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From: Gatt Watchdog <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thursday, 18 February 1999 16:46
URGENT ACTION ALERT!
URGENT ACTION ALERT!
URGENT ACTION ALERT!
AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT MOVES
TO ENACT REPRESSIVE INTELLIGENCE LEGISLATION
(Please repost widely on other human rights, labour rights and social
justice newsgroups and lists.)
The New Zealand Government is proposing an imminent law change which
would extend the powers of the New Zealand Security Intelligence
Service (NZSIS) to break and enter into "any place" in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Bill 1998 is being
rushed through Parliament after the December 1998 NZ Court of Appeal
ruling which found that NZSIS interception warrants do not confer the
right to enter private property.
This arose from a civil court action (Choudry v Attorney-General)
taken against the NZSIS after two NZSIS agents were caught breaking
into the home of GATT Watchdog organiser and anti-APEC activist Aziz
Choudry. The break-in took place during an alternative conference on
APEC and free trade which Aziz was involved with organising, just
prior to the 1996 APEC Trade Ministers Meeting in Christchurch.
Neither the NZSIS nor its political masters have explained this
bungled SIS operation, hiding instead behind a shroud of "national
security".
Although a number of NGOs, community groups, and unions have
repeatedly called for an independent inquiry into the Choudry break-
in, this has been ignored by the government. Like many other state
intelligence agencies, the NZSIS has a highly questionable past. It
has targetted a range of movements, organisations and individuals for
their political beliefs and affiliations, ranging from the
infiltration and surveillance of anti-apartheid activists in the
1970s and 1980s, to anti-Vietnam war organisers and members of
numerous left-wing organisations.
Since the Cold War has ended, it appears that their new targets
include opponents of globalisation and advocates of Maori (indigenous
peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand) sovereignty. Critics of the bill
describe a "declaration of war against lawful dissent". It would
allow the NZSIS to break into homes, buildings or vehicles and its
agents to then lawfully install, maintain or remove "things" if they
wished.
The Association of University Staff (university lecturers' union) has
described the authorisation of government spies to break into homes
as "legalised theft" Allowing the NZSIS to seize material or plant
devices in homes or offices is a threat to academic freedom, it
argued. Dr Rodney Harrison, QC, of the Auckland Council for Civil
Liberties, argues that "the proposed power of entry has no proper
safeguards surrounding its exercise and will be open to abuse by the
SIS with virtual impunity."
Since 1996, the definition of "security" has been extended to include
"the making of a contribution to New Zealand's international well-
being or economic wellbeing". This is one of the broadest
definitions of security in any comparable legislation. It is a
charter for abuse, and further opened the way for the NZSIS to
surveill, monitor and harass opponents of government policy even if
they are only engaged in lawful advocacy, protest or dissent.
In particular, opponents of APEC and the neoliberal agenda believe
that they will be targetted by the NZSIS for their activities. The
New Zealand government hopes to push through this law change as soon
as possible as it is hosting APEC in 1999. From Jakarta to Vancouver,
from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, APEC Leaders Summits have become
synonymous with repression and a state crackdown on opposition to
APEC's agenda.
All the signs are that APEC in New Zealand will be no different this
year. It is particularly ironic that the New Zealand government is
promoting this legislation even as it plans to use its hosting of
APEC to "demonstrate to the international community New Zealand's
ability, as a participatory democracy, to accommodate debate and
dissent" (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade strategy paper, 24
August 1998) Public submissions to a Prime Ministerial Committee of
Parliamentarians comprised of the Prime Minister and 4 other senior
National and Labour Ministers and MPs (all of whom support the law
change) have been overwhelmingly opposed to any extension of the
powers of the SIS. Both the ruling National Party, and the main
Opposition party, Labour, support the law change. Only 13 out of the
120 MPs in New Zealand's Parliament opposed the bill. The vast
majority of 130 public submissions on the bill are opposed to the law
change. Yet the government is determined to enact the law.
It is expected that the Prime Ministerial committee of senior
National and Labour MPs considering the law change will report back
to Parliament very shortly. The Prime Minister hopes to pass the bill
into law in early March.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Fax or email New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley AND the Leader
of the Opposition the Rt Hon Helen Clark and urge them to scrap this
repressive piece of legislation and call for a full, independent
inquiry into the role and activities of the NZSIS.
Please also send a copy of your letter to your nearest New Zealand
Embassy, High Commission or diplomatic representative, and to GATT
Watchdog at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or fax (64) 3 3668035
_____________________________________________________________________
_ SAMPLE LETTER
(Feel free to adapt this - and perhaps to speak of experience of
similar repressive intelligence legislation in your country)
Dear Mrs Shipley/Ms Clark
We write to express our opposition to the proposal to expand the
powers of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service to break and
enter private property.
We are dismayed to see New Zealand politicians opening the way
further for the NZ Security Intelligence Service to surveill, harass,
and intimidate dissenters in New Zealand society.
The NZSIS Amendment Bill 1998 constitutes a major breach of the
rights of freedom of expression and political dissent. There is no
justification for an increase in the powers of the NZSIS. We support
a full and independent inquiry into the role and operations of the NZ
Security Intelligence Service.
We urge you to reconsider this matter and immediately withdraw this
draconian, anti-democratic piece of legislation. New Zealand
citizens should be free to express their views without fear of state
surveillance, harassment and intimidation.
Yours sincerely, etc
Send to:
Prime Minister Jenny Shipley [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: 64 4 473 7045
Leader of the Opposition Helen Clark [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: (64) 4 472 9309
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