The following is from the Victorian Greens refugee spokesperson,
Pamela Curr. It makes chilling reading. The question is whether
Australia is becoming another redneck USA, or brownshirt Germany (if,
indeed, there's any difference)?
Apols for x-posting. Please circulate widely....
Chris Chaplin
Preston, Vic
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: Greens-Activist URGENT: Melbourne Refugee Rally, Sat
11th, 1pm State Library
Guantanamo Bay Rules used in Australian Detention Centres
As if life in Australia's detention camps was not miserable enough,
DIMIA (Depaqrtment of Immigration, Mulitcultural and Indigenous
affairs) have used the extensive powers available to them under the
Migration act to introduce the same rules of incarceration being
employed by the United States on the Afghani Nationals transported to
Guantanamo Bay. Its all the way with the USA today in OZ. Not only do
we have a Global/USA Security company running the camps for the
Australian Government-we now have the same rules used on
refugees/asylum seekers as are used on suspected Al Qaida members.
Already measures in detention camps such as water cannon, tear gas,
electric batons and electric fences are far beyond that employed in
our highest security prisons and these are used on women and children
!!!
Last Thursday 10 men were extracted from Port Hedland Detention Centre
and placed in the holding cells at South Hedland Police Station. The
temperature at at Sth Hedland yesterday at 9.30 am was 38 degreesC-by
noon it will be close to 50 degrees in these un-airconditioned cells
which are supposed to be used for short-term detention. A lawyer
advised that there have been complaints made to judges resulting
inspections and condemnation of conditions. Mostly persons on charges
on vagrancy and drunkenness are held there for a few hours. There is
no internal toilet so drunks relieve themselves in the cells. The
stench of vomit and piss is overpowering.
Di Millar (DIMIA Business Manager-title means responsible for Port
Hedland IDC) reports that the men have no right to legal support
"because they are not being charged-just held in Immigration Detention
in an alternative place of detention". You see under the Migration Act
they can be held in a hole in the ground if DIMIA decide to designate
that as "an alternative place of detention". In NSW ?12c /?15 men are
being held in Silverwater and another maximum security prison-also an
alternative place of detention. These men have not been charged or
gone before a court-under the migration act they can go direct to
jail-no crime required. Last year a young African man was brutally
gang raped in a NSW prison prior to be deported back to Africa.
A lawyer has been turned away on two occasions denied access to assist
these men even though he has authorisation from the wife of one man
and from the legal representatives in Melbourne. No phone calls from
friends or family or lawyers are permitted. A nun has been refused
access. This is the incommunicado detention condemned under
international human Rights convention but practised in Guan tanamo Bay
and now Port Hedland Woomera Baxter and Villawood.
The Anti -Terrorism Bill which the Coalition failed to get passed just
before Christmas would have allowed this imprisonment for all
Australians. Fortunately enough politicians baulked at relinquishing
our civil liberties to stop this draconian legislation from getting
through. However once again we see that a two tier system of rights
exists in Australia today - laws and rights for Aussies but none for
refugees and asylum seekers.
Meanwhile collective punishment is being visited on every man woman
and child in the detention camps. Those who had nothing to do with the
fires are being punished even though ACM and DIMIA know that they are
totally innocent . Just one more breach of the international code on
human rights. This collective punishment has seen a lock-down on the
camps.(Remember Darryl Williams statement on front page of Australian
"there will be no lockdown-detention centres are not prisons blah blah
blah."
Meanwhile reality is No phone calls in or out; strip-searching by
angry and embittered ACM guards is being carried on the vulnerable
residents in the camps including women and children. We have seen in
the past that when there are no ways to communicate that ACM guards
have brutalised and beaten people unmercifully. Guards assault
children even with witnesses and get away with it (Remember Kingi
Kaaki Wicki tucked up in NZ despite outstanding warrants in
Australia's courts for beating a child at Woomera in front of a
doctor) so what happens when no one is watching?
The people in Woomera were told by Management that "the party is over
for them " - what party you may ask but more importantly this is a
threat to impose even more harsh and abusive conditions. DIMIA want
them all to sign to go back so they are now going to uinstitute
aregime in competition with what our friends have fled from. It was
always going to be like this and now it has come and the joblot of
Australians whose immunity has been built up by a steady onslaught of
propaganda from Howard / Ruddock to any feelings of compassion or
recognition of common humanity don't care.
Where are the watchers? All away on holiday -uncontactable. What can
you do? Ring email fax demand that Incommunicado detention cease- that
people either be charged and given their day in court or released.
Demand your right to speak to your friends in the camps.
The media are only interested in fires and deaths. They only want to
report people harming them selves or shock horror harming property. So
far most of their reports are coming direct from DIMIA media releases
eg weapons cache found -scissors "a"screw drivers& mobile phones!!!!
Plague ring media talkback/ radio/ write letters. We have to demand
that they report the human rights abuses of this Government. Let's go
overseas -use every contact you have to get the information on this
governments activities bouncing back from overseas and shame the
bastards. Write to Papers in London New York and most importantly ASIA
Then dear friends if you feel as broken hearted, saddened and angry as
I do hug your children or pat your dog or whatever assists you to
comfort your spirit and strengthen your resolve in the face of
overwhelming odds to fight on. These are the ugliest and darkest of
days but then if we look back and think of those who fought against
slavery another monumental abuse of human beings-we can see that we
are not the first nor last to face such odds. Those Australians who
stood together crying out against the removal of little children from
their Indigenous Parents must have been few and lonely but they won in
the end. We must stand beside our friends in the camps and fight with
everthing we have. They need us now more than ever and we need them to
remind us our capacity to be decent heroic human beings.
Pamela Curr
..
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