AUSTRALIA/CUBA/USA: A stated belief of the Liberal Party is: "We believe in a just & humane society in which the importance of the family and the rule of law & justice is maintained."The Prime Minister & a number of his senior Ministers, demonstrated how this Liberal Party belief, also a 'core' value of our democracy, has been betrayed: to the detriment of us all.
In a series of pathetic, dishonest & deliberately misleading performances, John Howard, Alexander Downer & Philip Ruddock dismissed claims by former US Military Commission prosecutors that David Hicks cannot & will not receive a fair trial before the Commission.
David Hicks has been held at Guantanamo Bay by the US military for more than 31/2 years & is shortly scheduled to face the US Military Commission, specifically set-up by the Bush administration to try non-US enemy combatants in his endless 'war on terror' (US enemy combatants get to be tried in the US criminal justice system & enjoy all the protections afforded by that system).
Over the course of his detention, Hicks has been subjected to torture & for a significant period, was denied legal representation & communication with his family. He continues to be held in solitary confinement.
In spite of its contention that Hicks & the other detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are 'enemy combatants' & therefore not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention, the US has refused to convene hearings to determine the status of the detainees, as required by the Convention.
If David Hicks faces the US Military Commission, it will be to answer charges existent under laws created by executive fiat more than 2 years after he was detained, itself a breach of International Law, but a fact that doesn't seem to bother our government or the US.
From the moment the US Military Commission was set-up, its processes have been subject to persistent criticism by eminent international jurists, governments & human rights organizations, including:
*Amnesty International
*Human Rights Watch
*Lord Steyn, one of the most senior judges in Britain's House of Lords
*the President, Swedish Bar
*the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Scotland
*the President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland
*the President of the Law Council of Australia
*the President of the Paris Bar
*the Chairman of the Council of the Bar of England & Wales
*the President of the Scottish Law Society
*the President of the Canadian Bar
*the President of the Law Institute of Victoria
*the President of the Law Society of England & Wales
*the Commonwealth Lawyers Association
*the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar
Association
*Justice Richard Goldstone, Former Chief Prosecutor of the UN War Tribunal
At the heart of the criticisms of the US Military Commission is the fact that those brought before it will not receive a fair trial. Military Commission procedures provide:
*that defendants will not have the right to confront their accusers
*that defendants have no protection against self-incrimination
*that defendants have no fore-knowledge of penalties attached to offences
*that defendants have no protection against hearsay evidence
*that evidence obtained by torture will be admissible
*that evidence may be given anonymously
*that exculpatory evidence may be withheld
*that evidence may be withheld from the accused
*that evidence may be withheld from a defendant's legal representative
*that hearings may be held in camera
*that witnesses will not be available for cross-examination
*that a defendant's legal representative may not talk with the media
*that a defendant has no independent right of appeal
*that a defendant may not be released, even if found not guilty
These deficiencies are peculiar to the US Miliary Commission, as proceedings brought before International Tribunals, US, British & Australian criminal jurisdictions & Military Courts Martials ensure that the rights of a defendant to a fair trial are protected.
John Howard, Alexander Downer & Philip Ruddock have continuously claimed that David Hicks will receive a 'fair trial'.
Confronted with the latest accusations that such will not be the case, they claim to have intervened with the US to correct the 'inadequacies' of the Commission.
At the same time however, whilst our little trio of despicable tricksters continued with their dishonest claims about the alleged fairness of the US Military Commission, whilst using every opportunity to continue their efforts to blacken Hicks' name with misleading information, they have studiously avoided any discussion of the specific shortcomings identified above.
Indeed, when former High Court Judge, Mary Gaudron, waded into the debate & criticised the Commission processes, the best our chief law officer could come-up with was to arrogantly dismiss her claims as coming from a 'retired armchair critic', whilst asserting that the responsibility for the efficacy of the Commission rested with the US & that they had told us that the proceedings would be fair.
Pontius Pilate couldn't have put it better.
Here was our nation's 1st law officer; a Minister of the government; a lawyer; stating that the responsibility for protecting & securing the legal & human rights of an Australian citizen was of no concern to him or his government but was a matter for the US to worry about.
But try as they did to dismiss their outrageous betrayal of an Australian citizen by his government, the controversy surrounding the US Military Commission would not abate.
It was left to the Minister for the Ageing, the blond ice-maiden member for Curtin in WA, Julie Bishop, to try & close-out the issue.
Ms Bishop showed a willingness to go where her more cunning, dissembling colleagues would not & blatantly asserted that the "US Court of Appeals recently reviewed the military commission process & found & ruled that it was appropriate in these circumstances".
The US Court of Appeals DID NOT review the Military Commission process. It addressed the question of whether the US President had the authority to set-up the Commission (agreeing that he did) but not the adequacy of its procedures & processes to deliver to deliver a 'fair' trial.
The efficacy of the Military Commission processes WERE NOT reviewed by the US Court of Appeals & to state otherwise is simply an out & out lie. (A full transcript of the Appeals Court judgement can be found here United States Court of Appeals: Hamden vs Rumsfeld.)
Labor's shadow Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, challenged the accuracy of Bishop's claim but, of course, was ignored, just like everyone-else.
Bishop's effort highlights just how wilfully & callously determined this government is in ignoring its responsibilities to its citizens, when it is politically expedient to do so. And with further encroachments being made against our civil liberties every day, this is a fact that none of us should lose sight of.
In a late sign that some in the Liberal Party are unhappy with the behaviour of the government over the Hicks affair, Liberal backbencher, Judi Moylon, has publicly called for the government's intervention to ensure that Hicks receives a fair trial.
Short of restructuring the entire Military Commission process & removing it from the direct control of the US administration, this will only be achieved if David Hicks is tried within the US civilian criminal justice system (as US enemy combatants have been) or by Military Court Martial.
Only then will the interests of justice be served & only then will David Hicks receive the fair trial that the today's Liberal Party is shamefully determined to deny him.
By John Richardson posted 9 August 05
David Hicks: affidavit on abuse and mistreatment
by reposter Monday December 13, 2004 at 08:02 AM
Full text of the affidavit lodged by Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks asserting that he has been tortured during his detention:
DAVID M HICKS, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1. I am David M Hicks, a Petitioner in the above-captioned action, and I make this Affidavit, submitted under seal (*), in support of my Amended Complaint, and my applications for injunctive relief.
2. I am a native and citizen of Australia, born in Adelaide August 7, 1975. I have completed the 9th Grade in the Australian school system.
3. This Affidavit provides an outline of the abuse and mistreatment I have received, witnessed, and/or heard about since I have been detained by the United States in Afghanistan, aboard US Naval vessels and US military aircraft, and at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (hereinafter "Guantanamo Bay"). I have been detained by the United States Armed Forces from December 2001 until present. I arrived in Guantanamo Bay in January 2002. I does not detail all of the abuse I have received, or witnessed, or heard about, but merely sketches some of it. I have been careful to specify what happened to me, what I saw happen to others, and what I have heard about. During the course of my interrogations, I have repeatedly asked for a lawyer and why I am not being treated as Prisoner of War.
4. Since I do not have access to either a typewriter or computer, this Affidavit has been prepared by my attorneys based on information I have provided to them. I have reviewed the Affidavit carefully, and verify that it is completely accurate.
5. I have been beaten before, after, and during interrogations.
6. I have been menaced and threatened, directly and indirectly, with firearms and other weapons before and during interrogations.
7. I have heard beatings of other detainees occurring during interrogations, and observed detainees' injuries that were received during interrogations.
8. I have been beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed.
9. I have been in the company of other detainees who were beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed. At one point, a group of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit over a eight hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded.
10. I have been struck with hands, fists, and other objects (including rifle butts). I have also been kicked. I have been hit in the face, head, feet, and torso.
11. I have had my head rammed into asphalt several times (while blindfolded).
12. I have had handcuffs placed on me so tightly, and for so long (as much as 14-15 hours) that my hands were numb for a considerable period thereafter.
13. I have had medication - the identity of which was unknown to me, despite my requests for information - forced upon me against my will. I have been struck while under the influence of sedatives that were forced upon me by injection.
14. I have been forced to run in leg shackles that regularly ripped the skin off my ankles. Many other detainees experienced the same.
15. I have been deprived of sleep as a matter of policy.
16. I have witnessed the activities of the Internal Reaction Force (hereinafter "IRF"), which consists of a squad of soldiers that enter a detainee's cell and brutalize him with the aid of an attack dog. The IRF invasions were so common that the term to be "IRF'd" became part of the language of the detainees. I have seen detainees suffer serious injuries as a result of being IRF'ed. I have seen detainees IRF'ed while they were praying, or for refusing medication.
17. I was told repeatedly that if I cooperated during the course of interrogations, I would be sent home to Australia after the interrogations were concluded. I was told there was an "easy way" and a "hard way" to respond to interrogation.
18. Interrogators once offered me the services of a prostitute for fifteen minutes if I would spy on other detainees. I refused.
19. Failure to cooperate meant the loss of the ordinary necessities of living, such as showers, sufficient food, relief from the prospect of IRF'ing and other regular abuse visited upon non-cooperative detainees, access to reading material, and social contact (including receiving mail).
20. During Ramadan, food was withhold from detainees after the break of the daily fast in order to coerce cooperation with interrogators. Detainees who refused to cooperate were punished regularly, and denied the ordinary necessities of living.
21. I have been told that strobe lights and extreme cold were also used to disorient detainees in order to soften them up for interrogation. I have also heard that religious detainees were exposed to pornography, and were dragged around naked in order to break their will.
22. Detainees were not allowed to know the date, day, year, or time. We were deprived of any and all information and news from the world. Detainees were permitted very little exercise.
23. At one point during 2003 alone, my weight dropped by 30 pounds (and I was not overweight to start).
24. Other detainees also informed me that interrogators attempted to turn them against me by spreading rumors about me. In any event, due to the way interrogations were conducted, and the physical layout of the camps, it was obvious to all of the detainees who was being interrogated, for how long, and whether that detainee emerged abused or not (with the latter signifying cooperation). Thus, any detainee would know who was cooperating with the interrogators.
25. The interrogation process ruled the detention camps and the lives of detainees. Cooperation with interrogators offered the only means of relief from the miserable treatment and abuse the detainees suffered. Those who failed to comply suffered abuse until they gave in.
26. My conditions changed after I was moved to Camp Echo (as did the treatment afforded me by the military personnel on duty there) July 9, 2003, and then again after the visits from my attorneys began. However, at Camp Echo, I have been held in a solitary cell and have been so since arriving at Camp Echo. I was not allowed outside of my cell in Camp Echo for exercise in the sunlight, from July 2003 until March 10, 2004.
27. As noted earlier, the above catalogue of abuse and mistreatment is not complete. It is but a summary of some of the abuse I suffered, witnessed, and/or heard about since my detention began. I would be able to provide further information and detail if the Court so desires, but a complete account would require a substantially longer document. In fact, at my request and due to the persistence of my lawyers, I have recently met with US military investigators conducting the probe into detainee abuse in Afghanistan. Also, this is not the first time I protested my mistreatment, since on several occasions - in Afghanistan, and later at Guantanamo Bay - I informed representatives of the International Red Cross of the abuse.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully respected that the Court grant the relief sought in my Amended Complaint, and for any such other relief that the Court deems proper.
DAVID M HICKS
Sworn to before me this
5th day of August, 2004.
MD MORI
Major
United States Marine Corps
Judge Advocate
Related:
Terrorgraph not quiet on 'Aussie militant' probe
the daily Terror: Which seems to undermine the argument put forward by Hicks' civil libertarian lawyers and anti-Western supporters that he was just a well-meaning dope who strayed into bad company.
Phillip Duddock's 'accent' heard in militant broadcast
Australian/Arab television has broadcast a video showing a masked militant with an apparent Australian accent criticising British Prime Minister tony bliar over Iraq.
HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.
GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
Because of you, something exciting happened in our democracy last week. From every corner of the country, more than 20,000 emails were sent to the Coalition Senators. Our message was simple: now you have control of the Senate, we will be holding you to account. Thousands of you added personal messages to your representatives about the issues you care about.
Australia: We're Living In A War Zone
Prime Minister john hoWARd and his cronies have now placed us in a war-zone moving defence capabilities to Australia's south-east coast.
All the alleged terrorists are Muslims
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner mick keelty, a well know propagandist and liar, now claims that 60 Islamic extremists are operating in Australia and they are not news to the police and intelligence agencies.
All the wicked witches in Pakistan?
Pakistani authorities say 800 suspected militants [scapegoates and patsies] have been arrested in raids following the deadly London [false flag operation] bombings, as Islamic groups protest a move to expel 1,400 foreign students.
It's just not cricket: Khan
The perception in the West remained that somehow Islam was connected to militarism and terrorism, that all Muslims believe that all suicide bombers go straight to heaven. No one mentioned that before [false flag operations of] 9/11 70 per cent of suicide bombings in the world were committed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, who were Hindus.
Lawyer dismisses ASIO fishing raids as PR stunt
Fascist federal Police (AFP) and ASIO officers conducted more raids in Melbourne and Sydney yesterday but the publicity surrounding the raids has been dismissed as a public relations exercise by the Melbourne lawyer for an accused terrorist.
Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.
hoWARd, ruddock, ellison, keelty and news ltd plotted chaos
AUSTRALIA/CUBA: Government and corporate propaganda agencies 'believe' they have foiled an attack on the Melbourne Stock Exchange by a radical Islamic network linked to a covert group, which has carried out surveillance on key Sydney sites.
Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
ASIO have raided a number of properties in Melbourne on a 'fishing expedition' in relation to a 'possible' political scare campaign by the hoWARd government, playing on the fears of all Australians... again!
Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
The Daily Terrorist should be managed with manacles and flown into Siberia via a jumbo jet tomorrow amid fears government fascists may attempt to use them again on someone else.
HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
This forum will bring together legal representatives and victims of counter-terror, along with justice campaigners and organisations in order to share strategies for achieving justice for these men and the many other like them.
WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
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'.
Murdoch's war on truth in war reporting
People who remain to be convinced that cross-media laws are important to maintaining the fabric of our democracy need look no further than today's page one of The Daily Telegraph.
Chomsky signs on for justice
Noam Chomsky has signed the Justice for Jack campaign petition which calls on the Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock and Director of Public Prosecutions to "drop any charges reliant on records of interviews conducted under duress without the presence of a lawyer."
If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
A Sydney man [scapegoat in the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East] has been found not guilty of preparing for a terrorist attack on a Commonwealth building [ruling class propaganda.]
Trial by unrelated video clips
Should alleged terrorist suspects [scapegoats for the resource wars in the Middle East] be shown on television side-by side-'terrorist training camp film clips' gathered by the government and media archives to give the wrong impression of accused people facing trial?
Accused Australian Citizen 'denied passport in 2002'?
AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN who was refused a passport by DFAT in mid-2002 became frustrated at the government for treating him differently.
Court should be told Gov't using 'Jack'!
A Melbourne court should have been told a man accused of working for Al Qaeda is being used by the fascist Australian Government as a pawn in their leverage to win support for their illegal and degrading activities.
Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.
New account adds weight to interrogation claims
Australia/Cuba/Iraq: The fascist Federal Government is under further pressure today because Australians were involved in the interrogation of tortured Iraqi prisoners.
Australian senate accused govt of war crimes
Did you hear the one about David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib having a Barbeque in Afghanistan with Bin Laden? Yeah it was reported on Channel Seven's Sunrise this morning! But they don't know if it was a sheep or a goat, but sources say it was most likely a goat.
DPP to appeal innocent man's bail
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will seek to have an innocent Melbourne man Joseph 'Jack' Thomas, returned to isolation in custody?
Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.
Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?
Lawyer blames police for Habib break-in
John HoWARd, Alexander Downer, Phillip Ruddock, Robert Hill, to name just a few....HOW DO YOU PLEAD?
No reason for Habib to sell story: Beazley?
Federal Agreement Leader Kim Beazley is a well-paid loser. A loser who supposed to be defending our democratic rights by standing up to the HoWARd Government's fascism.
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.
What they did to Habib
Mamdouh Habib was the victim of atrocities fit for a concentration camp, including being tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him, his lawyer said yesterday.
Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.
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.
Howard rejects spy agency overhaul
Prime Minister John Howard has played down the need for a major overhaul of Australia's spy agencies as a result of an inquiry by former intelligence officer Phillip Flood.
Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.
Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?
Innocent Victorian man held in custody for Xmas?!
Lawyers have argued the case against Mr Thomas was weak and based on a statement he made in Pakistan without a lawyer present and therefore unlawful.
Innocent Melbourne man makes second bail bid
Rubish, just plain propaganda, fear-mongering, draconian nonsence from the HoWARd goverment's war agenda stink tank.
MPs to review spy agency powers
Australian spy agency ASIO'S controversial powers to detain and question suspected terrorists [scapegoats for HoWARd's resource wars] will be re-examined by a parliamentary committee. Parliament passed the new counter-terrorism powers in July last year.
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.
Lodhi toilet paper: crap!
He is facing nine charges and is accused of planning a major terrorist attack on Sydney defence sites and the electricity grid using downloads off the internet and having 100 rolls of toilet paper to wipe his arse after low level bombs and farts.
Brain injury for suspicion 'inhumane'
Faheem Khalid Lodhi refused bail by a Sydney court and remanded until June in hell at the (HARM-U) High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn. While he is in there he will receive a brain injury and is likely to self-harm due to the gross violation of living standards.
Ul-Haque 'the man who wants to become a doctor'
The taskforce is investigating French man Willie Brigitte, who was tipped back home for a visa breach. Allegedly the Un-Australian Newspaper claimed he also attended training camps before his six-month stay in Sydney. Police have not alleged Mr Ul-Haque knew Brigitte. The Un-Australian just mentioned it because they are 'you guessed it' up John Howard's butt and they like the USA want 'you guessed it' our Federal Government. Well Yankee go home!
Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.
Ruddock foreshadows new terrorism laws
The new laws will allow police to access emails and mobile phone SMS messages, enable wider use of surveillance devices, and protect sensitive national security information during terrorism trials.
Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
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Greens warn of 'politicised' terror trials
AUSTRALIA/CUBA?: The Australian Greens say they are concerned that new anti-terrorism laws being debated in the Senate allow for the "political black-banning" of defence lawyers at terrorism trials.
Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
Before returning to Australia last year, Thomas was arrested and held in custody for five months by Pakistani authorities before being released without charge.
Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
A Victorian man has been remanded in custody after being charged with terrorism offences, including having links to Al Qaeda?
Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
ASIO a know Australian terrorist organization is verballing the community again...about allegations that a man, while living overseas, received funds from Al Qaeda and had close association with the members of the terrorist group.
DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network? Munchkins: "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead."
AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.
Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.
He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....
Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
The New South Wales Supreme Court has asked innocent man Bilal Khazal to increase to amount of surety offered, before the bail is formally continued.
HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!
Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.
Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
The Islamic Youth Movement has denied having any links to Al Qaeda and says it is considering legal action against the Four Corners program. In a statement released early this morning, the group rejects allegations it is helping coordinate any kind of terrorist network inside Australia and says it is being unfairly targeted.
2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.
