|
US Peace Activist to be deported
|
Civil Rights Network
|
Sep 12, 2005 20:28 PDT
|
media release… media release … media release … media release … media
US Peace activist detained as "threat to national security"
A Texas based peace activist was detained by Federal police at
approximately midday today in Melbourne. He was en route to give a
workshop about the progress and success of the peace movement in the US
and companies profiting from the Iraq war.
The detained man is a community college instructor who teaches history.
He has been detained by Federal Police at the request of DIMIA. He was
held by Federal Police at Carlton West police station before being moved
to Melbourne Custody Centre on Londsdale st. The reason given for his
detention is that he poses "a threat to national security." It is
understood his visa has been revoked at the Minister's discretion.
He was contacted by ASIO by phone on Wednesday and asked to attend a
voluntary interview to which he declined. He participated in a
nonviolent street theatre action outside US corporation Halliburton's
headquarters in Sydney during protests against the Forbes meeting on
August 31st.
Liz Thompson from the National Anti-Deportation Alliance (NADA) says
"This is a major attack on dissent, free speech and the anti-war
movement. The activist’s detention has prevented him sharing his
experiences of working for peace in the US with other local activists.
This appears to be an attempt not just to intimidate this one activist,
but to intimidate all those working for social justice and progressive
social change. "
Ms Thompson says, "These actions seem to contradict Philip Ruddock's
denial that Australia is turning into a police state. The Federal
Government already has extraordinary powers to silence dissent. This
should be a warning to everyone about the greater powers that ASIO may
soon be granted."
On Thursday John Howard announced control orders and preventative
detention measures giving the AFP and ASIO powers to control people who
have not been convicted of any crime.
The detained activist has been not charged with any offence.
It is understood he will be forcibly deported on Monday. There will be
an action in Melbourne on Monday and Tuesday to protest the activist’s
detention.
For questions or comment, contact Liz Thompson from the National
Anti-Deportation Alliance (NADA) on 0421 979 694 or Rory Gutterson on
0409 561 837
<http://theage.com.au/news/opinion/pacifist-tourists-the-big-new-threat/2005/09/12/1126377253303.html>
Pacifist tourists, the big new threat
By Brian Walters
September 13, 2005
Moves to deport a US anti-war activist are a serious abuse of power.
Last weekend our nation crossed a line. On Saturday, a visiting tourist
was arrested in Melbourne by the Australian Federal Police, on
instructions from the Department of Immigration and ASIO.
His visa has been cancelled and he is to be deported on security
grounds.
Who is this threat to our security?
He is not a person with any history of violence. He is not a person who
has been known to associate with terrorists. He has not advocated
violence against anyone.
Scott Parkin is a peace activist from the United States.
While in Australia on a holiday he has participated in workshops against
the Iraq war. He performed some anti-war street theatre outside the
Halliburton office when he was in Sydney. Here in Melbourne, he was on
his way to conduct a publicly advertised workshop on the Iraq war when
he was picked up by our nation's finest.
So subversive were his activities in promoting non-violent action
against the Iraq war that he was taken straight to jail (where he is
being held at his own expense) and from where he will be taken out of
the country.
The only reason given by the authorities is that he represents a
security risk. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock confirmed this after
Parkin was arrested. There are no breaches of any conditions of his
visa. The authorities will not specify the nature of the security
threat, and it is possible they know something that definitely justifies
action of this nature. But they won't say. The only thing anyone
(including Parkin) knows that could constitute that threat is that he
has actively - and non-violently - campaigned against the invasion of
Iraq.
There is one other thing. In the United States he was charged with a
misdemeanour (a minor charge) as a result of participation in a
non-violent Greenpeace protest action. If that amounts to a security
threat, the Australian authorities should have been well-apprised of it
before he entered the country.
It appears that Parkin is being held in jail and deported for being a
peace activist. The Government has done nothing to dispel this view. One
might expect this sort of thing of Saddam Hussein's regime, but not of a
country with democratic principles like our own.
It is our tolerance of a wide range of views that gives our nation so
much of its strength. Our ability to hear and open our minds to even
radical views makes us stronger - not weaker.
But Parkin's views could scarcely be described as radical. A sizeable
proportion of Australia's population - and a sizeable proportion of the
US population, for that matter - share his opposition to the Iraq war.
Under the present expansive and ill-defined terms "terrorist" and
"security threat", ordinary Australians organising or participating in
rallies, protests or public meetings could potentially be investigated
by ASIO. Can it be that the expression of anti-war views threatens our
security so much that such views must be silenced?
The terror laws passed by the Federal Government permit exactly this
kind of action by the authorities. They give wide power to ASIO and the
AFP to target individuals who engage in industrial and protest action
directed towards social change.
It now appears - and the Government has not done anything to dispel this
view - that the powers are being exercised against Parkin because he has
expressed political views at odds with those of the government of the
day. We should not merely be alert about that - we should be alarmed.
Where powers are conferred, there is always the prospect that such
powers will be abused. One way to circumscribe the prospect of such
abuse is to adopt a charter that guarantees internationally recognised
human rights, including freedom of speech. Every other Western nation
has done so.
The political process is a non-violent way to resolve conflicting values
and interests. By valuing free speech and political participation,
civilised societies avoid resort to violent means to resolve conflict.
Erosion of our ability to participate in political life exposes us to
the risk of violence.
When we violate human rights - such as the right to free speech - we
compromise our integrity as a nation, and the very basis of the
democracy upon which our national security is founded.
And now our terror laws, and ASIO (which has morphed into a kind of
secret police) are being used against those who oppose the policies of
the government of the day.
Liberal democracy is built on human rights, including the freedom to
vigorously exchange ideas.
Unless Parkin's treatment is a grotesque error, we have stepped over the
line separating liberal democracy from more sinister forms of
government.
Brian Walters, SC, is president of Liberty Victoria.
|
|
 |
|
