The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the
Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, October 30th, 2002.
Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia.
Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee:
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"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
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Resist anti-democratic ASIO laws
The Howard Government has used the Bali bombings as an excuse to
re-introduce legislation to increase the powers of the Australian
Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and last week attempted
unsuccessfully to use a "guillotine" motion to bulldoze the legislation
through the Senate.
Claiming that ASIO needs to have the ability to obtain a warrant or to
interrogate suspects - powers ASIO currently does not have - in "the
fight against terrorism", the proposed legislation would give ASIO
powers to forcibly detain not only anyone suspected of terrorist
activities, but also anyone who ASIO believes could supply them with
information.
However, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) already have that ability,
and the government's primary reason for transferring that role to ASIO -
turning ASIO into a secret police force - is to undermine civil rights.
Detainees could be held for up to 48 hours without access to legal
advice, and that detention order could be renewed. Anyone refusing to
answer the questions put by ASIO could be punished by up to five years'
jail.
The legislation would eliminate the presumption of innocence, the right
to silence, the right not to incriminate oneself, the right to seek bail.
Greens leader in the Senate, Bob Brown, described the legislation as
outrageous, and said that it made fundamental changes to Australians'
civil liberties and democratic rights, and warranted a full debate by
the parliament.
The Bill has now been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional
References Committee, for an inquiry whose terms of reference include:
* the development of an alternative regime in which questioning to
obtain intelligence relating to terrorism is conducted not by ASIO but
by the AFP, including appropriate arrangements for detention of
terrorist suspects, and questioning of persons not suspected of any offence;
* the relationship between ASIO and the AFP in the investigation of
terrorist activities or offences;
* the adequacy of Australia's current information intelligence gathering
methods to investigate potential terrorist activities or offences,
recent overseas legislation dealing with the investigation of terrorist
activities or offences;
* whether the Bill in its current or amended form is constitutionally sound;
and
* the implications for civil and political rights of the Bill and any
proposed alternatives.
The Committee has until December 3 to report on the results of its inquiry.
The Government previously attempted to pass legislation which would have
given it the power to proscribe organisations which it simply declared
to be terrorist. The Senate rejected this wide-ranging legislation. The
Government was finally forced to accept legislation based on
proscriptions adopted by the United Nations.
In the aftermath of the Bali bombings, the government moved to proscribe
the organisations al Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which Australian
agencies and other Western security agencies claim were linked to the
terrorist attacks on New York and Bali.
The government was horrified when it learnt that a legal technicality in
drafting the legislation meant that al Qaida could not be proscribed
until December, nor could JI be outlawed until early next year.
The government rushed through special legislation to allow it to deal
with these organisations immediately.
The Howard Government is still intent on using the terrorist threat to
gain draconian anti-democratic powers and to involve Australia in a
US-led war for oil against Iraq.
Commenting to The Guardian on the Government's legislation, Peter Symon,
CPA General Secretary, said that "the so-called 'war on terrorism' is
being used as the excuse to destroy long-standing democratic rights that
have been fought for and won by the people over many decades.
"It is part of the offensive being undertaken by conservative
governments in a number of countries which, overtime, will be used to
silence opposition to their war policies.
"The capitalist system is now in very serious economic and political
crisis and wants to silence all criticism of its policies.
"Those organisations that are resisting this attack on democratic rights
should be supported. A common front of all progressive organisations can
put a stop to both the war plans and maintain our democratic rights",
said Peter Symon.
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