatisation!

Tell Robbo "No means No" on prison privatisation!

A rally will be held next Friday, May 1, outside ALP HQ, 377 Sussex Street, 10am to show support for those opposing privatisation of our Prisons and other Public Services and Utilities (see flyer below).

The rally will coincide with the meeting of the ALP Administrative Committee. At this meeting, corrective services minister John Robertson will ask the Administrative Committee to accept that privatisation of Prisons is consistent with the ALP Policy of opposing Privatisation of Prisons!

Download the Flier HERE (PDF)

2009 GLW Comedy Debate with Rod Quantock

also featuring Mohammed El-Leissy, Courteney Hocking, Shiralee Hood, Matthew Kenneally, Wendy Little & Darren Parker

Saturday, May 9, 2009
7:30pm - 10:30pm
Brunswick Town Hall (cnr Sydney Road & Dawson Street, Brunswick)

Phone: 0396398622
Email: melbourne@greenleft.org.au

Come along to the annual Green Left Weekly Comedy Debate - the 'debate to end all debates', adjudicated by Melbourne's own Rod Quantock. Join Rod and his almighty team of comedians in the ultimate political comedy battle...
From corporate bail-outs to golden handshakes and fat-cat welfare to massive CEO salaries: "That this is the Global Financial Crisis we HAD to have."

$35 solidarity / $25 waged / $12 concession
Bar and food available
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL - LAST YEAR'S DEBATE SOLD OUT!

Fundraiser for Green Left Weekly, Australia's leading radical newspaper. In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a proudly independent voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality.
http://www.greenleft.org.au

Statement: Stop the Genocide Against the Tamils!

The statement below was initially circulated at the World at a Crossroads conference hosted by Green Left Weekly in Sydney, April 10-12. A selection of the much larger number of names that signed on are included below. To add your name to the statement, email stuartmunckton@gmail.com

Stop the Genocide Against the Tamils!

Participants at the World at a Crossroads conference, Sydney April 10-12, recognise the genocide being carried out against the Tamil people by the murderous Sri Lankan government. The genocidal policies of the Sri Lankan government are a continuation of over six decades of systematic discrimination carried out against the Tamil population.

The drive towards genocide of the Tamils has intensified since the Sri Lankan government abrogated the peace process in January 2008 and embarked on the reconquest of the island's north through brutal war with devastating consequences for Tamils.

The last few months has been particularly brutal. More than 3500 Tamil civilians have been killed in a space of three months by the Sri Lankan state offensive. Tamils fleeing the fighting are being herded into concentration camps.

According to the former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka “A few months ago the government started registering all Tamils in Colombo on the grounds that they could be a security threat, but this could be exploited for other purposes like the Nazis in the 1930s. They’re basically going to label the whole civilian Tamil population as potential terrorists.”

Two hundred thousand Tamils are now facing starvation.

We believe people throughout the world must become more vocal against this genocide and protest governments that support the Sri Lankan government. Governments such as the United States, Israel, China, India and Pakistan have all equipped the Sri Lankan army with high technology weapons, including illegal chemical weapons and cluster munitions.

The undersigned participants call for:

- an immediate end to the Sri Lankan governments attacks on Tamils and for there to be an immediate ceasefire;
- that diplomatic, economic and cultural sanctions be applied till the Sri Lankan government agrees to an immediate ceasefire
- that all military aid and assistance from governments to the Sri Lankan government must end immediately, because the money is being used to perpetrate genocide;
- the IMF not to grant the Sri Lankan the use of $1.7 billion, as it will be used on military equipment to kill Tamil civilians;
- that governments of the worlds to recognize and give full citizenship rights to Tamil refugees who have had to flee to avoid the genocide;
- that the self determination of Tamils up to and including their right to form an independent state must be respected by the governments of the world; and
- that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam be taken off proscribed terrorist lists.

signed:
* Salim Vally — Spokesperson of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (South Africa); lecturer and senior researcher at the Education Policy Unit and the School of Education at Wits University;
* Kavita Krishnan — central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) and an editor Liberation magazine; national secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association;
* Michael Lebowitz — Director of "Transformative Practice and Human Development" at the Centro Internacional Miranda, Caracas; Professor Emeritus of economics, Simon Fraser University;
* Luis Bilbao — Union of Socialist Militants (Argentina); advisor to the Hugo Chavez government in Venezuela; editor of XXI magazine;
* Reihana Mohideen — vice-chair of international department of the Power of the Masses Party (PLM — Philippinnes); chairperson of Transform Asia, a gender and labour institute in South East Asia; editor of "Socialist Dialogue magazine;
* Mericio Juvinal Dos Reis — Executive Director of the Luta Hamutuk Institute (East Timor;
* Ian Angus — Socialist Voice (Canada), co-founder of Ecosocialist International Network;
* Roger Annis — Socalist Voice (Canada),
* Ian Beeching — Vancouver Socialist Forum;
* Mike Treen — Nation director of organising, Unite union, New Zealand;
* Daphne Lawless — Socialist Worker New Zealand;
* Dr Brian Senewiratne — Singalese pro-Tamil activist;
* Tim Gooden — Secretary, Geelong and Region Trades and Labour Council;
* Jess Moore — Resistance national co-organiser;
* Dick Nichols — Socialist Alliance national co-convenor ;
* Peter Boyle — Democratic Socialist Perspective national secretary;
* Pip Hinman — Sydney Stop the War Coalition; Socialist Alliance
* Brianna Pike - DSP Sydney organiser;
* Stuart Munckton — Green Left Weekly co-editor;
* Emma Murphy — GLW co-editor;
* Peter Robson — GLW journalist;
* Tony Iltis — GLW journalist;
* Jay Fletcher — GLW journalist;
* Federico Fuentes — World at a Crossroads conference co-organiser, GLW journalist, editor of Bolivia Rising;
* Lisa MacDonald — World at a Crossroads conference co-organiser; DSP National executive;
* Terry Townsend — managing editor of Links, International Journal of Socialist Renewal
* Chris Latham — National Tertiary Education Union, Murdoch University branch organiser;
* Jamie Doughney — Senior researcher at the Work and Economic Policy Research Unit, Victoria University of Technology;
* John Robb — Nelson, NZ;
* Janet Solomon — Ecum Secum, N.S. Canada;
* Simon Ashworth Wood — Socialist Alliance, Sydney;
* Joycey Berry — USA

Veterans Group reflects on brutality of war and question how politicians use our armed forces on ANZAC Day

Press release

23 April 2009

The Australian-based veterans group Stand Fast, comprised of veterans and former military personnel who oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, today called on people to reject blind patriotism and flag waving this ANZAC Day. Stand Fast has called for reflection on the brutality of war and for people to question if Australia’s current wars are really in the interest of the people of Australia.

In Brisbane Stand Fast spokesperson and East Timor veteran, Hamish Chitts said the group thinks the increasing spectacle of flag waving and cheering on ANZAC Day departs from its origins as a sombre day of remembrance. The group is concerned that this trend stops people openly questioning these wars amid fears that they will be accused of being ‘unpatriotic’ or not supporting the troops.

Vietnam veteran and Sydney based Stand Fast member Gerry Binder said, “The original idea was to remember the brutality that war is so that we would never let it happen again, not marching up and down with bands and people waving and shouting and cheering.” He said, “I’ve marched in Anzac Day marches and I was horrified that people are bringing their kids to cheer, to clap. I don’t want to be congratulated; I want them to understand that this must not be repeated.”

In Melbourne former army Major Chip Henriss, a Bouganville and East Timor veteran said, “I march on ANZAC Day every year but along with my medals I wear a button that says "War is Terror". For us in Australia it's been about mainly young people that have gone off time after time on what we believed was a just crusade only to return wounded physically and mentally. Yes I love the mates I served with and many of whom continue to serve but it doesn't mean I can't see these wars for what they are.”

According to Chitts Stand Fast believes that “to claim these wars bring democracy and that they are in our best interests are ridiculous. Stand Fast believes politicians are looking after the interests of big business and dressing it up to look like the people of Afghanistan or Iraq have the capability and desire to attack Australia”.

Former Royal Australian Navy officer Mark Rickards led over 70 vessel boardings in the Red Sea following the first Gulf War. Speaking from Hobart Rickards said, "Anzac Day is an opportunity to pay tribute to those who served, and particular who died, in wars which were fought in defence of peace. However it is also the perfect time to stop and reflect on the growing death toll of Australian service personnel who are currently serving in unjust wars.

Chitts continued, “These members of parliament, both Labor and Coalition vie with each other to be more ‘the diggers friend’ than the other. Most have never served in the Defence Force and would be horrified if their children did. As veterans, our thoughts are with all those who have suffered from war, those still suffering physically and mentally because of war and all those still in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan. No more blood should be shed for the profiteers. Those who truly support the troops should join the call to bring all the troops home now”.

For further information contact Hamish on 0401 586 923 or email standfast.au@ gmail.com or visit www.stand-fast. webs.com

Colin Duffy to contest Euro elections

Regular readers of the Wombat Hole would be familiar with the name of Colin Duffy, the dissident northern Irish republican accused of involvement in the recent attacks in the six counties, and who went on hunger strike to protest his innocence and ongoing detention without charge, a detention which was ruled to have been illegal.

Well, it now appears that Duffy is set to stand as an independent candidate for the European elections, on June 4-7.

According to Ciaran Cunningham, a Belfast spokesman for "an umbrella organisation representing a number of dissident republican groups",[1] Republican Network for Unity:

"Colin Duffy intends to stand as a candidate in the upcoming European elections," he said.

"He will be standing on an end-28-day-detention ticket and an anti-internment ticket. A steering committee has been set up to direct the election campaign and RNU fully endorses that committee."

Naturally the Unionist spin-cycle has gone into hyper-drive accusing Duffy and his friends of "using this election as a personal and perverted referendum on a return to terror.” Whatevs...

Duffy, 41, currently faces eight charges in relation to the attack on the Massereene barracks in Antrim on March 7th, an attack which the Real IRA has already taken responsibility for.

While there is little (well, stuff-all, really) chance of Duffy replicating the victories of the likes of Bernadette Devlin MacAliskey or hunger-strikers Bobby Sands and Kieran Doherty,[2] and win one of the three available seats, the Belfast Telegraph probably has it right when it points out that "the campaign would highlight the introduction of 28-day detention under the Terrorism Act and could diminish Sinn Fein’s Bairbre de Brun’s prospects of topping the poll ahead of the DUP’s Diane Dodds."

For more (if not directly related) discussion of Norn Iron and what goes on there, see the ever-engaging Organised Rage, and the finger-on-the-bleeding-pulse reportage of Splintered Sunrise, as well as the bods over at éirígí and An Phoblacht.

---

[1] Apparently this includes a large number of ex-POWs and ex-members of Sinn Fein, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and the IRSP.
[2] While the Representation of the People Act of 1981 banned serving prisoners from running in elections in respnse to these victories, Duffy is on remand, rather than a convicted prisoner, and is still able to run.

Sri Lanka - The Tamils need support

Green Left Weekly #791 editorial:

The Tamils need support

One of the great crimes of modern times is occurring on the island of Sri Lanka without a word of protest from governments the world over. The Tamil people are facing genocide.

Already this year, the death toll of Tamil civilians exceeds 4000. Often dozens, and in some cases hundreds, are slaughtered in a single day in Sri Lankan Army (SLA) bombings of the so-called safe zone, into which as many as 300,000 people are crowded.

Those Tamils who flee this zone are being placed into concentration camps by the SLA.

This brutal reality is almost entirely unreported, and not simply because the Sri Lankan government refuses to allow journalists access to the scene of its crime. Instead, the mainstream media is once again siding with the powerful.

When the issue is reported at all, the Sri Lankan government's propaganda is repeated the propaganda of a regime that refuses to allow a free press, with one of the world's highest rates of journalists being murdered each year.

According to Sri Lankan propaganda, the military are merely fighting "terrorism". It claims its war is merely against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an armed group fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the island's east and north.

Yet Sri Lanka's actions prove its war is against the Tamil people as a whole.

The actions of the LTTE are a response to the decades of discrimination and violent repression meted out to the Tamil minority by a state dominated by the majority Sinhalese ethnic group. Support for armed struggle grew among Tamils in response to the violent anti-Tamil pogroms in 1983 that killed more than 3000 people.

The solution to ending the decades-long war on the island, and bringing about desperately needed peace, is to end the oppression of the Tamil people.

First, and most urgently, there must be a permanent ceasefire declared. The mass killings must be ended. Food and medical supplies must be allowed into the "safe-zone", without which aid agencies are warning of a terrible humanitarian crisis.

The Tamil people must regain their freedom of movement and the concentration camps must be closed.

Once this occurs, the conditions for a negotiated settlement to the crisis, which can resolve the issue of self-determination for the Tamil people, will exist.

However, powerful governments, in defence of powerful interests, are allowing the Tamil people to be sacrificed. In return, the powerful are manoeuvring for access to lucrative shipping routes and ports.

To avoid upsetting the racist and undemocratic regime in Colombo, that regime is allowed a free hand to implement a "final solution" to the Tamil question. Once again, the corporate elite is placing profit over human life.

People around the world who believe in social justice must raise their voices. The Tamil diaspora is desperately attempting to bring the plight of its people to the world's attention. In their hundreds of thousands, they have marched in cities around the globe.

In India, dozens of Tamils have self-immolated to bring attention to the situation. In Australia, six young Tamils went on hunger strike for almost a week. They refused food or water, with a serious risk of death, in an appeal to the Australian government to press Sri Lanka to call a permanent ceasefire.

We cannot let them stand alone. Those who believe in social justice and political parties, trade unions, churches, social movements must speak out against the atrocities occurring right now.

The powerful have abandoned the Tamil people, it must be ordinary people all over the world who use their power to force action.

When Israel levelled Gaza, millions marched in opposition. That movement must continue, and the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign seeking to isolate apartheid Israel is beginning to have effect. But that display of "people power" needs to be repeated on behalf of the Tamils.

International solidarity helped end apartheid in South Africa, despite Western governments siding with the regime. It helped the East Timorese win their independence, despite Western governments including Australia siding with Indonesia.

It is placing Israel on the back foot, despite the most powerful nations on Earth backing the oppressors of the Palestinian people.

Now, international solidarity must be mobilised to save the Tamil people and stop the genocide.

[Support this very urgent struggle by joining the heroic campaign of the young Australian Tamils. Visit http://www.tamilsydney.com

More here:
http://tamilsol.blogspot.com/
http://fastuntoaction.wordpress.com/