ASIO fishing expedition makes arrests

There have been a series of counter-terrorism raids in New South Wales and Victoria.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Moroney says more than 400 police officers have been involved in raids on 15 homes in south-western Sydney. [Fishing Expeditions.]

He says they have arrested six men alleged to be planning a terrorist attack in Australia. [He means 'scapegoats' to bolster support and to quell dissent for the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East.]

Moroney: "They're currently being interviewed by police and my expectation is that they will appear in Sydney courts this morning," he said.

So what is to show for it? Based on what evidence? I know, it's a secret!

Nine arrests have been made in raids in Melbourne.

Commissioner Moroney says a terrorist attack has been foiled. [Rubbish from a liar, that's not what we payed him for!]

[Moron] "I am satisfied that we have disrupted what I would regard as the final stages of a terrorist attack or the launch of a terrorist attack in Australia," he said.

Are you satisfied truthseeker? Well I'm not this is just another public relations exercise that no one can prove. But trust us we know best?

When I see evidence that's when I will believe Maroney the phony.

By Secret 8 November 05

Related:

SPEECH AT "STOP THE WAR COALITION" RALLY
TK: Several hundred people gathered in Canberra City on 5 November 2005 as part of a nationwide series of weekend rallies on the themes: Defend Civil Liberties, Defend Muslims, Troops out of Iraq.

Brisbane to protest HoWARd at charity function
Australia: Brisbane activists and concerned citizens will protest John Howard at his attendance at a charity ball this Wednesday, November 9th. The man who banned the word 'hypocrite' in parliament will be attending a gala fundraising dinner event for Rosies this week in Brisbane.

Police State Not Enough - Army On Its Way
The Military Minister has said that the Government intends to make it easier to call out the military onto Australian streets with shoot to kill powers This is another "anti-terrorist" measure" which has potentially frightening consequences for the right to dissent.

Anti-war rally report and photos
MELBOURNE: Rob Stary, president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, was one of the main speakers who attacked the anti-terrorism laws as abhorrent to Australia's liberal democratic values.

Thousands flood streets to protest draconian laws
Thousands of people protested their concerns yesterday that new draconian Anti-Terror laws were an attack on dissent, not fit for a dog and any new sedition laws would strangle freedom of speech and target innocent people.

Australian Prime Minister Plays Terror Card
The Australian government is under intense pressure to water down proposed draconian laws that include provisions whereby peaceful anti-war protesters could be jailed for 7 years under the language that they support the opposition of the Australian military.

Anti-terrorism laws inquiry calls for submissions
After lobbying from the Australian Democrats, the Government has agreed to a three-week inquiry. Democrats leader Lyn Allison is expecting a strong response from the community. "I think it's going to generate a lot of interest, I think there will be a lot of submissions," Senator Allison said. But Senator Allison doubts if her party will support the legislation.

Govt yet to show proper need for anti-terrorism laws: former judge A former senior judge has criticised the Federal Government's anti-terrorism legislation, saying it establishes a "secret regime".

Nazi tones in John Howard's anti-terror laws, says Malcolm Fraser
FORMER Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has suggested parts of the Howard Government's anti-terror package resemble measures taken by Adolf Hitler and says Kim Beazley's handling of opposition to the package should determine his leadership.

Arbitrary Detention and Magna Carta
Perhaps some rear-view vision may help you when considering the laws now being proposed regarding arbitrary detention. It is somewhat gratifying that international treaties are belatedly being cited as reasons to oppose this slide into dictatorship, but it is odd that no-one seems to remember what underpins our personal freedom here and the whole of our legal system.

Australia's 'Anti-Terrorism' Bill: the framework for a police state Over the past month, Prime Minister John Howard and the six Australian state premiers and two territory chief ministers have joined hands to draft draconian new laws that will erect the juridical scaffolding for a police-state. The Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 is unprecedented in both its content and in the conspiratorial methods that have been employed to push it through the state and federal parliaments.

ASIO settle wrongful detention case out of court
On the first of November ASIO and the federal Government of Australia settled out of court with a couple whose house had been raided a couple weeks after the [US false flag] September 11 2001 attacks against the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers in the USA.

The race that doesn't stop the nation
CANBERRA: And welcome to Canberra on the first Tuesday in November for the race that doesn't stop the nation. The Anti-Terrorism Cup. The final horses are being brought into the barriers, and we are almost ready for the start.

Constitution: Defending Against State Terror and Despots
Australia has no major laws that are not derivatives of English Law and all of our major laws rely on British court precedents for interpretation and implementation. These laws and our Constitutional Monarchy system create a situation where, even if Howard and all State Premiers vote unanimously on the Anti-Terrorist laws, and every ALP/Dem/Lib/Nat/Green party hack also votes unanimously on their laws, and even if such laws are given Royal Assent, those laws are still void.

Open Letter to Australian Senate
Every West Australian needs to take note of the proposed terror legislation that will be debated in the Senate next Tuesday. Our own Premier has sold us out, and the time has come for some serious and organised protest in WA to protect our democracy and civil liberties. Write to the Senate, to the papers, and to every political party. This is a fundamental issue that affects the future of our society.

$145,000 for false arrest in NSW
The lawyer - who has represented almost all Sydney's high-profile accused [alleged] terrorists, [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East] including Mamdouh Habib - who was kidnapped and tortured and who successfully sued the state for wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.

Preventive Detention: A Shield or A Sword?
There is a consensus among educated Australians that Preventive Detention is inimical to the democratic evolution of our country. Many are those who argue that given the standards of our time preventive detention is an unnecessary evil.

What's the Difference Between CHINA and AUSTRALIA?
If John Howard's terror law comes into effect, what is the difference between China, and Australia? No rifle executions? I think it is time to approach the Governor General, to dissolve Parliament on the basis that the present Government is attempting to achieve Dictatorial Powers.

Cracks in terror solidarity
In remarks that are at odds with the Premier, Morris Iemma's determined support for the legislation, Mr Debus said yesterday: "I think I share the concern about the legislation with plenty of other people. I don't query that we need to have very tough responses to the threat of terrorism [actually though, the community do query it because the actual threat of terrorism is coming from the Government] and I don't query that the premiers have signed off on a framework last month.

Australian Prime Meanster 'tells' States?
Prime meanster john hoWARd's original pact with the states seems to have fallen into disarray because his new anti-liberty laws breach human rights obligations and the commonwealth constitution.

Anti-Terrorism Bill details draconian police-state plans
First and foremost, the legislation provides for extensive detention without charge or trial, on the flimsiest of pretexts. With no notice or legal hearing, any person can be thrown into secret "preventative detention" or placed, by a "control order," in isolation under house arrest.

Shoot to kill on the belief of reasonable grounds is a problem
Provisions in relation to use of force in s105.23 raise serious concerns. In particular subsection 105.23(2) specifically contemplates the use of lethal force against a detainee where an AFP member believes on reasonable grounds that this is necessary to protect life or to prevent serious injury to another person.

ASIO laws: Don't be silenced
The secrecy surrounding the proposed national anti-``terror'' legislation stands in stark contrast to previous ASIO and "anti-terror'' laws that have been subject to scrutiny by parliamentary committees and public hearings.

Brisbane Peace Convergence calls on Beattie to reject terror legislation changes The Brisbane Peace Convergence (BPC) are calling on Premier Peter Beattie to reject the Federal governments proposed amendments to anti-terror laws. The BPC consider the changes to pose a threat to fundamental rights in a democratic society, including life, liberty and democratic action.

How's this for sedition?
Edmund Burke, who declared the tyranny of bad laws, was a deep political thinker and a ferocious polemicist. In 1777, he wrote to the Sheriffs of Bristol that the true danger to freedom was when liberty was nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.

Sydney Morning Herald Poll flawed
Sydney Morning Herald: "According to the latest Herald Poll, about three-quarters of voters think it is OK to lock up suspected terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East] without charge, put them under house arrest or shackle them with tracking devices."

SHOOT TO KILL MADNESS AND DRACONIAN LAWS
The Howard Government wants to give police executing preventative detention orders the power to shoot to kill. This is shoot to kill madness.

New anti-terror laws and the Muslim community
On 8 September the Prime Minister introduced a 12-point plan outlining new anti-terror laws [draconian laws to bolster support for John Howard's resource wars in the Middle East] in a press release. Two weeks later he went to the Council of Australian Governments meeting with the proposals. They approved the measures by and large.

Secret agents brief Bracks on 'seditious' protest
Australia: Melbourne: Thursday 20 October, 2005: A phalanx of "secret agents" delivered a written briefing to Premier Steve Bracks at Parliament House today to tip him off to potential "seditious activities" at a planned demonstration for civil liberties on Saturday.

Shoot-to-kill bluff
AUSTRALIA: federal labor leader kim sleazley has predicted the federal dictatorship will fail in its push for a shoot-to-kill policy to be included in its counter-terrorism laws.

Sedition Laws Target Peaceful Civil Disobedience
The new Sedition Laws in the anti-terror bills clearly target people who call for acts of non-violent civil disobedience. Under the laws there is no defence for calling for change to any law by anything other than lawful means. Penalty is up to seven years jail.

Stanhope flags doubts on 'hasty' terrorism bill
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says he may refuse to sign off on parts of the Federal Government's hasty terrorism bill. Mr Stanhope published a draft of the controversial laws [draconian laws] on his website on Friday and has refused to take it down despite a directive from the Federal Government.

Despoja: Stanhope hero of the hour
Natasha Stott Despoja has described Mr Stanhope as the "hero of the hour". Senator Despoja says there is meant to be a vote on the draft legislation in the week beginning November 7.

Stanhope stands his ground
Stanhope: It is bizarre to think legislation of this significance can be rushed into Parliament without consulting a single Australian.

Anti-terrorism laws inquiry 'too short'
Australia: The Opposition says the inquiry effectively gives senators just one day to examine the bills. Labor's homeland security spokesman, Arch Bevis, says the inquiry will be unable to scrutinise whether the legislation provides a balance between security and civil rights.

Australia: Draconian laws draw rights watchdog's ire
Human Rights Watch has condemned Australia's proposed anti-terrorism laws as a "shocking departure" from its historical championing of the rights of the individual.

Dissent Isn't Taken Lightly Down Under
Historian Michael Foley said during times of war pacifists often get mugged. As a nonviolent activist working to end the war in Iraq and the corporate war profiteering that comes with it, September 2005 has been the most surreal time of my life and I definitely feel like I got mugged by Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock and the Australian government.

Australia: Rattling the cage
Recently, the federal government announced a controversial new 'counter-terrorism' package. Civil libertarians were quick to raise the spectre of a police state . Yet Muslim groups argued that the new security regime is already having an impact on the democratic freedoms and everyday safety of their communities.

AUSTRALIA: MUSLIMS SOLD OUT!
Hand picked alleged Australian Muslim leaders are being used to cut their own throats the same as the hand picked Indigenous mob have been used by the John HoWARd Government to screw ATSIC.

Anti-terrorism laws put rights at risk: Fraser
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says Australians could be treated unfairly under the Government's anti-terrorism [draconian] laws unless a human rights act is introduced.

Stop the war on civil liberties!
Prime Minister John Howard is using the "war on terror" to promote widespread fear about "terrorists" and "terrorism" in Australia. This is despite the fact that the biggest act of terror being committed today is being carried out by foreign troops, including Australia's, in occupied Iraq.

Spots and Stripes
It is well known that John Howard, infamous lackey and liar, is devoid of anything that could be remotely regarded as masculine or manly; the draconian measures he has implemented to 'secure' Australia against the terrorist bogeyman are astounding.

They know where you live
Twenty-four hours after the country's leaders agreed to draconian counter-terrorism laws this week, the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, was playing down media claims that ASIO believed there were 800 would-be suicide bombers living in Australia.

When Terrorism Outlaws Democracy
On September 27, 2005, Australian democracy surrendered to terrorism. On that day, a coalition of willing federal and state leaders agreed to anti-terrorism legislation that will enable police persecution of the Muslim community and threaten dissidents with imprisonment. In a country without a Bill of Rights, the prospect of more draconian Terror Laws delivers ultimate control through fear. Australia, with its history of penal colonies, racism and detention centers, is now set to become a police state.

Evans: moderate threat
Evans doubts reports that 800 potential terrorists are living in Australia.

No! Your Rights Australia
You have the right to not remain silent.

800 people deemed a potential security risk?
As reported in the Australian today, ASIO has apparently identified up to 800 people deemed a potential security risk. Ruddock says the draconian COAG measures "deal with people who pose a risk to the safety and security of the Australian community." Hmmm, like detained and deported US peace activist Scott Parkin perhaps? What is this broad definition of a "Terrorist"?

Democrat Will Oppose Anti-Terrorism Laws
NSW Democrat MLC, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, has accused the Premier, Mr Morris Iemma, of selling out to John Howard after agreeing to new 'Anti-Terrorism' laws yesterday. Dr Chesterfield-Evans said the proposed laws agreed to by Morris Iemma will not work.

Mein Kampf by John Howard
Months before Bali Au warships were seen invading Iraqi territorial waters in deliberate provocations under American protection. It was obvious that Howard had decided before Bali to join in an illegal and aggressive invasion of Iraq and in fact , when that happened, it was led by Au stormtroopers BEFORE the ultimatum given Baghdad had even run out!

Collection of Terrorists Meet to Take Away Our Rights
Tomorrow (27th of September) the State Premiers and the Federal Government are meeting to conspire to strip Australians of their rights. Welcome to the brave new world of electronic tagging and "preventative" detention.

Tell Your State Premier: Don't Do Ruddock's Dirty Work
Over the past several years, the Howard government has passed a series of dangerous new laws. These laws have undermined our basic legal and democratic rights.

Australian government unveils legal framework for police state
In the lead-up to his September 27 "counter-terrorism summit" with the eight Australian state and territory leaders, Prime Minister John Howard last week unveiled a package of legislation that goes well beyond the already deep inroads made into essential civil liberties under the fraudulent banner of the "war on terrorism..."

Australia: Counter-liberty plans unveiled
AUSTRALIA: VIC: BLACK Hawk helicopters and fighter jets will patrol Melbourne's skies during the Commonwealth Games next March, as part of counter-terror measures outlined today.

John H.o.W.A.R.d line roars at Fascism Week
AUSTRALIA: Parody: (Rooters) - While Attorney General Phillip Duddock helped wrap up a US protester for Prime Meanster, John HoWARd during Australia's Fascism Week after a 5 day detention debut and the removal of Mr Scott Parkin a peace activist who was deported back to Houston, Texas. The h.o.W.A.R.d fascism line, adding a dash of despotism to a week of largely draconian styles.

Parkin charged $11,700 for detention and removal
Los Angeles Friday, 16 September, 2005 : American peace activist Scott Parkin arrived back in the US today, escorted by 2 Australian immigration officials. He is expected to arrive in Houson, Texas on a Continental Airlines flight at around 3pm AEST.

Government out of control on security: Wilkie
Australia: Canberra Thursday, 15 September, 2005 : Former intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie today staunchly defended US peace activist and teacher, Scott Parkin, saying that the government's national security agenda is out of control.

Australia, USA, Iraq: Scott Parkin
The rapid and widespread response to the detention of US peace and global justice activist, Scott Parkin, has been heartening and effective on many levels. Actions have taken place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and outside several Australian Consulates in the United States.

Peace Activist Agrees to be removed but challenges security review
ATTENTION: CHIEFS OF STAFF - IMMIGRATION REPORTERS - LEGAL REPORTERS

Australia's fascist ideal: Proof
Philip Ruddock, Federal Attorney General to Australian, hopes to eclipse the neo-cons of the US in the race toward the fascist ideal of social uniformity and control (oppression).

Anti-War Extremists Loyal to Scott
What can I say to someone like Scott Parkin? Sorry mate, to get a PEACE prize in this country you need to be drop dead sexy, go-tees are out - you gotta go. Peace Prize.

US Peace Activist to be Deported
Scott Parkin, a Texas based peace activist was detained by Federal police at approximately midday Saturday. He was en route to give a workshop about the progress and success of the peace movement in the US and companies profiting from the Iraq war.

Howard government threatens academic freedom
As Peter McGregor noted in GLW #639, I recently resigned in protest from a committee of the federal government's National Health and Medical Research Committee (NHMRC) and called for a boycott by academics of government committees generally.

'Different times' call for bill of rights, says QC'
To ensure no future government can erode basic human rights. Lex Lasry, QC, gave last night's key note address at the University of Western Australia's annual Day of Ideas.

Australia: a little dab will do ya .....
Reflections on the phoney, hypocritical "values" debate being promoted by the federal government, as part of its proscriptive program to emasculate our democracy.

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" John North, Law Council of Australia: "In times of fear, it is easy for governments to impose ever (more) draconian laws."

Fishing expedition pays off
A man whose home was targeted by ASIO in fishing raids this year is facing fraud charges along with a co-accused who is linked to firearms offences.

The Terrorism of ASIO Laws
Wanda Fish asks Australian Senators to reject Howard's proposal to strengthen laws that already erode our basic legal rights. This legislation has the potential to turn ASIO agents into terrorists who can kidnap and detain innocent Australians simply because they "might know something".

Terrorgraph not quiet on 'Aussie militant' probe
AFP refuses to comment on investigation into militant video: hoWARd's abc.

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.

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.

Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
Greens Senator Bob Brown does not think increased police powers are necessary. "We have enormous powers for surveillance, apprehension or punishment of people who are engaged in or intending to engage in or thinking about being engaged in terrorist acts in this country," he said.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Indonesian Police Set Free After Torturing West Papuan Students to Death

If you thought Schapelle Corby got a raw deal from the Indonesian justice system, spare a thought for the West Papuan students who survived a vicious attack by police as they slept in their dormitories in Abepura, West Papua, in the early hours of 7 December 2000.

After nearly five years of waiting for the case to conclude, the students were in a Makassar court last week to hear judges hand down a "not guilty" verdict to two police officers accused of perpetrating the violence.

One West Papuan student was killed in the raid, two others later died as a result of beatings while in police custody, and over a hundred others were harassed or tortured in the attack. The case is the first to come before the Human Rights Court newly established under Law 26/2000, which, as an initiative was widely viewed as a positive step toward addressing Indonesia's appalling record on human rights.

However, the verdict sends an ominous message not only to West Papuans, but to all Indonesians, that Indonesia's legal system cannot be depended on to deliver justice, and is a reminder of the ongoing impunity of Indonesia's security forces.

Shortly after 1am on 7 December 2000 a group of unidentified persons attacked the Abepura police station. A policeman, Petrus Eppa, was killed in the melee. In a separate attack on the Autonomy Office in Abepura, a security officer, Markus Padama, was killed. Around 2:30am then police chief Daud Sihombing and then police superintendent Johny Wailan Usman ordered that the attackers be "hunted down".

The police launched a retaliatory attack against a group of mainly highland students who, according to subsequent investigations by a number of high profile legal aid and human rights associations, had nothing to do with either the attack on the police station or the attack on the Autonomy Office.

Over the following twenty-four hours, Brimob (Indonesia's mobile paramilitary police brigade) raided a series of nearby West Papuan student dormitories. Ninmin Hostel was the immediate target. The BTN Puskopad Abepura housing complex home to residents from Kotalima, Mamberano and West Wamena the Yapen Waropen hostel, and the Illaga University Students hostel, were also targeted by police.

One student, Elkius Suhuniap (male, 23-years-old) was fatally shot by police during the raids. Over a hundred others, including pregnant women and children, were rounded up by police and taken into police custody where they were systematically beaten, tortured and taunted with racist remarks.

One West Papuan student recalled the police beating him and spitting on him, saying "your mother eats pig and you have the brain of a pig " even with your college degree you won't get a job " You Papuans are stupid; stupid and yet you think you can be independent."

Two students, Ori Ndoronggi (male, 19-years-old) and Johny Karunggu (male, 20), died in police custody as a result of injuries sustained during torture. Another student, Agus Kabak (male, 19) was permanently incapacitated while a fourth student, Arnold Mundo Soklayo (male, 32), was crippled and later died in Jayapura as result of his injuries.

The students were tortured and beaten to death in the presence of Swiss journalist, Oswald Iten who had been arrested and detained previously for photographing an independence demonstration. The police told Iten that such violence was "normal" when a policeman had been killed.

Iten later wrote: "What I saw was unspeakably shocking. About half a dozen policemen were swinging their clubs at bodies lying on the floor and, oddly enough, they did not cry out; at most soft groans issued from them. After a few long seconds a guard saw me looking and struck his club against the bars of the cell block door.

I quickly went back to my usual spot, from where I could still see the clubs, staff and split bamboo whips at their work. Their ends were smeared with blood and blood sprayed the walls all the way up to the ceilings. Sometimes I saw the policemen hopping on the benches, continuing to strike blows from there or jumping back down on the bodies below."

Indonesia's national human rights commission, Komnas HAM, conducted an independent investigation into the attack. Twenty-five suspects were identified by the commission but only two were ultimately ordered to face trial by the Attorney General's Office. The Office gave no explanation why the remainder of suspects escaped prosecution. The two accused, however, were not arrested, and not only were they allowed to remain in their jobs, they were actually promoted. The Attorney General's Office obstructed investigations by the survivors legal team, and delayed the case well beyond the time limit stipulated by Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.

When the court handed down their verdict last week, the survivors and their families broke into hysterics. One woman climbed onto a chair and yelled in disbelief that the judges had been unfair. In contrast, the group of Brimob soldiers who packed the courtroom cheered and started singing the Brimob anthem. Prominent Human rights defender, Todung Mulya Lubis, who is based in Jakarta, says the verdict will only add to Papuans feelings of alienation from the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

Inside the court, representatives of Peace Brigades International accompanied the survivors, their families and friends, many of whom had received threatening phone calls and text messages or had been intimidated 'by persons unknown' in the lead up to the trial. Indonesian human rights advocates say they have been told by insiders that the judges involved in the case had been pressured by the authorities to deliver a not guilty verdict, and to refuse compensation to the survivors and their families. Also witnessing the proceedings were representatives of the European Union and the New Zealand and Canadian governments. No one from the Australian embassy was present.

Br. Budi Hernawan from the Catholic Office of Justice and Peace in Jaypura says "the Abepura verdict shows that human rights violations in West Papua are not taken seriously by the central government. The verdict demonstrates that there is no political will to deliver justice to the West Papuan people. The state is not even willing to protect the right to life for West Papuans."

The verdict was handed down just weeks after the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University released a report on the human rights situation in West Papua entitled Genocide in West Papua? The role of the Indonesian Security Services Apparatus.

The report, which took four years to compile, details a systemic policy of human rights violations of West Papuans, including the burning of entire villages, extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture at the hand of the Indonesian security forces. Both the Indonesian and Howard government questioned the veracity of the findings.

Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja spoke to the Genocide in West Papua? Report in parliament, urging the Australian government to pursue a relationship with Indonesia that is based on being honest and open, on having a mutual respect for human rights and on recognising dignity and the importance of human life. Senator Stott Despoja also called on the Australian government to revisit our role in the internationally discredited 1969 Act of Free Choice under which Indonesia seized control of West Papua. Greens Senator Bob Brown then put forward a motion that notes the release of the report and calls on the Australian Government to investigate the claims in the report and report back to the Senate. Senator Brown's motion was opposed by Labor.

In recent years human rights violations in West Papua have steadily worsened. Jakarta's inconsistent policies, military operations,unwillingness to fully implement Special Autonomy legislations for the province, moves to partition the province into two, and lack of political will to address the core causes of the conflict, have all made matters worse. Jakarta now plans to send military forces withdrawn from Aceh to West Papua, where a new military command will be established.

The increase in troop numbers shows the central government's fear of the nonviolent movement that is challenging Jakarta's legitimacy and whose grievances are beginning to capture the attention of a growing transnational moral community.

The brutality of the Abepura case illustrates the gravity of the dire human rights situation in West Papua. Last week's verdict will only fuel West Papuan nationalism and strengthen West Papuans determination to be free from what is widely considered by West Papuans to be an illegal and illegitimate colonial occupation by Indonesia.

It's not hard to understand why. And Jakarta only has itself to blame.

Alex Rayfield is a researcher and activist working with the Australian West Papua Association.

WWW.FREEWESTPAPUA.COM

Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings?
By West Papua posted 16 September 05

As Indonesian police get acquitted for murder and brutality again, what are you going to do in Australia to stop the Genocide on our next door neighbour?

Dear all friends around the world,

Please distribute my statement all over world and to the Indonesian embassy nearest you.

Let the world know what the Indonesian government is doing to my people today.

BW

Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings?
Statement by Benny Wenda, Oxford, England. 12 September 2005

Have you seen photos of the bruised and battered faces of my people, kicked and beaten by Indonesian Police in their student hostel in Abepura in December 2000? I didn't just see photos.

I saw some of my brothers and sisters with my own eyes. Their faces were so mangled I could hardly recognise them. I saw their blood mixed with their tears. I also spent time with the families crying for their loved ones murdered by the Police on that horrible day.

Now Indonesia has added yet another injustice and insult to my people. Over the past few days we Papuans have heard that Indonesia's so-called justice system has acquitted the two senior Indonesian police officers responsible for the Abepura massacre because the brutal killing of three unarmed Papuans (two while already in police custody) and the cruel beating of at least 99 other innocent Papuan students do not meet the necessary criteria for "gross human rights violations".

Amnesty International has issued this strong condemnation, which the world's democracies must listen to:

"Today's verdict means that not a single member of Indonesia's security forces has been convicted of these horrific crimes after nearly five years of investigations and legal proceedings. The verdict also denied victims any compensation.

Despite the Indonesian government's overtures of reform and the establishment of Human Rights Courts, this verdict sends an alarming message to the victims of grave human rights abuses.

These failures to deliver justice and combat impunity illustrate both a flawed system and a lack of political will, which sets an extremely worrying precedent for other cases of grave human rights violations currently under investigation.

Today's verdict also risks giving a green light to future human rights violations by the Indonesian security forces."

When the judge announced the verdicts, my people cried with anger. At the same time, Indonesian police in the court room cheered the two criminal policemen and sang marching songs with contempt for the suffering of the Papuan people.

Surely Indonesia can never think that we Papuans will ever want to be part of Indonesia? Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings? We have seen during 42 years of illegal occupation that Papuan lives mean nothing to Indonesia. We know that Indonesia just wants our land, our trees, our gold and our oil but not us human beings.

We Papuans know that full independence is the only sure way to save us from Indonesian colonial greed and the annihilation of the Papuans as a people.

The name 'Abepura' should be known as the site of one of our Papuan universities, training my people for their futures in a Free West Papua, but Indonesia has made Abepura infamous around the world as a place of Indonesian state violence and contempt for the Papuan people. But Indonesia has made another big mistake. By letting these two police criminals go free, Indonesia has put into all our Papuan hearts an even greater yearning for FREEDOM.

God Bless our struggle. Papua Merdeka!

Benny Wenda
Chair of DeMMaK (The Koteka Tribal Assembly)
International Lobbyist in the UK for a Free West Papua
PO Box 1409 Oxford OX4 1UN England UK
Mobile: +44 (0) 7791629782
Email: bwe-@infopapua.org
Web: Web:
Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign
Oxford, U.K.
E-Mail: samo-@aol.com
Tel: +44 (0)1865 241200

By Alex Rayfield posted 15 September 05

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Say no to Indonesia as a tourist destination
Australian tourists visiting Bali's nightspots will face random urine tests under an escalating anti-drugs crackdown on the Indonesian holiday island.

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.

'CORBY VIDEO HELP REBUFFED'?
On page19 of the BRISBANE "SUNDAY MAIL" there was an article entitled "CORBY VIDEO HELP REBUFFED". IF it is true, (the article which follows) it PROVES (IN LAW) the claim that OUR GOVERNMENT HAVE WITH-HELD EVIDENCE FROM THE LEGAL DEFENCE OF A CITIZEN.

It was me! 'New Corby trial'
SCHAPELLE Corby has been handed a second chance to fight for her freedom. But she got no second chances with the Daily Telegraph.

Australian man denies owning drug stash
AN Adelaide man facing up to 10 years in a Bali prison for drug possession has denied owning a stash of hashish allegedly found at his rented bungalow.

AUSTRALIANS PAY BRIBE TO VISIT CORBY IN BALI PRISON:
The Corby drug trial has become Bali's latest tourist attraction. Australians are taking time off to lend moral support to Schapelle Corby.

Corby lawyer pleads for Australian help
The lawyer for a Queensland woman facing drugs charges in Indonesia says it is not too late for Australian authorities to assist her defence.

THE DRUG-RIDDEN STREETS OF BALI:
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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.

POSSESSION? OR INVASION?
UK: This absolutely preposterous idea/theory of allowing a person/s to be possibly charged with 'possession', if found to have a drug substance within their bloodstream, just goes to prove such hypocrisies which certain hierarchies feel justifies passing legislation, is another blow for democracy!

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.

LAPD Accused of Unprovoked Attack at Vigil

NATION OF ISLAM minister Tony Muhammad, standing in front of Muhammad Mosque

US: LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promised an investigation last Friday into claims that a Nation of Islam minister was beaten by Los Angeles police during a vigil for a shooting victim.

Supporters of Tony Muhammad, western regional director of the Nation of Islam, are calling for tougher scrutiny of a police department that has repeatedly faced allegations of using excessive force.

Police said Muhammad was "very belligerent and uncooperative'' when officers asked that two vehicles to be moved on the Thursday night during the vigil. They said two of Muhammad's bodyguards also began fighting with officers, who called for backup.

Muhammad was arrested on suspicion of committing battery against a police officer.

In a series of news conferences last Friday, the mayor, police officials and religious leaders called for calm, and Villaraigosa and Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell promised an investigation.

"We will hold anyone accountable for breaking the law,'' Villaraigosa said.

Community activist Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade, said he believes Muhammad was "battered brutally in an unprovoked attack by the Los Angeles Police Department.''

Unless the department is reformed, "We all walk in danger,'' he said.

Muhammad, his lip appearing badly swollen, told a group of supporters earlier Friday: "Nothing's changed in 40 years. We are at the bottom and we might as well stand the hell up today.''

The vigil Thursday night was for Nahun Beaird, 21, who was fatally shot the night before. Some area residents didn't believe paramedics did enough to try to save him and had accused them of covering his body with a sheet while the victim appeared to still be alive.

When members of the crowd demanded paramedics remove the sheet and attempt to revive him, the paramedics, who had been loading a second victim into an ambulance, complied but were unable to resuscitate him.

Fire officials said Beaird was dead when paramedics covered him. Doctors at California Hospital Medical Center said Beaird had died at the scene.

McDonnell said Beaird was another needless victims of violence that grips the South Los Angeles neighborhood where he died. The area, just 8 percent of the city, has had 42 percent of its homicides this year, McDonnell said.

He implored residents not to let differences with the Police Department divide a mutual effort to reduce crime.

By Injustice posted 30 August 05

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Community Forum on Law Enforcement Violence
Don't miss an opportunity to join a diverse group of community members, organizations, students, workers, activists, organizers, artists, educators, experts, and spiritual leaders for a community discussion on organizing a grassroots movement to end law enforcement violence in our communities, on Saturday, July 16, 2005 from 9:00 am -- 12:00 pm at the TremZ Community Center, 900 N. Villere St. (at the corner of N. Villere and St. Phillip St.).

Racial Justice Day 2005
Religious congregations across the city will have services of remembrance & resistance, as a reminder to us all that police violence & brutality are real and continuing threats to the safety of communities throughout NYC and the nation.

Prisons as progressive punishment?

The State of Corrective Services

Prisons, by their nature and the communities they house, suffer more acutely from the factors of social exclusion that characterise the underprivileged sectors of Australian society.

Without the exacerbation of a custodial experience, these characteristics alone militate against the successful reintegration of prisoners back into the community. Any revision of punishment policy, therefore, requires more than retarding spiralling imprisonment rates.

For those who do end up in gaol, and for those employed to manage them, the prison environment requires significant redevelopment if inmates are not to leave prison more maladjusted than when they went in.

Prison staff have either worked to ameliorated the negative influences of social exclusion amongst inmates, or have contributed to the brutality of prison experience.

In New South Wales (as no doubt in other states), for instance, prison education officers have over the years had a significant influence improving prisoner literacy rates.

In so doing, they have addressed one of the simplest and yet most significant factors at work against prisoner reintegration. Prisoner education is recognised as one of the few correctional initiatives which seem to correlate with improved recidivism prospects.

In New South Wales prisons today there has been a move away from basic, egalitarian inmate programs in preference for elite cognitive therapies. This shift has been justified, it is argued, by the misguided belief that prisoners with the greatest risk of serious re-offending can be identified, and on them limited correctional resources should be concentrated.

In addition, this is again incorrectly supported by the conviction that, for these few inmates, their recidivism rates can be radically decreased through psychological intervention in gaol.

Against this, it is proposed that community corrections are cheaper and more efficient than prison rehabilitation. Having said that, for those available for corrections in custody, a more general improvement in the social environment of the prison is a simpler, cheaper and fairer way of dealing with recidivism than elite cognitive therapies.

The important ancillary benefit of this approach is that inmates and prison staff contribute to a more productive prison community. The quality of prison life then becomes as important a performance measure for the prison as recidivism, and recidivism will be improved as the prison addresses the fundamental issues of social exclusion.

The challenge is for prison management, staff and the community at large to accept that more humane rather than harsher prison conditions may be more conducive to lower re-offending and, thereby, improved community safety. This is the future for the prison in progressive punishment, rather than a problematic commitment to the deterrent effect of 'tough gaol time'.

Corrections in prison?

In 1988 I published an article entitled The Demise of Corrections. The central thesis was that penal correctionalism had failed because it was piecemeal and without the support of a well developed commitment of alternative strategies to the prison:

One would be rightly cynical of the relevance of correctionalism for criminal justice, when an examination is made of the limited, unimaginative and few semi-custodial and non-custodial alternatives which have been introduced into NSW since settlement.

The criticism is sharper in the current context of imprisonment in NSW, where correctional expectations continue to disappoint, despite a recent revival of interest in 'what works/offender management programmes.

In these days of post-just-deserts punitive conservatism, such a criticism has almost become and article of faith for punishment practice in NSW.

It is as if the significance of restorative justice and the manifold empirical failures of the prison have simply been swept aside, in favour of a vision of punishment which promotes custodial outcomes as the answer to public dissatisfaction with criminal justice.

All this is politically justified in terms of deterrence and community safety. Politicians, judges and prison administrators are frightened to talk publicly in terms of corrections, rehabilitation and reform and the legislation on sentencing sidelines their significance.

What is the taxpayer getting in return for the punishment dollar? It now costs over $160 per day to keep a prisoner in the state's gaols, half that figure going in capital costs.

Fading hopes for corrections?

Why is it corrections remains a euphemism in the popular culture of punishment in NSW? Do we continue to be bound to the single aim enunciated by Royal Commissioner Justice Nagle that inmates should not leave prison in a worse state than before they were incarcerated?

There is, however, a resonant critique of the motivation behind this new era for rehabilitation in prison. The criticism reflects the long established debate in criminology between psychological and social determinism. Let me pose a simple example.

There appears to be a significant connection between the imprisonment of parents and the eventual incarceration of their children. How can this be explained? Social determinists would propose that the criminogenic structural conditions of family life for the parent and the child remain constant, and the marginalisation they produce leads to crime and prison.

Psychological behaviourists will either blame criminal genealogies, crime as an intergenerational or genetic feature, or learning patterns within families that promote crime.

Psychological determination has taken hold in contemporary prison rehabilitation thinking. A reason for this may be that it holds out a causal connection between programmes and the reduction of recidivism. In a more cynical context, it also allows prison administrators to rationalise programme resources and to restrict programme entry on the basis of risk.

The criminogenic needs model of offender programming in prison argues for psychological intervention which addresses criminogenic thinking, needs and risk on the basis of cognitive behaviour research. Advocates of the model argue that a greater adherence to psychological justifications for rehabilitation will exclude other modes of explanation.

Even the belief that rehabilitation in risk has failed can be overcome by psychological models such as this, which explain criminal behaviour and go onto address offender risks, such as eventual re-offending.

This predictable intervention approach is said to enable targeted programme funding that can significantly reduce re-offending through programming of cognitive skills, promoting behavioural change.

Like the treatments and therapies of the 1960s that left rehabilitation in tatters, this new wave of behavioural prisoner programming may be equally problematic. For instance, when criminogenic needs programs themselves are unpacked they seem to contain little which is different from the teaching methodologies employed by prison teachers in general curricula.

Generally programme assignment is based on the principal that offenders who are at high risk of recidivism should be given priority for treatment. It is assumed that allocations of services to low risk offenders is wasteful because the latter group recidivate at rates which are too low to be affected by interventions.

What seems from the research to lack justification is risk classification based on diagnosis, of the original offending behaviour, rather than more material indicators, such as the offending history of the inmate, age, drug record and current offence.

The reliability of claims that selective allocation of cognitive behavioural programmes, based on individualised criminogenic diagnosis, will reduce recidivism is suspect. The ability to diagnose the cause of the inmates underlying criminal behaviour through psychological determinism is not sufficient to overturn more universal rights to programme access for prisoners.

If this diagnostic capacity was routinely available, and it is not, then such predictive wisdom would be more economically applied to crime prevention than correctional remedies.

Criticising the contemporary penal model for criminal justice

In recent years in NSW, political and public debate about criminal justice has moved from prison reform, through police reform and on to sentencing. Unfortunately, the analysis of sentencing has been constrained by several taken-for-granted public truths: Judges are soft on crime; tough sentencing makes for community safety; sentencing discretion needs to be constrained because it is inconsistent; lenient sentences are evidence of inconsistency; harsh imprisonment sentences are the only appropriate response to all crimes that make the community feel unsafe.

Responding to this pressure, the legislature has restricted sentencing discretion, raised sentencing ranges, introduced more factors of offence aggravation, reduced opportunities for executive release, and downplayed any punishment strategies beyond imprisonment.

This has led to more people going to prison for longer. Remand populations are at record highs. Any court disposition which might be interpreted as soft on crime is now met with the media response that prison is the only appropriate response.

As a consequence, criminal justice policy is skewed towards concerns about penal outcomes. Limited and costly prison resources are being squandered on whole classes of offenders who Justice Nagle declared as unsuited for prison. Suggestions that short-term prison sentences are ineffective now seem novel.

More than this however, everything associated with criminal sanctioning is measured against penal expectations, principal amongst these being community safety. Yet, even in this context, it is not easy to argue that rehabilitation needs to be directed towards cost-effective themes of social restoration, rather than psychological and institutional reprogramming.

With individual responsibility and appropriateness re-emerging in sentencing principles, it is not surprising that the behaviourists are back in the ascendancy when it comes to inmate programming.

By Mark Findlay posted 13 July 05

Mark Findlay is Professor of Criminal Justice at Sydney University

Next week: Custody as the challenge to corrections.

Crime and Punishment

Prisons, by their nature and the communities they house, suffer more acutely from the social exclusion that characterises the underprivileged parts of Australian society. Without the exacerbation of a custodial experience, these characteristics alone militate against the successful reintegration of prisoners back into the community.

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Adler punished for being in prison
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Department of Corrective Services fails to rehabilitate offenders
NSW: Unpopular people will be forced to wear tracking devices at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unit because the NSW Department of Corrective Services failed to rehabilitate those offenders at a cost of $65,000 a year while they were held in custody for many years.

Parole Board Membership
NSW: The Law Society is aware that two former long standing police officers Mr Robert Inkster, an Mr Peter Walsh, were appointed to the Parole Board as Community Members for a period of three years from 17 January 2005 until 16 January 2008.

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
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Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

MORE PRISONERS LOCKDOWNS HAVE OFFICERS ON EDGE
NSW POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has issued an ultimatum as well, to the lawless youths holding Sydney's streets to ransom?: Learn some respect or face jail?

Tough line on crime fills jails
The tough law-and-order policies of governments around the nation are behind an explosion in the prison population by almost 80 per cent in the past two decades.

FAMILIES OF PRISONERS FORUM
14,500 children in NSW go to bed each night with a parent in prison!

LEGAL VISITS AT PARKLEA PRISON
I am a prisoner in NSW and I am currently held in Parklea Prison. I am concerned about what is going on in NSW prisons and this is my story.

Parklea Prison: No calls for six days
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Prison visits in crisis in NSW
The reason I am writing today is to address a difficult situation that my husband and my family are going through. My husband is currently serving a sentence at Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
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The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Prison guards test positive for drugs
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NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
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FREE CHINA: NATIONAL RALLY

Farewell the Chinese Communist Party & Welcome freedom and democracy in China

On the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre we invite you to, 16 years after the tragic events of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to carry out campaign after campaign of brutal suppression of innocent people. From the persecution of Falun Gong, to Christians, to political dissidents, the Tiananmen Square Massacre was just one incident in a continuum of violence and suppression that is characteristic of the CCP's history. Since 1949, more than 80 million people have died as a direct result of the CCP's tyranny.

We invite peace loving people around the world to mourn the young lives that died for daring to seek liberty and freedom from the CCP. At the same time, the event is a celebration in anticipation of the collapse of the world's most deadly regime, an event that will be even more significant than the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

Currently, an average of 20,000 people every day are publicly declaring their resignation from the Party or its affiliate organisations. Come June 4, it is estimated that over

Two million Chinese people will have quit the Chinese Communist Party

The recent flood of departures has been attributed to an exclusive report by The Epoch Times called the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Published in over 30 countries, the extraordinary report reveals the mass public deception that accompanied the formation and development of the CCP, the untold killings and CCP's pursuit to destroy traditional culture.

Events and parades are to be held in many cities around the world simultaneously. Please join us in supporting the millions of people who are still denied fundamental human rights and liberty.

NATIONAL RALLY - SYDNEY
12 noon, Saturday 4 June, 2005
George Street Parade -- Assembly & Speeches at Martin Place

Thank you
Rally Organising Committee
Sydney Contacts: Kelly Zhan 0410 167 158,
David Rubacek 0425 867 585
Farewell to the CCP. FREE CHINA Free China (Farewell to the CCP)
Fax: (02) 8568 6166
Email: freechina@iinet.net.au

By Free China and Justice Action 2 June 2005

JUSTICE ACTION MEDIA RELEASE:
BY JUSTICE ACTION 2 JUNE 2005

Justice Action supports the right of people everywhere to assemble publicly and peacefully express their protests against repressive authorities.

Freedom the world over is intimately interconnected and repression too is now a globalised phenomena.

Australians have had this demonstrated to us recently in the suppression of free speech that accompanied the 2003 visits of George Bush and Hu Jintao - a suppression that even included the Australian parliament itself.

Justice Action particularly shares the struggle of those fighting for the rights and freedom of prisoners everywhere - whether held in NSW prisons, Chinese re-education camps or Guantanamo Bay. Prison systems, too, are a globalised crime against the freedoms and aspirations of all of humanity.

Justice Action calls on the Chinese government to immediately release all those it has imprisoned for speaking against the government or simply for following a personal or spiritual path.

We also call for justice, humane treatment and quick release for the millions of people currently detained and abused by Chinese authorities.

BRETT COLLINS
For Co-ordinator
Justice Action