From: Gatt Watchdog <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thursday, 18 February 1999 15:25
GATT Watchdog PO Box 1905 Christchurch
MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE 18/02/99
State Security Surveillance of Maori Outrageous -
APEC Link -
GATT Watchdog GATT Watchdog organiser and SIS home invasion victim
Aziz Choudry says he is outraged but unsurprised at the apparent SIS
interest in people working for Maori sovereignty. This follows
revelations that both Ngati Pikiao lawyer Annette Sykes and the
office of the Maori Legal Service have been under surveillance by
persons as yet unidentified - but suspected to be the SIS. "State
surveillance and harassment will be stepped up in the lead-up to the
APEC Leaders Summit in September," he said.
"Regardless of reassurances to the contrary, the expanded powers
sought for the SIS will have a "chilling" effect on the rights of
tangata whenua and non-Maori to lawful advocacy, dissent and protest,
and to discuss important issues like decolonisation, globalisation,
and alternative economic and political models and systems. It seems
that those of us who promote such debates are seen to threaten "New
Zealand's economic well-being and international well-being" as set
out in the 1996 NZ Security Intelligence Service Amendment Act's
definition of "security".
Or maybe it's just plain subversive to debate alternatives, to
educate and inform the public and work for justice in Aotearoa. Or
both." GATT Watchdog today released a Canadian Security Intelligence
Service (CSIS) presentation: "The Terrorist Threat To APEC" showing
that CSIS, the SIS's counterpart in Canada, considered "native
issues" to be of great concern prior to APEC 1997. The document,
classified "secret", was released during an ongoing inquiry into
complaints of police brutality and political interference by the
Canadian Prime Minister's Office in the security clampdown around the
November 1997 APEC Leaders Summit.
An excerpt reads: "From a Canadian domestic extremism perspective,
the potential for violence associated with environmental and native
issues, along with groups opposed to APEC itself, pose a potential
threat of confrontations with security authorities. "[Deletion], long
standing native issues in British Columbia such as gaming, self-
government, land claims, fishing rights and resource control over
claimed lands, along with a collection of ad-hoc groups opposed to
APEC pose a potential security challenge." (Abstract - CSIS
Presentation To ICSI - 1997 10 29 - The Terrorist Threat To APEC")
"In reality, the violence and threats came from the Canadian security
forces themselves, who peppersprayed and arrested dozens of non-
violent protesters, as well as investigating and surveilling a wide
range of organisations, native and non-native," said Mr Choudry, who
participated in meetings opposed to APEC during the Vancouver Summit.
"But according to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police "After Action
Debriefing Report" on APEC 97, New Zealand security observers present
in Vancouver at the time were "literally awestruck" and "impressed"
by the security operations." "And National and Labour cheerleaders
for increasing SIS powers keep referring to Canada and its national
security procedures in an attempt to back up their arguments.
New Zealand governments have a longstanding love affair with Canadian
statute and procedure in relation to "national security" issues", he
said. "In 1989 CSIS conducted the so-called "Native Extremism
Investigation" which involved the surveillance and harassment of many
people involved in indigenous rights struggles across Canada." "This
operation was particularly controversial and embarrassing because of
its focus, its incompetence, the methods used, and the ridiculous
assumptions made that "foreign influences" were behind Indigenous
Peoples' struggles for justice." "Whether or not the SIS is behind
the surveillance of Annette Sykes and the Maori Legal Service, I am
sure that a similarly imaginatively-named SIS operation is being
conducted here on advocates of Maori sovereignty and decolonisation.
After all, especially now the Cold War's over, the SIS needs to
devise supposed threats to justify its budget and its very existence"
For further comment, contact Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog,
ph (03) 3662803
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