Sunday, May 29, 2005

DON'T BLAME INDONESIA

The trial and conviction of Schapelle Corby was one of 7,410 drug-trafficking cases in Indonesia last year alone. Like many countries worldwide, Indonesia is battling a flourishing international drugs trade.

The media placed Corby in the spotlight, capturing the imagination of an Australian caught up in the lucrative international drug trade. This in part, is because she is white, young and pretty.

Corby was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She could easily have been sentenced to death, but in this rare case the prosecution decided not to seek the death penalty.

That hasn't stopped the many commentators and her supporters from simply attacking the Indonesian legal system and judiciary as being barbaric, inadequate and inherently corrupt.

Currently, there are three Australian citizens facing execution in Singapore and Vietnam, after being convicted and sentenced to death for alleged drug-trafficking.

Sadly, there have been no commentators supporting these three doomed Australians, nor have there been any comments attacking these nations for their barbaric use of the death penalty for convicted drug-traffickers. There is a bizarre double standard here with both the media and dearly beloved political leaders.

The justice system that convicted and sentenced Corby is the same system that convicted and sentenced three of the Bali bombers to death. At the time, Australians hailed that same justice system for delivering the ultimate punishment - the death penalty. The media and political leaders voiced their delight and said they would not oppose the death sentence. Prime Minister John Howard went further, adding his "respect" for the court's decision. This was clearly noticed internationally - and what goes around eventually comes around.

If there is any evidence that the death penalty brutalises society, this is one example. It seems that while most Australians, including the media and political leaders, were thrilled with the imposition of the death penalty against Indonesian citizens, the same justice system is now considered incapable/corrupt/barbaric of trying an Australian citizen where no death sentence was sought. Suddenly, we no longer have the same respect for the court's decision.

While most Australians sympathise with Schapelle Corby and her family, let's remind ourselves that she is just one of some 200 Australian citizens serving long sentences or awaiting trial in foreign prisons for alleged drug-trafficking. Many are facing the death penalty if convicted. Where is the compassion and the sympathy for them? Corby, who has captured the hearts and minds of all Australians, is far better off than the current three Australians facing execution in Singapore and Vietnam.

Surely, human decency demands that our greatest efforts should be reserved for all human beings who are at risk of execution --- whether they be young or old, black or white, pretty or ugly, Australian or non-Australian, guilty or innocent. When society takes pleasure in the legalised killing of a human being, we all demean ourselves and our world is further brutalised.

By ACADP posted 29 May 05

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AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
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Resource on Capital Punishment


PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVERSEAS? BEFORE YOU GO, READ THIS!


Currently, 214 Australian citizens are languishing in prisons around the world. The majority of these having been convicted of drug-related crimes.

People: 'Prisoners' of Drugs'

People who are addicted to heroin usually take the drug because it relieves them of problems such as low self-esteem, distrust and fear of abandonment. They may have poor communication skills & poor relationship skills.

Ed: I'll agree with the article in relation to the death penalty.

I feel sorry for Schapelle Corby to some extent but all those innocent who can prove it, even here in Australia, that are denied that right, even when there is proof, deserve as much attention.

The innocent deserve lots of attention especially if they can prove their case.

Many innocent people never get the media to give them that much attention. The only upshot is perhaps for one person saved - there are many others that can be saved - because we've witnessed it.

Should it be one persons luck, looks, links who knows but in life you have your own luck. That's what I do know. Me being a fatalist and all. One person lucky enough to be saved is better than none. Proving the fact that innocent people can be saved.

"The media placed Corby in the spotlight, capturing the imagination of an Australian caught up in the lucrative international drug trade. This in part, is because she is white, young and pretty."

Then again I agree with Flakk

"I cringe every time I hear Cannabis referred to as a 'Narcotic' because it is no such thing, but they sentence people caught in possession of this drug same way they sentences those found in possession of a boat load of heroine. "

Good on you Flakk you're on the ball....It's a Herb!

That's one reason why she never got the death penalty!


Related:

Corby lawyer pleads for Australian help
Schapelle Corby, 27, is accused of carrying over four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and could be sentenced to death if she is found guilty.

THE DRUG-RIDDEN STREETS OF BALI:
Chris Allen, took to the streets of Bali and found it possible to buy a smorgasbord of illegal narcotics from dealers.

Death Penalty Links:

THE LIFE OF WHALES OVER-RIDES HUMAN LIFE:
Mr Howard has warned Japan that it faces global condemnation if it kills whales. Mr Howard is often quoted as saying he cannot and he would not interfere in the business and laws of sovereign states. Whaling is a part of the Japanese culture. The death penalty is also a part of many countries culture.

THE DEATH PENALTY - WORLDWIDE
During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries. At least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These figures are only reported cases - the true figures were certainly much higher - many countries continue to execute people in secret.

WHY IS THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT PLAYING 'DEATH' WITH AUSTRALIANS: There has been much controversy recently on whether the Australian Federal Police should have tipped-off the Indonesians over the arrest of the Bali Nine. Due to the fact that Indonesia executes convicted drug-traffickers, ACADP believes that any evidence collected by AFP should have been withheld from Indonesian authorities until they have a written guarantee not to pursue the death penalty for the Bali Nine.

Death penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia
A coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia.

THE HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUT EXECUTIONS:
For death row inmates in Indonesia, execution usually comes on a deserted beach or remote jungle at the hands of a paramilitary firing squad. And, it rarely comes fast.

DESTROY CHEMICALS OF MASS DESTRUCTION:
The Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP) is (again) calling on U.S. President George W. Bush, to join the civilised world and destroy all chemicals of mass destruction, for the dignity and respect of every human life.

LIFE ON A THREAD:
The difference between life and death can rest on the whim of a president or the ability of a lawyer. Whether or not the death penalty can be justified is very much up for grabs.

THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK:
US: The American media reports that thousands of Iranians cheered, whistled and clapped as a serial killer was publicly executed in Iran last week.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
The United States of America has withdrawn from an international agreement that gives detained foreign nationals the right to seek assistance and talk to their consular officers.

Corby lawyer pleads for Australian help
Schapelle Corby, 27, is accused of carrying over four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and could be sentenced to death if she is found guilty.

OHIO: Appeals court tosses death sentence for U.S.-British citizen
In Cincinnati, a federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the conviction and death sentence of a man with dual U.S.-British citizenship who was convicted of killing a 2-year-old girl by starting a fire in his ex-girlfriend's apartment.

THE INNOCENT SCOT ON DEATH ROW IS ALMOST FREE
If you haven't heard about it yet, you will. There's a celebration in the air: Kenny is an innocent man living on death row in an Ohio prison and the authorities may finally acknowledge what we've known all along.

EXPENSES FOR STATE-ASSISTED SUICIDE EXCEEDS $33,000.00
To prepare for Connecticut's first state-sanctioned killing in 45 years, the state Department of Corrections has spent more than US$33,000 on such items as training personnel, drugs (poison), intravenous catheters and tubing, portable restrooms, mobile offices, lighting and curtains for the witness observation room.

Child Offenders on Death Row
Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

SAVE THE LIFE OF NGUYEN TUONG VAN:A PLEA TO SINGAPORE PRESIDENT On behalf of the Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP) and in the spirit of respect for human life, I make a heartfelt plea for clemency, compassion and mercy, to spare and save the young life of Nguyen Tuong Van, currently under sentence of death at Changi Prison in Singapore. Nguyen Tuong Van, is a 23-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin. Nguyen was arrested at Changi Airport in December 2002, whilst in transit from Cambodia to Australia. He was later charged and convicted of drug-trafficking. In March 2004 he was sentenced to death for his crime.

EXTRADITION ACT FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET
A long-standing convention not to extradite people out of Australia if they face the death penalty has been abandoned.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

US: Execution Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution. You may remember San from being at CURE's First International Conference in New York City in 2001. San also plans to be at the 8th National Convention this June in Washington. Charlie

Please contact the Governor The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light The observation "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay In Columbus, 5 federal appeals court judges say a convicted killer's request to delay his execution was illegally denied because 2 senior judges participated in the vote.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law GEORGE Ryan gets my vote as Australian of the Year, even though he's the outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois. There's just no one I admire more right now, not even Greg's Kables Community News Newtwork..

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

A Question of Innocence Rubin Carter: Day after day, week after week, I would sit in that filthy cell, seething. I was furious at everyone. At the two state witnesses who lied, at the police who put them up to it, at the prosecutor who sanctioned it, at the judge who allowed it, at the jury who accepted it, and at my own lawyer, for not being able to defeat it.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY " ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Bush rules out death sentence review US President George W Bush says has dismissed any chance of a review of America's system of capital punishment.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

USA - A NATION IN TURMOIL: As the year 2002 draws to a close, little if anything, has changed in the United States in regards to state-sanctioned killing. Various campaigns, calls for clemency, petitions, and international condemnation, have failed to humanize U.S. politicians.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

BOLIVIA: A week of upheaval

On Monday May 23, around 10,000 coca growers, marched into El Alto, the capital of Bolivia, ending a 200-kilometre, four-day march led by the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), and its leader Evo Morales. Far from ending the protests, however, the cocaleros' arrival kicked off more.

The marchers were demanding an increase in the royalties paid by transnational companies to the government for natural gas exploitation. This issue -- who should benefit from Bolivia's gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America -- brought down one government, and is rapidly becoming a struggle over who controls the country. It has crystallised the divide between the vast, poor majority who want Bolivian resources to benefit them, and the US-led imperial empire that has the support of the country's business elite.

After months of debate, a public referendum and threats from both mass organisations and big business, President Carlos Mesa allowed a new hydocarbon bill to be signed into effect on May 17. The bill imposed a tax of 32% on top of 18% royalties. However, this falls short of the proposal of 50% royalties put forward by MAS, and way short of the most popular option: nationalisation of the industry.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the gas transnationals, the Bolivian oligarchy and their most vocal supporters, the civic committee of Santa Cruz, have denounced the bill as too radical. The civic committee of Santa Cruz has announced its intentions to hold a referendum, with or without government support, on greater autonomy for the department (state), believing that this would enable it to control the gas reserves, which are located in the region around the wealthy, mostly white, city. The indigenous people on whose land the gas is located, however, are opposed to this.

Bolivia has a history of mass struggle and several well-defined mass groups. MAS, which grew out of the cocalero movement in the Chapare region, has a significant parliamentary presence. Morales missed out on election as president last time by 1.5%.

However, more radical are the demands of the altenos, members of the groups based on El Alto, the city that grew out of a shanty-town suburb of La Paz, and has a history of militant struggle against privatisation. The main groups in El Alto, FEJUVE (which unites around 600 neighbourhood committees), COR de El Alto (the Regional Workers Central of El Alto) and El Alto's federation of trade unions, have been calling for nationalisation of the gas supply, and Mesa's resignation, a demand supported by the Bolivian Workers Central (COB).

Green Left Weekly has abridged these reports of the week of struggle that started with the cocaleros arrival from journalists based in La Paz.

By Alison Dellit & Federico Fuentes posted 29 May 05

Green Left Weekly

WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY

Amnesty International: Hicks & Habib

The Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group & the Justice for Hicks & Habib Campaign welcome the statement by Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, condemning the US Administration for condoning torture and the suppression of 'human rights' in their 'war on terror'.

Raul Bassi, spokesperson for the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group, said: " The Australian Government's position to support the war on terror' [resource wars in the Middle East] has meant the targeting of Australians here and abroad." [scapegoats, propaganda, fear-mongering, false-flag operations and patsies.]

As the Australian media focuses on Douglas Wood, the Australian currently held hostage in Iraq, concerned about unfair deprivation of liberty, the plight of three other Australians, David Hicks, Ahmed Aziz Rafiq and Mamdouh Habib, has been largely forgotten.

David Hicks a hostage for more than three years at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Together with more than 500 other inmates, Hicks has had minimal legal representation and his case has not been brought before an impartial court of law.

Ahmed Aziz Rafiq has been imprisoned without charge for over a year by US forces who have refused to detail if or when he will be released.

Mamdouh Habib, released from Guantanamo Bay in January 2005 after being held captive for over three years by the US Administration, continues to be held hostage, this time by the Australian Government.

Mr Bassi added: "Mamdouh's life has been turned into a nightmare. He is under constant surveillance with his home and car bugged and broken into on a number of occasions. Mamdouh has been physically threatened and his family denied all access to social security. Mamdouh's passport has also been withheld for no reason.

"We all know that Mamdouh has not been charged of any crime under Australian, US or international law, so this infringement on his civil and human rights should not be tolerated," Mr Bassi emphasised.

In the case of David Hicks and Ahmed Aziz Rafiq, these two men's lives are still in limbo, with the Australian Government doing nothing to secure their release and repatriation.

The Canterbury Bankstown Peace Group and the Justice for Hicks & Habib Campaign demand an end to the war on human rights, the immediate release of David Hicks and Ahmed Aziz Rafiq, and end to the harassment of Mamdouh Habib and his family.

By Marlene Obeid posted 29 May 05

For more information contact: Raul Bassi on 0403 037 376 or Marlene Obeid on 0401 758 871

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Or Standard guidelines for corrections in Australia.

Related:

UN Dialogue among Civilizations
This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Torture not acceptable on anyone: Community!
Australia: A former chairman of the National Crime Authority has spoken out in favour of torture for John HoWARd and the Neo-Cons no doubt, saying it should be used against terrorists and in domestic criminal situations but not against QC's?

Torture can never be justified
I am forwarding the following statement issued by AMCRAN in regards to a paper: "Not Enough (Official) Torture in the World? The Circumstances in which Torture is Morally Justifiable" written by Professor Mirko Bagaric, Head of Deakin Law School & Julie Clarke, Lecturer, Deakin Law School, in which they justify torture.

Torture okay: propaganda paper
Mean in Black John HoWARd and Pastor Peter Costello with Professor Mirko Bagaric, and fellow Deakin lecturer Julie Clarke, torture okay for them. Question?

Association for the Prevention of Torture
What needs to be done now? All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

CIA defends terror suspect transfers?
Suspected terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killings's resource wars in the Middle East] in US custody have been transferred to third countries for the past 20 years, CIA director Porter Goss told the US Senate armed services committee.

Pentagon chiefs cleared over prisoner abuse?
US: The Pentagon has cleared itself of any high-level responsibility for the abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay because it was the guard dogs that initiated the torture all along.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
It seems the United States of America (The World Watchdog) is dictating and practising double-standards --- a unique law for America and another set of laws for all other countries.

Guantanamo challenge puts off Hicks trial
Australian [scapegoat] suspect David Hicks's 'military trial'?, has been further delayed due to the postponement of a separate legal challenge to the US's legal process for Guantanamo Bay detainees?

Guantanamo guards blinded prisoner: lawyer
UK/CUBA: British permanent resident detained at the US camp for terrorism suspects [scapegoats] in Guantanamo Bay was blinded in one eye following an assault by guards, his lawyer says.

Amnesty slams Govt position on US trial system
Amnesty International has described as "absurd", the Federal Government's continued support for the United States military commission that will try Australian detainee [scapegoat] David Hicks on terrorism allegations.

US judge orders CIA release Guantanamo records
A US federal judge has ordered the CIA to release records regarding the treatment of prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay and other facilities in the "war on terror" to a civil rights groups.

Hicks lawyer welcomes Guantanamo ruling
Stephen Kenny, the lawyer representing the family of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, has welcomed a US court ruling that military commissions set up to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay are unconstitutional.

Australia: a presumption of guilt......
KAREN PERCY: Two of Australia's leading barristers have seized on the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mamdouh Habib, to launch an unprecedented attack on the Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock.

Aust Community criticises Govt for 'crimes'!
Australia: The Law Council of Australia is warning that the Federal Government must learn from its mistakes over Guantanamo Bay? Now that's a mistake!

Australian Govt Guilty of Crimes: Community
Australia: The community says federal fascists who allowed the torture of its citizenry including Mamdouh Habib may be arrested when the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal address the War Crimes Indictment set out by the community.

US judge dismisses? Guantanamo legal challenge
A US federal judge has dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought to challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention?

US 'landlord' slams! Guantanamo 'law violations'
Cuba has demanded that the United States cease its "criminal conduct" in abusing prisoners held at the base it illegally occupies on Cuba's south-eastern tip, saying procedures at Guantanamo violate international law.

Concern over ramifications of Hicks FOI failure
There are claims that a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal will give some countries the opportunity to refuse diplomatic aid to detained Australians.

FBI emails reveal Guantanamo abuse
In memos over a two year period FBI agents said they witnessed the use of torture techniques, which included the use of dogs, prisoners being shackled to the floor in foetal positions for up to 24 hours, left without food and water, left to defecate upon themselves.

Hicks alleges Guantanamo abuse: report
Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks has reportedly claimed that prisoners at the US run prison camp have been beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed, terrorised by attack dogs, and forced to take drugs.

US lawyer wants inquiry into Hicks trial process
The lawyer defending Australian terror suspect [scapegoat for resource wars] David Hicks has called for an inquiry into whether the military commission hearing the case meets legal standards.

Australia Sells Its Citizens Short
Australian citizens, Mamdouth Habib and David Hicks have been illegally incarcerated in the Guantanamo Bay facility established by the US military as part of the War on Terror.

Downer won't press US for 'torture' report?
The Australian Government says it has tried and failed so far to get a copy of a report by the International Red Cross which claims psychological and physical coercion of detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba?

UK minister criticises US over Guantanamo!
UK: Washington's policy on the legal status of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba is unacceptable, a senior British minister said.

FBI emails reveal Guantanamo abuse
In memos over a two year period FBI agents said they witnessed the use of torture techniques, which included the use of dogs, prisoners being shackled to the floor in foetal positions for up to 24 hours, left without food and water, left to defecate upon themselves.

Lawyers hail 'unlawful' ruling in Guantanamo trial
Human rights groups and lawyers for Guantanamo detainees have welcomed a US federal judge's ruling which halted as unlawful the military tribunal trial of a Guantanamo prisoner accused of being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver.

Hicks's lawyers seek panel decision
Lawyers for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks will make another attempt to dismiss charges against their client in a series of motions hearings starting in Cuba today.

Torture, the British way
Great to be British, isn't it? Time was, we were really uptight, but now we can talk about anything - sex, religion, politics. No matter how personal and complex the subject, we'll discuss it with Richard and Judy, or slap our private Polaroids of it on our websites. Which leaves me puzzled about our silence, even shyness, over this whole torture thing.

US secretly moved prisoners out of Iraq for questioning: report
The CIA has secretly transferred detainees out of Iraq for interrogation after asking the US Justice Department to write a memo justifying the practice, which violates the Geneva Conventions.

Pentagon dumps Guantanamo tribunal officers
The Pentagon has dumped three members of a military tribunal that will hear the trials of Guantanamo prisoners, including Australian David Hicks, but kept the presiding officer despite challenges to his impartiality.

Guantanamo detainees win right for private meetings
In a defeat for the US Government, a federal judge has ruled that three prisoners held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba can meet with their attorneys in private. In a defeat.

Lawyers complain about Guantanamo trials
US: Lawyers for 63 detainees at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have complained before a US federal court at the slow pace their cases are being handled by authorities.

Judge orders US to release Guantanamo records
The United States Government must release documents within 30 days relating to the treatment of prisoners held at American overseas detention centres, including Guantanamo Bay and Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, a US federal judge ordered.

Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation.

Hicks, Habib denied a fair go: Amnesty
The secretary-general of Amnesty International has criticised the Federal Government's treatment of the two Australians detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Govt's Hicks concerns an 'election stunt', says Brown
Greens Senator Bob Brown has accused the Federal Government of an election stunt with its questions to the United States authorities about the trial of "Australian Citizen" David Hicks.

Abu Ghraib inquiry slams Aust Government
A US inquiry into the Iraqi prison abuse scandal has been highly critical of Australian, Major George O'Kane, for glossing over early warnings about the treatment of detainees.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

Hicks family arrives at Kangaroo Caught
Terry Hicks says he feels very emotional about seeing his son for the first time in five years.

Hicks defence team likely to gain more time
The head of the military trials planned for two Australians held at Guantanamo Bay says he believes their defence teams will be given whatever additional time they need to prepare for trial.

Hicks, Habib denied natural justice: Liberal MP
A federal Liberal MP has accused the Government of not doing enough to secure a fair trial for Guantanamo Bay detainees, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib.

Guantanamo abuse claims prompt new inquiry calls
New claims of abuse at Guantanamo Bay Cuba have prompted fresh calls for an Australian inquiry into the treatment of detainees David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib.

Hicks movie to premiere in Adelaide
A movie about Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, President versus David Hicks, by award winning filmmaker Curtis Levy will be screened in Adelaide tomorrow.

There is no justification for torture
In the weeks since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were revealed, evidence continues to seep out of similar mistreatment of prisoners in other US military detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Guantanamo prisoners may be moved to US soil
The US authorities may move hundreds of prisoners from their controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba to the United States following new Supreme Court rulings, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Pentagon names tribunal for Hicks trial
The Pentagon has named the officers who will decide the fate of David Hicks and two other Guantanamo prisoners charged by the United States in the first US military tribunals since World War II.

US terror suspects can challenge detention
The US Supreme Court has ruled that US courts have jurisdiction to hear appeals from foreign detainees held as enemy combatants in the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hicks lawyer praises Guantanamo decision
The lawyer for an Australian man detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has welcomed a US Supreme Court ruling permitting judicial appeals from foreign detainees held as enemy combatants.

Hicks and Habib in the Melting Pot
Australia: The United States has brought three criminal charges against Australian David Hicks, accusing him of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding the enemy, the Pentagon has said.

Rumsfeld had approved abuse
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorised hoods, the stripping of prisoners and the use of dogs to terrify inmates at Guantanamo Bay almost two years ago, documents released yesterday revealed.

How much is that doggy in the prison? Woof woof!
Did the Iraqi prisoner's get their rations while they were treated like chums?

Failure to condemn prison abuse risks lives: Kenny
The Prime Minister is morally bankrupt stay "alert and alarmed"

Prisoner's identity concealed to prevent Red Cross access
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, acting at the request of the CIA, ordered that a suspected Iraqi insurgent leader be detained off the books to conceal his identity from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Pentagon has confirmed.

US has secret prisons: rights group
The United States is holding terrorism suspects in more than two dozen detention centres worldwide, about half of which operate in total secrecy, according to a new human rights report.

This won't hurt much
For some time now, I've been trying to find out where my son goes after choir practice. He simply refuses to tell me. He says it's no business of mine where he goes after choir practice and it's a free country.

UN Dialogue among Civilizations

This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Final invite program UN Dialogue

Final Program and invitation to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations (UNDAC) Roundtable Dialogue 2005

Co-operating to Create a Global Culture of Peace and Non-Violence and to Move On from a Culture of Fear

Leura, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, June 4th to 5th 2005

9.00 Main speakers -
Stepan Kerkyasharian: Chairperson, Community Relations Commission
- Creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear
Wendy Sargent - Director of the UN Dialogue among Civilizations Forums Australia:
- Dialogue and DAC and how dialogue works
9.45 Dialogue One - Global Culture of Peace and Non-Violence and moving on from a culture of fear - identifying common interests and concerns

Saturday morning Discussion Stream One 11.45 - 1.00 in the tea room

The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear
Moderator: Robyn Horton

Speakers
Dr Marie Clugston: NSW convenor of Amnesty International Religious Network
Sally Segal: Head of the Interfaith Activities in Sydney: Brahma Kumaris Australia
Ian Fry: Pax Christi: Honorary Secretary Jewish-Christian-Muslim Conference of Australia
How to move on from a global culture of fear

Saturday morning Discussion Stream Two 11.45 - 1.00 in the main hall

Moving on from a culture of fear and starting to dialogue between civilizations
Moderator: Ruth Thompson

Speakers
NSW Council for Civil Liberties Representative
Natalie Doyle: Lecturer: Arts, Monash University: Civilizational Dialogue
John Mandalios: Lecturer: Griffith University

Saturday afternoon program 2.30 - 6.30

2.30 Interview with Dr Stella Cornelius OBE, Director Conflict Resolution Network by Ruth Thompson: Creating a Culture of Peace

3.00 Open Space - Moving on from a Culture of Fear - Identifying Issues - break off into issue groups
Feedback from issue groups: What are the issues?
3.30 - 4.30: Dialogue Two: Core Question: With all these common values and concerns :

Why isn't a global culture of peace happening? What are the obstacles to moving on from a culture of fear?

Saturday afternoon Discussion Stream One 5.00 - 6.30 in the tea room
Building a culture of peace in the community
Moderator: Sally Segal

Speakers
Susan Biggs: Former Deputy Chair NSW Premier's Council for Women
Women's role in encouraging dialogue in the community
Tim B. Cox : Involvement Volunteers Association Inc
Doreen Wainer: Director of Oplus - Strategy and Innovation consultant. And completing PhD in Social Ethics at UTS

Saturday afternoon Discussion Stream Two 5.00 - 6.30 in the main hall Human rights and creating a global culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear
Moderator: Ruth Thompson

Speakers
Noel Winterburn: Director of Conversations for Futures
Melissa Conley Tyler: Senior Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne
Greens speaker c/- Lee Rhianon MLC: globalisation based on "sharing" resources

Sunday

9.00 Main speakers: Global issues of culture of peace and culture of fear

Dr Richard Braddock: Director of APRIM Macquarie University
Dorothy Buckland Fuller: WILPF NSW
Different types of globalisation based on "sharing" resources.

10.20 - 11.30 Dialogue Three: Issue groups: Looking at solutions and strategies for the future

An Invitation

Knowing that in your activities you have peace building and community development as major concerns, it is our pleasure to invite you as a participant in the Fourth Dialogue among Civilizations Roundtable Dialogue.

The aim of this dialogue in 2005 will be examine contributions to furthering the development of a global culture of peace and non-violence and clarifying the methods that could prevent the further development of a culture of fear..

The inspiration is to create a firm foundation for the development of inter-communal and international co-operation.

This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war.

The roundtable will explore the meanings and outcomes of diverse civilizational understandings with the aim to create a better foundation for co-operation and relationship on an international and national level. Also explored is the presently evolving new global civilization founded on fundamental principles of the celebration of cultural diversity, tolerance of dissent, and universal human rights.

The roundtable dialogue will look at the following themes:

* The meaning of a culture of peace and non-violence: Diverse understandings and practices in different civilizations.
* How to move on from a global culture of fear.
* Future commitments: making the culture of peace and non-violence an international and intercommunal priority.

Those invited to the UN roundtable 2005 are representatives of religious, cultural and political institutions and communities, academics, politicians, and national and international agencies located in Australia and abroad.

Dialogue participants will come with some expertise or influence in a relevant area or come with special concerns about these issues.

The program is a participative event consisting of a few keynote speakers with the majority of the process run as a dialogue. For exact details of location, transport and accommodation and bookings please visit our web site or contact us and we will fax or email further details.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Regards Wendy Sargent
(co-ordinator of UNDAC Roundtable Dialogue)

Other information

The Organizers


This forum is being organized by Brahma Kumaris Australia. We are supporting the 'Dialogue amongst Civilizations' as a year declared by the UN General Assembly presently run by UNESCO. Visit UNESCO web site: The Brahma Kumaris is a non-governmental organization with general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Brahma Kumaris Australia, 78 Alt St, Ashfield 2031, Sydney NSW, Australia

Ethics Permission

Research aims and methods of documentation of UNDAC 2005: ethics permission conducted in accordance with university human research ethics community guidelines.

The roundtables and presentations are taped. We request permission from the relevant organization or participants for any quotes used for relevant university research () or the UNDAC web site or media use, if associated with the name of the individual or the name of the organization. A permission form will be handed on registration for the event.

Enquiries

For enquiries about the forum: Overseas and Australia contact:
Wendy Sargent, Mobile: 0417-241450, Email: soscnet@attglobal.net
ACT co-ordinator - Robin Horton - Ph: (02) 62315513
Bookings only: Ph: (02) 4784-2500, Email: leura@brahmakumaris.com.au

Web site for the event:

By Wendy Sargent posted 29 May 05

Related:


THE DEATH PENALTY - WORLDWIDE
During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries. At least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These figures are only reported cases - the true figures were certainly much higher - many countries continue to execute people in secret.

Association for the Prevention of Torture
What needs to be done now? The Optional Protocol requires 20 ratifications to enter into force. All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

BUSH ON TRIAL
Tuesday May 17, 2005, Brussels - Today, representatives of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) delivered a law summon and invitation letter addressed to President Bush at the US Embassy in Brussels.

[PRISONACT] FOR THE MILLIONS WHO CARE!
Too many citizens have been cruelly touched by the flawed system of justice in our country - because 'justice' apparently no longer means truth and equality and basic human rights for all.

WHY IS THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT PLAYING 'DEATH' WITH AUSTRALIANS: There has been much controversy recently on whether the Australian Federal Police should have tipped-off the Indonesians over the arrest of the Bali Nine. Due to the fact that Indonesia executes convicted drug-traffickers, ACADP believes that any evidence collected by AFP should have been withheld from Indonesian authorities until they have a written guarantee not to pursue the death penalty for the Bali Nine.

DECLARATION OF ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY
We the members of the Aboriginal Nations and Peoples, do hereby give notice of invoking our claim to all the land of the territories of our ancestors. Accordingly, we invoke the Rule of International Law that we have never surrendered nor acquiesced in our claim to these lands and territories.

UK report shows Iraq war illegal: former defence chief
Ruling Class Lord Goldsmith said a final UN resolution may be needed, that hard evidence of Iraqi non-compliance may have been required, and the UK could face sanction by international courts.

Annan fingers US, UK over oil-for-food scandal
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, whose son was involved in a scandal surrounding a UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, said the United States and Britain shared the blame.

CUBA: A letter to Amnesty USA
I write as an Australian prisoners' rights campaigner who has been watching Amnesty's interventions over the arrests and jailing of several dozen "dissidents" in Cuba over the past two years. I have also visited Cuba on two occasions.

Annan urges UN members to 'make poverty history'
World governments must embrace a broad strategy ranging from trade and debt forgiveness to handing out mosquito netting to "make poverty history", United Nations chief Kofi Annan says.

UN relief boss warns Sudanese rebels
The United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, has called on rebel groups in the Darfur region of Sudan to stop kidnapping aid workers and looting aid convoys.

Australia owes Habib nothing: Beazley?
Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says if Mamdouh Habib is entitled to any compensation for his detention and alleged torture it cannot come from the Australian Government.

Pressure remains on Australia as Kyoto takes effect
The Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will today come into force after a decade of deliberations.

QLD INDEFINITE DETENTION 'IN A NUTSHELL'
In Queensland prison sentences have become step-by-step more lengthy over the last decade according to prisoner Mr David Minty who has been in jail for 20 years.

Children of Imprisoned Mothers
United Nations lobbying body reports on women in prison and their children. I thought that two recent publications from the Quaker group that lobbies the UN might be of interest to you.

Goulburn Jail breaches UN standards
NSW: Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Justice Minister John Hatzistergos to bring Goulburn Jail's Maximum Security Wing into line with United Nations standards, after a prison inmate's covert survey of his fellow inmates revealed problems with rehabilitation programs and basic amenities.

E Timor threatens campaign against Aust over oil deal
East Timor's Foreign Minister is threatening to launch an international campaign to pressure Australia for a bigger share of their own oil and gas royalties from the Timor Sea.

UN panel proposes criteria for legitimate military action
With countries still bitterly divided over the war in Iraq, a high-level panel appointed by the United Nations has recommended a five-step guideline to determine when to use military action.

Afghan children lose High Court battle against detention
Lawyers have lost their constitutional challenge to the detention of four children at a South Australian immigration centre. Four siblings from Afghanistan, aged between seven and 15, have been in detention since they arrived in Australia in 2001.

War on terror should tackle child abuse says UN...
A United Nations official has told a Brisbane conference tackling child abuse must be part of the war on terror.

Kenya faces hunger crisis
The United Nations is appealing for help for up to 2 million people facing hunger in Kenya.

Drawing the line for trade
Once upon a "lifetime" there was a Prime Minister named John Howard. Dollar signs lit up in his eyes when he was told that if he got involved in the Iraq war and aligned the Australian Government with the Coalition of the Killing, US and the UK then the money he spent would be returned in a once in a lifetime Free Trade Agreement with the US.

World to fall short of child health targets
Fewer than one-in-five developing countries are on track to meet UN targets for sharply reducing child and maternal mortality by 2015, the World Health Organisation and the World Bank warn.

Mentally ill kept in padlocked, caged beds
Cental Europe: Patients are sometimes locked in cages like the ones above for months or years, says the Budapest based Mental Disability Advocacy Centre Credit: MDAC.

Solitary Confinement: Our very own Alcatraz
Solitary confinement only makes prisoners more violent and inhumane, writes convicted armed robber Bernie Matthews. Today it is the new-age gladiator schools of sensory deprivation in Maximum Security Units.

Solitary Confinement: Mental illness in prisons
It is well established that sensory deprivation can produce major psychological effects on humans including perceptual distortions, visual, auditory, and olfactory illusions, vivid fantasies often accompanied by striking hallucinations, derealization experiences, and hyper- responsivity to external stimuli.

Did Cornelia Rau have a mental illness?

Rau returned to psychiatric care to shut her up?

CORNELIA Rau returned to psychiatric care in Adelaide, just days after being released into the community, appears to be very suspicious indeed!

After being wrongfully locked up in immigration detention last year, Ms Rau was released from the psychiatric ward at the Royal Adelaide Hospital - on strict conditions that included taking medication daily.

However, her guardian - The Office of the Public Advocate - Another arm of Government - The same government that illegally locked her up in detention said she had been returned to the Glenside Psychiatric Hospital.

But some, would say she was returned because she let the cat out of the bag and exposed the government lie that, perhaps 'she never had a mental illness' but instead was caused mental anguish by her treatment in custody.

Spokeswoman Margaret Farr said the public advocate believed things had got "out of hand" in terms of what information had been reported in the press.

"We would ask if the media could respect her privacy," Ms Farr said?

"So what we are saying is just that she has been returned to hospital for further assessment."

But it wasn't to shut her up?

Following her release, allegedly Ms Rau caused her carers some worry when she left her accommodation in the morning and did not return until late that night.

While she was essentially free to come and go as she pleased, her long absence raised concerns for her abductor's DIMIA, no doubt

Ms Rau, whose wrongful immigration detention is now the subject of an official inquiry, said she would pursue financial compensation in the courts.

Ms Rau was wrongly identified as an illegal immigrant last year and held in a Queensland prison and then in the Baxter Immigration Detention Centre in South Australia for a total of 10 months.

Ms Rau said she had been "locked up in a cage like a caged animal".

She also said that she didn't suffer from a mental illness, the reason given by the authorities to lock her up.

Her lawyer, Claire O'Connor, said Ms Rau was upset at being returned to Glenside and it was hoped another trial release could be arranged soon.

By Cover Up 29 May 05

Related:

Submission to Senate: Inquiry into Mental Health 2005
We appreciate that the urgent issues of Human Rights and other abuses including institutionalisation and the use of force, and the lack of progress on Burdekin are being examined by the Committee.

Govt defends decision to detain Korean woman?
The Immigration Department says there was no unlawful detention in the case of a Korean woman recently held at South Australia's Baxter detention centre?

Rau ordeal a raw deal
Ms Rau spent time in a Queensland prison and a hospital before being handed to immigration authorities who kept her in detention for another four months.

Australian held in Baxter detention centre
It has been revealed an Australian resident has been locked up in Baxter Detention Centre in South Australia for the past four months. Authorities had been unable to establish her identity since she was found wandering in far north Queensland last September.

Lawyers want Baxter detainee released for treatment !
Lawyers acting for a hunger-striking detainee inside South Australia's Baxter detention centre have asked the Federal Court to order a psychiatric assessment for the man, saying he needs to be in mental health care, not detention.

Baxter protesters 'being denied water, sleep'?
One of the three Iranian men has been on the roof of the gymnasium since Sunday last week, with two others joining him on Tuesday.

Detainees urged to abandon rooftop protest!
Kathy Verran from Rural Australians for Refugees, says one of the men has since come down and has been taken into the management unit. [solitary confinement for Xmas?]

Advocates warn of detention centre riot risk
A prominent refugee advocate warns South Australia's Baxter Detention Centre is on the brink of a major riot. A protest involving about 25 male detainees broke out at the centre on Tuesday, over a new system which is delaying the process of dispensing medication to detainees.

Villawood detainees go on hunger strike
A refugee advocacy group says up to 200 detainees at the Villawood Detention Centre, in Sydney, have begun a hunger strike to draw attention to their situation ahead of the federal election.

Afghan children lose High Court battle against detention
Lawyers have lost their constitutional challenge to the detention of four children at a South Australian immigration centre. Four siblings from Afghanistan, aged between seven and 15, have been in detention since they arrived in Australia in 2001.

Australia's "GITMO" System
Australia's "GITMO" System In June 2002 on the PM program on ABC radio, PHILIP RUDDOCK is quoted as saying: "Well, let me just say, detention centres are not prisons. They are administrative detention.

Senior cleric damns Baxter as 'disgraceful'
A senior world religious figure has called on the Federal Government to scrap its mandatory detention policy after visiting the Baxter detention centre in South Australia's north.

Detention centre media ban criticised
The Howard Government has been criticised in a report by media freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders for stopping journalists covering the conditions in refugee detention centres.

Baxter detainee continues hunger strike
A detainee at the Baxter detention centre near Port Augusta in South Australia has been on a hunger strike for a week. Sri Lankan Zeldon Daggie, 23, says he has been detained since arriving in Australia four years ago.

Democrats to keep up pressure over asylum seekers
The Australian Democrats will maintain their pressure on the next federal government over Australia's treatment of asylum seekers, if the party can retain its strength in the Senate.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Submission to Senate: Inquiry into Mental Health 2005

Justice Action makes this submission largely addressing one term of reference only (see below).

We appreciate that the urgent issues of Human Rights and other abuses including institutionalisation and the use of force, and the lack of progress on Burdekin are being examined by the Committee.

Justice Action is a volunteer organisation without formal funding focussing on prison issues. We are always stressed for resources, and our priority must also be assisting our members in and out of prison, we submit additional relevant materials trusting that the Committee will take up suggestions we have made in our work on these exact same topics prior to this Inquiry, such as in our Submissions regarding NSW Mental Health, which discuss issues within all the terms of reference of this Committee's Inquiry.

Justice Action Position Statement on Mental Health Policy:


Justice Action believes that there are several serious failings in the way public policy addresses mental illness in our society, the most serious being as follows:

- The endemic institutionalisation of those designated as mentally ill, whether that institutionalisation is carried out within the framework of a criminal justice or public health response to those so designated.

- The lack of a public voice in Australia for those who have been designated as mentally ill and the delegitimisation (and pathologisation) of their viewpoints by professional and political authorities.

- The abuse of psychiatric medication for the behavioural management of those designated as mentally ill, both in institutions and the community, and the lack of access by sufferers to well informed, noncoercive choice of therapeutic and support options.

- Neglect and lack of support for those living in the community with mental illness and making the transition from institutional to community living.

- False media portrayals of the mentally ill as being particularly prone to commit violent acts which justify intrusive and coercive measures to avert. Misleading media portrayals which promote the view that people can be appropriately categorised by their mental illness and that mental illness can be easily diagnosed and successfully treated by mental health professionals.

- The acceptance of the dubious diagnoses and untested opinions of mental health experts as 'scientific evidence' by elements of our criminal justice system.

- The increasing influence of large multinational pharmaceutical companies over mental health professionals, policymakers and the statutory bodies and NGOs involved in the resourcing, planning and delivery of mental health services.

- The ongoing stereotyping, vilification, discrimination and abuse suffered by those designated as mentally ill in our society.

Justice Action does not deny the existence of mental illness nor the real suffering it causes the many thousands of Australians afflicted with it and the millions of Australians affected by it.

However, we believe the single greatest cause of distress and difficulty to the greatest proportion of those living with mental illness is the way our society responds to them. Justice Action:

- Recognises that those designated as mentally ill are particularly vulnerable to vilification, neglect, abuse and denial of rights during their interaction with public and private institutions. Seeks to address such discrimination wherever it exists, but with particular emphasis on its presence in the criminal justice system.

- Prioritises the voices of those who have been diagnosed as mentally ill and promotes their participation in mental health education, policy development, planning and service delivery.

- Supports the establishment in Australia of independent grass roots mental health advocacy and activism groups along the lines of 'Support Coalition International' (US) Mind Freedom, 'Mad Nation'(Canada) and 'Mad Pride'(UK).

- Demands an end to the use of psychiatric drugs for patient/prisoner management purposes.

- Promotes programs, policies and campaigns that seek to end the institutionalisation and forced treatment of those designated as mentally ill. Opposes programs which are likely to lead to greater use of institutionalisation and forced treatment. Forced treatment is not therapy, it is abuse..

- Rejects the methods used by drug companies to exert disproportionate influence on mental health policy, including financial backing for practitioners, political parties and mental health NGOs.

- Supports the right of the mentally ill to access a wide range of support and treatment services or to reject treatment and services. Respects the right of the mentally ill to choose their own therapies and treatments.

- Calls for the rejection of psychiatric or psychological expert opinion in criminal proceedings unless supported with considerable experimental or actuarial data. Actuarial data should be treated with extreme caution and skepticism, especially in attempting to apply generalised findings to specific cases.

- Calls for streamlining of the procedures governing the release of forensic prisoners and significant investment in services to facilitate the reintegration of forensic prisoners into the community. All responsibility for the release of forensic prisoners should be taken from the hands of the executive (i.e. crown ministers).

- Rejects the all systems which seek to socially classify people by their alleged mental illness (e.g. 'registers' of the mentally ill, transfer or sharing of their medical records without their consent, New York style 'Kendra's Laws').

- Rejects the popular stereotyping of those designated as mentally ill as a threat from which the community must be protected. They are part of the community who have unmet medical or social needs and are particularly vulnerable to individual and institutional abuse.

Justice Action Submission to Senate Inquiry on Mental Health 2005 Term of reference:

1) the overrepresentation of people with a mental illness in the criminal justice system and in custody,

2) the extent to which these environments give rise to mental illness,

3) the adequacy of legislation and processes in protecting their human rights and

4) the use of diversion programs for such people.

1) The overrepresentation of people with a mental illness in the Criminal Justice System and in custody Poverty is disabling and disability leads to poverty. A criminal justice system weighted against those suffering either results in what we have now - jails full of people from very poor areas, who have high levels of disability, and most particularly those who fulfill both criteria.

One-third of the people in NSW prisons have a mental illness - they are locked up in their cells for 11-23 hours a day, dressed in prison clothes and fed prison food.

An offender diagnosed with mental illness is more likely than other offenders to be arrested, to be remanded to custody rather than be granted bail, to be viewed as dangerous, to spend longer in remand before court process completion, and to spend more time in prison. Lack of legal aid and general disempowerment leads to innocent people with mental illnesses being wrongly convicted. When the charges are minor, it is easier for the accused to just do the time than try to fight the charge.

The 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service (now Justice Health) Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners states that the 12 month prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in prison is 74%, compared to 22% in the general community, and while this includes substance disorder the high rate cannot be attributed to that alone.

We have included their key findings for your convenience in appendix A. The "deinstitutionalisation" of mental health patients that began in the 1970s and accelerated after the Richmond Report 20 years ago, was not carried out as envisioned.

The community resources, respect for disabled persons and support for what disabled people say is needed, have not appeared, whilst we continue to experience abusive institutional care in hospitals, jails and unofficial institutions like locked boarding houses.

Since the deinstitutionalisation of mental health services, community care is focused on home care. However, a reliance on this is clearly deficient, considering that a high percentage of the homeless also have a mental illness.

Many community services, including housing, exclude people on so many grounds (including other disabilities, prison record and so on) that it is a wonder that anyone is eligible.

For adequate 'treatment and care' for people with a mental illness in the community these must all be substantially increased: funding, staff skills mixes, free access to diverse, culturally and personally appropriate services and facilities.

NSW has the poorest funded mental health system in Australia, but a lot of money going into building prison beds. We need to stop building and filling prisons and instead put our efforts into empowering and supporting our most vulnerable, excluded and dispossessed, to enable our communities to heal ourselves.

2) The extent to which these environments give rise to mental illness Safe Cells So-called Safe Cells, suicide cells, observation cells, strip cells supposedly designed to prevent suicide are part of the problem. A prisoner tells about the

Mum Shirl Unit in Mulawa:

"Imagine yourself locked in a cube of thick Perspex with a series of small air holes in it. The electric light is always on. The camera is always watching you.

You are allowed to use the toilet. Sometimes you are allocated a pill. You are not allowed a pillow to cry into, or hug. You are alone. This is 24 hours a day."

These torture chambers rely on such things as no hanging points to die on. But it is merely a short-term solution to a problem of utter devastation.

These cells are commonly used as punishment. Cellmates tell of prisoners taken away in the night to the cells, hearing the screaming and breaking down at their inability to do anything.

Segregation Housing Units (SHU's) [Solitary Confinement]

These types of cells include the control units and all other such environments of extreme isolation and austerity with near permanent lockdown. SHUs are the problem, not just the holding of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities in SHUs.

We have evidence of prison-induced insanity and this is strongest in SHU type places. Human Rights arguments under the "cruel and unusual treatment" can and should be launched to remove SHU system for *everyone* in prison.

Modern prisons were developed by Stalin in the 1920's-30's following the work on the Russian psychologist Pavlov who is famous for his experiments on dogs developing the concept of classical conditioning. These experiments consisted of stressing dogs and observing their behaviour.

Stalinist prisons soon adopted these methods applying them to people to obtain confessions and as punishment regimes that did not require elaborate or time-consuming methods of torture.

By isolating and depriving prisoners of stimulation and comforts, the same effects as
electro-torture and beatings could be effected, but on a large number simultaneously and without the staffing required before.

These methods spread to the west in the 1950's, notably the United States, which experimented and documented its brain washing exercises. The effect of bland institutions on staff and inmates is well documented, see Goffman, Asylums.

All prisons in Australia today employ Pavlovian principles in their design and operation.This is the science of custody. In order to subjugate and punish individuals, the State had developed these hands-off approaches as a modern alternative to physical torture.

Anyone working and being held in confinement will show the symptoms of institutionalisation, a mental illness affecting everyone in a closed institution.

This illness is progressive and is described as blunting a person's sensitivity and awareness of their environment. They become depersonalised, and such a person will regress to an infantile stage. Loss of living skills, despair, loss of control of urinating and defecating, playing with faeces, pacing, wailing, self mutilation, nudity and other inappropriate behaviour are some of the signs of institutionalisation.

3) The adequacy of legislation and processes in protecting their human rights Please see Appedix B, "At the Minister's Pleasure?" regarding the case study of Michael Kelly.

There is concern at the imprisonment of people who were found not guilty of an offence because of mental illness. Many people found not guilty or unfit to plead by reason of mental illness are sent to jail anyway.

There is no official oversight of Australia's Human Rights obligations - even the limited number of rights accorded by the small number of UN treaties that Federal governments have signed up to, cannot be ensured, as the UN is not even allowed to do snap inspections of the treatment of Australia's State and Federal prisoners.

Australia has been negligent in signing up to Human Rights treaties and in passing them into domestic law. There are also loopholes in Human Rights that allow abuse to occur. Plus we argue that there is a blind spot in human rights regarding the 'English-speaking Western Democracies' that are put up as models for the world.

In places like the UK, US and Australia, it is very easy to hide abuse due to disbelief that it could ever possibly occur here ('they only do that sort of thing over there'), and due to the fact that those in power are well versed in the language of International Laws, and the propaganda needs related to this percolate through the system.

So for instance as the UNHCR has ruled that solitary confinement of one month in a cell with 24 hour a day artificial light is torture, it is quite easy for a prisons Commissioner to claim that there is no solitary at all, by saying every prisoner has access to exercise for an hour a week even if that is not the experience.

Or, a person can be transferred around a system, never really getting out of solitary, or they can flick the lights. A disempowered person has little chance of winning a 'he said-she said' type argument. The art of legal abuse is well practiced in Australia, in all institutions.

It makes a mockery of the ICCPR requirement that, "...all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person."

As another example of the problems of human rights protection and advocacy in this field, the difficulties of making a complaint if you are a person labelled mentally ill, especially if you are also a prisoner, cannot be underestimated.

Problems include legal credibility, a person's knowledge of rights, and belief that they themselves are a person whose rights are worth defending, education and ability to express and communicate in the style required for complaints, enforced silence and censorship, dismissive attitudes amongst professionals, society and officials, destruction of or slackness in creating records, and the fact that psychiatric treatments interfere with narrative memory and ability to think and communicate clearly (ie, making the type of story that evidence requires, rather than perhaps flashes of events told orally and collated by another).

4) The use of diversion programs for such people.

Justice Action promotes Mentoring in the community. The best mentors have been there and they're usually people who have experienced the treatment programs, such as ex-prisoners, ex hospital patients or people who have some knowledge of the pitfalls and have experience of the systems that have treated them.

Mentors can go into the prisons, hospitals and mental health institutions to expand our community support and goodwill to these community members.

At the moment the Mentoring groups have been blocked and locked out of the prison by the authorities because they often have criminal records.

Another diversion that is too often ignored is basic law reform. Many prisoners with mental illness have first contact with the criminal justice system as a result of extremely minor events, often as children. The criminal justice system is very "sticky" and once noticed by it, a person has a problem for life.

The inherent prejudices of the criminal justice system need to be removed so as to allow real change. A lot of minor offences could be removed from the formal legal system, and people's drug use needs to be dealt with as a health, rather that legal matter.

In this way much needed resources, manpower and funds can be freed up for vital services that people need to allow them to avoid problems and learn to change their lives.

Additionally, Justice Action wishes to draw the attention of the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health to the following:

Submission of the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) and Justice Action (JA) to the NSW Health Department's

1) Discussion Paper on the Review of the Mental Health Act. Location:
http://home..iprimus.com.au/dna_info/mh
http://home.iprimus.com.au/dna_info/mh/

2) Where the Norm is Not the Norm: Goulburn Correctional Centre and the Harm-U

In the absence of public policy, this paper is an attempt to shine a light through the rhetoric and test for coherency in the policy and function of NSW's only supermax prison, the High Risk Management Unit. Its present use will be compared with the 'vision' flogged by the Premier and the Department of Corrective Services (the Department) at its inception in 2001.

3) 'Killing Rational' and Prisoner Control in NSW
The following is a case study of a complaint made to justice action about the treatment of prisoners.

4) Mental Health Tribunal recommendations on forensic inmates
Below is the answer we have received from the Minister for Health regarding prisoners recommended for parole or release by the Mental Health Tribunal

5) Lunatics Running The Asylum
This is a media release about the Gold Coast Institute of Mental Health 6th International Mental Health Conference at Conrad Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast. To hold a mental health conference at Jupiters Casino is akin to arranging a seminar on drug and alcohol addiction at an inner city pub. Consumers, survivors and victims of mental health services will feel themselves thoroughly excluded from this conference, particularly if they are living with a gambling problem.

6) Relationship Between Mental Disorder And Violence
Relationship Between Mental Disorder And Violence Similar scrutiny must also be applied to the theory that people with a mental illness are more violent than the general population. Violence and violent crime are commonly regarded by the public as the domain of the mentally ill (Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990). Public misconception about the true nature of mental illness, as distinct from personality disorder or behavioural disorder, frequently links extreme violence with mental illness. This misconception is enhanced by media depictions of the involvement of the 'schizophrenic' or 'psycho' in violent crime.

7) Death in custody: In memory of Scott Simpson
Scott Simpson 34 died in custody on 7 June 2004 leaving behind a child. It is alleged that he hanged himself in a segregation yard at Long Bay Prison Complex. Justice Action has reasons to believe that Scott had been mistreated from the time he was taken into custody, and that his mental illness was not properly addressed.

Appendix A:

From: 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners. Tony Butler & Stephen Allnut, August 2003. Key Findings

* The prevalence of mental illness in the NSW correctional system is substantial and consistent with international findings.

* The twelve-month prevalence of any psychiatric disorders (psychosis, anxiety disorder, affective disorder, substance use disorder, personality disorder, or neurasthenia) identified in the NSW inmate population is substantially higher than in the general community (74% vs. 22%).

* Almost half of reception (46%) and over one-third (38%) of sentenced inmates had suffered a mental disorder (psychosis, affective disorder, or anxiety disorder) in the previous twelve months.

* Female prisoners have a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder than male prisoners.

* Psychiatric morbidity was higher among reception prisoners compared with sentenced prisoners.

* There was comparatively little difference between the one-month and twelvemonth prevalence estimates of mental disorder.

* Two-thirds of reception prisoners had a twelve-month diagnosis of substance use disorder.

* The high rate of mental disorder among inmates cannot be attributed to substance use disorder alone.

* 40% of reception prisoners had a twelve-month diagnosis of opioid use disorder.

* Almost one in ten inmates reported experiencing symptoms of psychosis in the twelve months prior to interview.

* An estimated 4% to 7% of reception inmates suffer from a functional psychotic mental illness.

* The twelve-month prevalence of psychosis in NSW inmates was thirty times higher than in the Australian community.

* 14% of male receptions and 21% of female receptions had a one-month diagnosis of depression.

* The most common group of mental disorders were anxiety disorders with over one-third of those screened experiencing an anxiety disorder in the previous twelve months.

* Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the most common anxiety disorder (24%).

* One in twenty prisoners had attempted suicide in the twelve months prior to interview.

* Females were more likely than males to utilise health services for mental health problems.

* Prisoners with a psychiatric diagnosis had higher levels of disability.

Appendix B:

From Framed: The Magazine of Justice Action, December 2002, Issue No. 43

At the Minister's Pleasure? The case of Michael Kelly: In 1996, Michael Kelly, husband and father of two, shot a stranger on the stairwell in his block of units. Michael was terrified the stranger would harm his wife and children.

He was in the grip of a serious mental psychosis when he pulled the trigger.. A court found him not guilty of grievous bodily harm on the grounds of mental illness and Michael is still in gaol.

If he had been found guilty, he would probably have served his sentence and been released by now. Michael is caught up in a particularly cruel version of the game of Cat and Mouse.

Because he is classified as a forensic patient under the Mental Heath Act of NSW, the Minister for Health is his master, not the Minister for Corrective Services. And the Minister for health will not let him go.

The Act requires a Mental Health Tribunal to review Michael's case every six months. The legal requirements of the Tribunal under the Mental Health Act is to determine if a forensic patient poses a risk to the community if they don't they should not be held in prison.

The Tribunal has found Michael ready to be placed in the community for treatment and rehabilitation. The expert forensic psychiatric team managing him say he poses no risk to the community.

The community psychiatric team ha repeatedly reported they are ready to take him into care, but the Minister for Health refuses to let him go.

Deliberately undermining of professional psychiatric teams by the Minister's refusal to release mentally ill people under his control must end.

In addition forensic matters should not be subject to Ministerial Discretion because it is inappropriate use of Parliamentary powers and people with positive reports from the (MHRT) Mental Health Review Tribunal for release, conditional release and transfer (for example to allow people with intellectual disability to transfer to jail Disability Units from jail forensic wards) are kept for years unnecessarily in inappropriate accommodation and in jail.

In NSW one man has total power and choice over all people in this situation.. Ministerial Discretion must end.

Our submission has been published on the Senate website: It is submission number 174.

By Justice Action posted 27 May 05

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