It would seem that we have more than one type of prison in this country.
Some people have a long way to go when it comes to understanding what Human
Rights means.
Anthony Pitt
Project Officer
Training and Workplace Reform
Human Resource Division
Aboriginal Hostels Limited
-----Original Message-----
From: Trudy Bray [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, 24 January 2001 11:41
To: news-clip
Subject: The Age: Bill to seek more power for guards
THE AGE
Bill to seek more power for guards
By ANNABEL CRABB
Wednesday 24 January 2001
New legislation to give greater powers to guards in refugee
detention centres would be
blocked in the Senate, Labor and the Democrats said
yesterday.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock will introduce
long-promised legislation to "toughen
up" life for asylum-seekers in Australian detention centres
when parliament resumes.
But controversial elements, including wider use of
injections to sedate detainees and
more search powers for guards, will be opposed.
"What are you going to do, make (the detention centres) into
stalags?" said opposition
immigration spokesman Con Sciacca.
"Are you going to invoke the ghost of Dr Mengele (Nazi
concentration camp doctor Josef
Mengele) and go around injecting them with chemicals?
"If Mr Ruddock wants to do that, then he'll find it very
difficult to get support from
us."
The Democrats' immigration spokesman, Andrew Bartlett, said
his party would also oppose
expanding the powers of detention centre guards, who are
privately employed by
contractors Australasian Correctional Management.
He said there were already allegations about inappropriate
use of sedatives and force by
guards which needed urgent investigation.
"Why you would then seek to give guards more powers is
absolutely astonishing," Senator
Bartlett said.
Mr Ruddock's spokesman said the legislation was not planned
"to allow guards to walk
around with needles in their pockets", but would allow
medical staff "greater legal
certainty".
Wider search powers, he said, were necessary to enable
guards to find hidden weapons.
"We're finding the blades of disposable razors being
attached to toothbrush handles or
nails through pieces of wood - these are easy weapons to
hide," he said.
However, Labor is likely to support a legislative attempt by
Mr Ruddock to expel asylum
seekers who are convicted of "serious" offences after
detention centre riots such as
those at Woomera and Port Hedland facilities recently.
The international convention on refugees, to which Australia
is a signatory, outlaws the
repatriation of refugees who have a legitimate fear of death
or persecution in their
homeland.
There is an exception to the convention for war criminals
and human rights abusers. Mr
Ruddock's legislation will seek to define "serious crimes"
within that exception.
Margaret Piper of the Refugee Council of Australia said the
exemption was intended to
refer to war crimes and other serious offences.
"I wouldn't define being involved in a detention centre
scuffle as a serious crime," she
said.
Senator Bartlett said the Democrats would also oppose this
legislation, as it set an
"appalling human rights precedent".
But Mr Sciacca tended towards the government's view.
"If a person is convicted of a serious criminal act such as
destruction of property or of
violence, then they forfeit any right they may have to claim
asylum in this country," he
said.
This story was found at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/01/24/FFX5JCAGAIC.html
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