A copper's lot may not be happy, but it is certainly well paid

NSW Police to set up full time riot squad following Forbes protests - no one wants to be Commissioner of Police in NSW - no one wants to be a copper in SA - another copper rapes a juvenile - more secrecy bungles in Victoria - more drugs for the cops on duty - Justice Wood (former Commissioner into Police Corruption) says little has changed in 10 years - cops on corruption charges get stressed out and get compo.

NSW Police have announced that a full-time stand by riot squad will be set up. A Sept 1 AAP report says that lessons have been learned 'during the Macquarie Fields riots and Forbes conference protests.'

NSW Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, announced the squad's formation on Sept. 1, saying its members would be handpicked and specially trained.

The 45-member team would be led by Kings Cross Commander, Superintendent Steve Cullen, who had been directing police security for the Forbes Global CEO conference in Sydney.

'We have drawn on the lessons learned from Macquarie Fields and are mindful of the public order incidents witnessed at the Forbes Global CEO Conference,' Mr Moroney said.

Mr Moroney is facing his own riotous situation as a crisis has hit the senior ranks of NSW Police, with no one wanting to take over the job of Commissioner.

An August 28 report in The Sunday Telegraph spoke of the tension behind whether Ken Moroney would continue as NSW Police Commissioner or retire in favour of, among others, the Victorian police commissioner, Ms Nixon, who is in a spot of trouble herself (see below).

Ken Moroney has been a police officer for 40 years - can you imagine the mindset he must have ?

At least the top 5 in the senior command don't seem to be up to the job.

Candidate 1 (Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione) has told colleagues he doesn't want the job.

Candidate 2 (Assistant Commissioner Dave Madden) is still on sick leave, and awaiting the possibility that he will be criminally charged for allegedly leaking information obtained on a telephone intercept.

Candidate 3 (Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons) is also waiting to see whether he will face charges over the telephone intercept matter.

Candidate 4 (Assistant Commissioner, Dick Adams) has recently retired for 'health reasons.'

Candidate 5 (Assistant Commissioner, Bob Waites) has been widely criticised for saying that the combined forces of NSW Police could not protect Health Minister Tony Abbott from students at a proposed talk.

The Victorian Police Commissioner, Christine Nixon, could then be a realistic candidate to come up to NSW. How unfortunate, then, that she has done a shit in her own garden by violating rules designed to prevent corruption.

The Australian of August 29 reported that the Victorian Police Commissioner appears to have broken department rules about registering an underworld 'consultant' at the centre of a corruption scandal.

As Victorian Police Commissioner, you would have thought that Ms Nixon would be aware of the requirement to register police informants, if only to 'cover her arse,' as one senior officer was quoted. But that was not the case.

Note: since this article has been written, Ken Moroney has announced he will stay on, thus avoiding the need to choose anyone as a successor.

Following the people in Western Australia who don't want to join the police (see previous issues of Cop Watch) the recruitment problem has now shifted to South Australia. The Adelaide Advertiser of August 31 reports that local people don't want to join 'the filth' either, leaving a shortfall in recruiting targets.

Those who do become police officers are spending more and more of their time sexually abusing the vulnerable. If not 10 year old girls in Thailand (allegedly) as reported in a previous issue of Cop Watch, then teenage boys in Australia.

An August 20 AAP report says that former police inspector Bruce McLennan sexually abused two brothers, aged between 12 and 14, which included indecent assault and penetration.

Presumably because the former copper was 77 (sic), the abusive old bastard got a whopping 3 years 8 months in prison, but he will get out in only 12 months if he keeps his dick to himself while inside. He had been a copper for 38 years.

Whether genitals or confidential information, they just can't keep it to themselves. First, the Victorian Police Integrity Commission throws confidential files to the wind, then the Victorian Police, and now the Victorian Police has outdone itself.

An August 30 AAP report says that Victorian Police are 'disappointed' that secret police surveillance tapes that were meant to be destroyed by contractors were found in a warehouse by a rubbish collector.

The tapes, including one of murdered underworld figure Lewis Moran recorded in July 2001, were found by the rubbish collector in an unsecured warehouse. They have since been broadcast on the Nine Network (a commercial tv station).

The rubbish collector said the tapes were dumped at the warehouse and left for three months before he took them home to record on.

'There was no security at all,' he said.

When incompetent coppers are not abusing the sexually vulnerable, there's always the enormous amount of drugs at their disposal to keep their minds off things.

The August 26 Australian reports that a senior officer who led a raid in which the drugs seized were later linked to the overdose death of another policeman has been suspended.

The clear inference is that some of the drugs ended up from the evidence bag into the private possession of the police who were doing the raids.

After the former copper died through 'amphetamine and narcotic toxity' an investigation was set up.

Other officers who took part in the raid which obtained the drugs included former copper 1 (suspended from the police 6 months ago); former copper 2 (resigned from the police and faces drug charges); former copper 3 (under investigation) and former copper 4 (under investigation)

A Victoria Police spokesman declined to comment, saying the matters were still under investigation.

But does anything change ?

August 27 newspapers reported on the appointment of Justice Wood as the new NSW police watchdog 10 years after the landmark royal commission into NSW police found systematic corruption.

Has anything changed since he exposed corruption into the NSW police force ? No, says the former Judge. The police have failed to establish systems that 'control the emergence of misconduct or corruption'.

Justice Wood said that the NSW Police Association [the copper's 'union'] had an 'intuitive reaction of denial and defence' and that an independent legal office should be established.

All of this corruption investigation must get stressful for the police officers involved. So why not give them stress compo handouts ? A September 2, APP report says that Victorian police suspended while facing corruption charges receive payouts under the state's workers' compensation scheme for stress related to the investigation.

This seems to second-guess the outcome of the investigation. Suspected corrupt coppers can be suspended with pay (where the evidence is flimsy) or without pay (if the evidence is overwhelming). When suspended without pay, they simply apply for compo.

A copper's lot may not be happy, but it is certainly well paid...

By Cop Watcher 8 September 05

Community to keep an eye on police violence

The Community will keep an eye out for police violence while they are having fun demonstrating and protesting the Global Forbes conference today.

30A.org AT THE OPERA: An eyewitness account

Well I rode into town on my pushbike and went straight down to the Quay to the protest location, got to about Surry Hills and could smell horse shit thinking the cops aren't far off. Sure enough I went around the corner and there were four cops on horseback and they were in riot gear so I avoided them.

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney. Activists successfully shut down ANZ, corporate climate criminals and the Australian Stock Exchange.

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay

In an attempt to disrupt a conference involving some of the world's top business executives THOUSANDS of protesters are to take over Circular Quay.

Related Links:

Cop Watch: When permanent head injuries ruled to be reasonable force Former copper kidnaps and rapes 10 year old (allegedly) - Commission rules that police violence that leads to serious and permanent head injuries is 'reasonable' - more police lies on the de Menezes killing in London by terrorist police officers - NSW Police Association criticise A30 Opera House cost of policing - Victorian Police stuff up traffic tickets (again).

Cop Watch: No. 4 Terrorism in Ballarat
Terrorism in Ballarat - former Sydney copper sues the police after becoming drug addict - Victorian Police unlawfully releases 'up to 20,000 pages' of confidential files.

Australia: Cop Watch No. 3
This round-up includes: disgraced officers may get reinstated with back pay - more confidential information gets released into the public domain by police - body searching at the Sydney Opera House - and Irish police pissed off over WA police poaching campaign in Ireland.

Australia: Copwatch No.2
A review of what the boys and girls in blue have been up to shows that their respective juices have been stimulated by their ability to demand greater and greater police powers.

Australia: Cop Watch
The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the Ceja Taskforce and drug related corruption in Victoria police has been tabled in State Parliament.

Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden could have compromised gang-rape investigation? Steve Mortimer resigned!

More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has sacked an officer who confessed to being involved in corrupt activities over the past eight years.

Policeman draws blank on fake raids
A suspended Sydney policeman has told an inquiry that he has "little recollection" of the details of fake police raids he set up.

Officer planned to kidnap criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

Come in spinner? Or Come in sinner?
"You don't have, in my view very vigilant processes. I suppose it's akin to the problem of corruption within the police," he told the ABC radio. " People say there's corruption with the police (but) do you get the police to investigate problems within their own ranks?

Deeds
I am disturbed by Governments 'actions' in relation to shuffling the police service. Clive Small seconded into Parliament like a cocky in a perch. A breach of the fundamental Separation of Powers Doctrine does not in my view allow the thought of intervening, planning, or shuffling to stack the deck of our police service. The one that suppose to be autonomous according to Lord Denning. Where the Parliamentary Secretary can ask the commissioner of police to 'report' then sack him if he is not satisfied with such report.

Truth
Who is telling the truth? Well I guess Dr. Ed. Chadbourne or Mr. Peter Ryan may have the answer to that. Dr. Chadbourne sacked by Peter Ryan and more specifically in my view because he elected deputy commissioners Dave Madden and Andrew Scipione as the best men in the service in relation to his qualifications to make a recommendation in his capacity as human resources.That is if you believe that a Dr. can be corrupted.

Honesty
What is happening between the Police Service and politics is quite extraordinary at the moment. If stand over tactics don't work tell half the truth honestly and follow the example of sheep. Another word for it is sleaze, yeah. Another word for it is workplace harassment. Another word for it is bribing a Police Officer. Another word for it is misleading Parliament.

Tele Tales
Most people I know don't buy the Daily Telegraph. Why? Because of the lies and propaganda purported by them.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerous senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Corrosive
Clive Small is Bob Carr's choice for the new Police Commissioner. It could only be the case considering his, Small's special appointment into Parliament House. Small who suffers from the little person syndrome is the ideal bend over boy who gets shuffled through his corrupt actions. Rolling the legal system for him after the fact, just like his predecessor Roger the dodger Rogerson.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Same boat
The Premier, Bob Carr, relies on a militia. A gang of bikies and our Police Service, to show all of us he is no murderer. He should be taken to the task along with his partners in crime like Clive Small to account for those people who like my self have been maliciously assaulted and who have complained, without any service and those who cannot speak for themselves who were murdered, like Terry Falconer. Terry murdered in custody.

Good Cop
Why have our democratic institutions broken down? It's not just the criminal justice system. The Anti-Corruption Network webmaster@anti-corruption-network.org exposes the same issues. A group of white-collar workers who say they have suffered as follows:

Dangerous
I refer to the Daily Telegraph article 22 March 2002 under the heading Priest quits advisory job.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Warren Lanfranchi, or Sally-Anne Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

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.

Captain Dunstan commander of peacebus.com has just left the city

Captain Dunstan the creative mastermind behind the 30a creative workshop has bid good bye to the big city promising to return in the near future.

Captain Dunstan was the principle creative genius behind the skeleton puppets assorted banners, flags, lanterns, costumes and showmanship of the very first political protest on the steps of the Surry Hills Police Centre. Without Captain Dunstan and his deputy captain John Peace the 30a festival of creative protest may never have succeeded in gaining the the international spotlight for the Stephen Forbes garage sale of Australia's civil infrastructure.

Sydney Indymedia: Give Us back Our Friends

peacebus.com has now returned to its mission of creative dissent, politicising the people of Australia and raising the confidence and participation of all Australians in society. in the Captains own words:-" "Forbes will certainly think twice before coming back to Sydney."

"...if the conference ever does return it certainly wont be getting the millions of dollars worth of free security."

Thank you Captain Dunstan you are always welcome back to our city.

By Just Us 3 September 03

Related:

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney
Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney. Activists successfully shut down ANZ, corporate climate criminals and the Australian Stock Exchange.

30A.org AT THE OPERA: An eyewitness account
Well I rode into town on my pushbike and went straight down to the Quay to the protest location, got to about Surry Hills and could smell horse shit thinking the cops aren't far off. Sure enough I went around the corner and there were four cops on horseback and they were in riot gear so I avoided them.

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" As the free-market Forbes freaks meet in Sydney, proposed new "terror" laws have been touted as "inherently dangerous" and open to misuse. A recent poll, found that 70 per cent of respondents expected a terrorist attack in Australia within two years -- up from 66 per cent in March last year...

Community to keep an eye on police violence
The Community will keep an eye out for police violence while they are having fun demonstrating and protesting the Global Forbes conference today.

Clowning as a protest tactic
Australian police will call in reinforcements to help guard next week's Forbes Conference of world business heavyweights which is expected to draw thousands of demonstrators, they said on Tuesday.

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay
Trade unionists, anti-globalisation activists, peace campaigners, environmentalists and religious groups will join forces as the 30A Network on the opening day of the conference, August 30, to make their point on everything from industrial relations reform to global warming and the continuing commitment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Illegal and Degrading War

Teachers accused of anti-US bias
AUSTRALIA: The fascist federal treasurer has drawn a rebuke from teachers for warning them against spreading anti-Americanism in schools and suggesting it could mutate into anti-Westernism and terrorist attacks against Australia.

Social Services

Australian Greens Senator Responds To: Social Services Cuts
I am writing to you because I am concerned about people living in poverty in Australia. In Parliament, legislation will be introduced to put many people with disabilities and single parents on unemployment payments. If this law goes ahead unchanged, more people will live on less money after July 2006.

Corporate Welfare

Corporate welfare or how to steal social services?
Ever wondered why there are so many homeless, why we need a 10 pc GST, lack of services for mental disability, still paying off the Olympics, poor public transport planning etc etc etc?

Unemployment

Work for the dole is legal slavery
Work for the dole was originally sold to us by Howard as a warm and fuzzy light work project. We would be working for nothing but we would be enjoying giving back something to the community, so it was reckoned.

Military Spending

Howard: We as a nation have got to invest heavily in defence?
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd has indicated the Government will make major changes to work place laws, cut disability support forcing the disabled to work and increase his defence commitment.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Climate Change

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

HoWARd: Winner who failed to lead by example but still won?
CHRISTMAS and the lead-up have their familiar rituals. On Christmas Day there is the present giving, church going and massive lunch, followed by the big recovery sleep.

Kyoto Protocol start date set
The Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming will take effect from February 16 after Russia formally handed over its notice of ratification overnight.

Law Enforcement Violence

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.

Restrictions on police stun guns
UK: The controversial Taser stun gun is a "dangerous weapon" which should not yet be issued to all frontline police officers, Home Office minister Hazel Blears has said.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Death in Custody: Douglas Bruce Scott
We congratulate Ms Letty Scott, her Family and her supporters, of which the writer counts himself and this Association as being, towards their successful twenty year struggle for Justice.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
This is for all the children, now, and those to be............

Rally to seek fresh Hickey hearings
A community rally calling for the reopening of the inquest into the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey will be held at Walgett in northern New South Wales today.

Doomadgee's body released for burial
The body of a man who died in custody on Palm Island last month has been released for burial.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

Community disturbed by riot violence?
Don't blame it on the social mix, don't blame it on the housing estate, don't blame it on the dysfunctional community but blame it on the Police Force!

The ALP's fascist police states
Welcome back Sid-in-knee. Old Falangist Samaranch would surely feel right at home in any number of fascist police states around this wide brown land today. Who needs Franco when you have Beattie, Rann, Carr, Bracks and co. Flamin' fascist fucks the lot of them.

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.

GIVE A DOG A BONE?
When the Ombudsman investigates police in most States and Territories of Australia they set about asking the police to investigate themselves to see if there is any validity to a complaint.

Fatal accident prompts police pursuit probe
A fatal car accident in New South Wales has prompted a review of the procedures police use during high-speed pursuits.

Bent cop no different
34-year-old police inspector Shane Cribb, who shot a man shouldn't be treated differently than any other person charged with the same offence.

Random police raid terrorised residents
A police task Force randomly targeting gang warfare is investigating nine murders and one disappearance, including a shooting death that sparked a dramatic random dawn raid in south-western Sydney yesterday.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

MISTREATED IN CUSTODY - NO ACCOUNTABILTY
I was in custody in NSW six weeks ago, and was a victim of an aggravated assault incited by a prison officer. Despite this happening in front of many witnesses, including correctional services officers and other detainees, and under mandatory video surveillance, a formal complaint to the NSW Commissioner of Corrective Services an his Professional Conduct Management Committee only revealed that as far as they were concerned, this didn't happen.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Baxter visit convinces Burke of need for royal commission
AUSTRALIA/CUBA Federal Labor's new immigration spokesman Tony Burke says after visiting the Baxter detention centre he is now more convinced then ever of the need for a royal commission into immigration detention.

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

Unlock the Box:
Unlock the Box is a product of many years of struggle to shut down the Security Housing Units in California. During this time, the United Front to Abolish the SHU was created as a forum to coordinate the actions of everyone involved in this campaign.

Baxter,'akin to the time in Nazi Germany'
I went to Baxter this Easter just past, and became more aware that this time is akin to the time in Nazi Germany when the concentration camps were being set up.

Overhaul Department of Justice: Reform Group
WA: The Prison Reform Group of WA is calling for a complete overhaul of the Department of Justice following recent events which have compromised its integrity, placing prison staff, prisoners, their families and the community, at risk. We call for the Minister to publicly apologise for last week's debacle which has seen the public badly let down by the Department of Justice yet again.

Detention Centres, Solitary Confinement
On Friday night the NSW Council for Civil Liberties awarded Sydney solicitor John Marsden honorary life membership. Julian Burnside was invited to make the speech in Marsden's honour. In the course of his speech, Burnside referred to the unregulated use of solitary confinement in Australia's immigration detention centres, criticising it as inhumane and also as unlawful.

Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

On Solitary Confinement
There has been much written about solitary confinement by some of the world's leading psychiatrists, but very little written by victims of solitary themselves. I believe that the 32 years I have spent in solitary qualifies me for the task.

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

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney. Activists successfully shut down ANZ, corporate climate criminals and the Australian Stock Exchange.

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney.

Hosted by Forbes Magazine editor-in-chief Steve Forbes, the Forbes CEO Global Conference has brought together 350 of the world's business leaders in Sydney. Forbes has also fortified itself in the Sydney Opera house with a personal army of a thousand special tactics police, police dogs, horses, boats and helicopters to protect and remove themselves from the cries of anti-corporate and anti-war protestors.

Instead of engaging in a futile attempt to march on or blockade the Opera House, anti-war and environmental activists took to the streets of Sydney and it turned into a day of NON-COMPLIANCE and RESISTANCE. Non-compliance--a stoppage of normal activity to protest objectionable conditions, a halting of our participation in the system. Resistance-- force the system to shut down by sticking a wrench in the gears! It was a day where people reclaimed public space, discussed their ideas, put their bodies on the line and expressed their freedom, creativity and autonomy.

A number of office occupations and demonstrations planned outside businesses throughout the city instead was the theme of the day. Despite the best efforts of the Sydney police, anti-corporate activists have been able to disrupt and shutdown numerous corporate and financial targets through the course of the second day of the Forbes Conference.

Utilizing decentralized creative action, affinity groups and action teams dispersed throughout the city causing ANZ Bank to shut down all it's downtown branch's, putting on street theater at war profiteer Halliburton/KBR, disrupting numerous corporate climate criminals, causing the closing of the doors at the Australian Stock Exchange and keeping one step ahead of the police as a festive Reclaim the Streets rolled through downtown.

Tense moments occurred as police at one point locked in Reclaim the Streets at Wynyard St. Thus far, 10 people have been arrested. One man wearing a white disposable jumpsuit and mask, was hurt in the clash and had to be treated for minor injuries by ambulance officers. Activists chanted "This is not a police state, we have the right to demonstrate!" as police illegally detained large groups of people. Tonight and tomorrow, more small group actions are planned.

Photos from the Hands Off Halliburton action outside Kellog Brown and Root (KBR) a major subsidiary of the Halliburton corporation of which US Vice President Dick Cheney was formally the CEO. Halliburton have made massive profits in Iraq from it's so call reconstruction. The protest aimed to highlight the greed of these war profiteers and the deceit of the war in Iraq. It was fun too!!!

Sydney Indymedia: Video: Police Violently Remove Protesters From Footpath

A citizen's arrest has seen the capture of one of the all time badass war criminals in Australian history.

The culprit was captured robbing pensioners, picking fights with Muslims and trying to stand over indigenous Aboriginals, unionists, (students and workers).

Sydney Indymedia: Give Us back Our Friends

NSW Police kidnapped our friends because they dont want us exercising our political rights.

Sydney Indymedia: Forbes A30 Protest-Sydney

"A Letter to Friends" video and audio footage

By htx 31 August 05

Other Related Video:

Revolution Inc: 2005 in Review2

Related:

30A.org AT THE OPERA: An eyewitness account
Well I rode into town on my pushbike and went straight down to the Quay to the protest location, got to about Surry Hills and could smell horse shit thinking the cops aren't far off. Sure enough I went around the corner and there were four cops on horseback and they were in riot gear so I avoided them.

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" As the free-market Forbes freaks meet in Sydney, proposed new "terror" laws have been touted as "inherently dangerous" and open to misuse. A recent poll, found that 70 per cent of respondents expected a terrorist attack in Australia within two years -- up from 66 per cent in March last year...

Community to keep an eye on police violence
The Community will keep an eye out for police violence while they are having fun demonstrating and protesting the Global Forbes conference today.

Clowning as a protest tactic
Australian police will call in reinforcements to help guard next week's Forbes Conference of world business heavyweights which is expected to draw thousands of demonstrators, they said on Tuesday.

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay
Trade unionists, anti-globalisation activists, peace campaigners, environmentalists and religious groups will join forces as the 30A Network on the opening day of the conference, August 30, to make their point on everything from industrial relations reform to global warming and the continuing commitment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Illegal and Degrading War

Teachers accused of anti-US bias
AUSTRALIA: The fascist federal treasurer has drawn a rebuke from teachers for warning them against spreading anti-Americanism in schools and suggesting it could mutate into anti-Westernism and terrorist attacks against Australia.

Social Services

Australian Greens Senator Responds To: Social Services Cuts
I am writing to you because I am concerned about people living in poverty in Australia. In Parliament, legislation will be introduced to put many people with disabilities and single parents on unemployment payments. If this law goes ahead unchanged, more people will live on less money after July 2006.

Corporate Welfare

Corporate welfare or how to steal social services?
Ever wondered why there are so many homeless, why we need a 10 pc GST, lack of services for mental disability, still paying off the Olympics, poor public transport planning etc etc etc?

Unemployment

Work for the dole is legal slavery
Work for the dole was originally sold to us by Howard as a warm and fuzzy light work project. We would be working for nothing but we would be enjoying giving back something to the community, so it was reckoned.

Military Spending

Howard: We as a nation have got to invest heavily in defence?
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd has indicated the Government will make major changes to work place laws, cut disability support forcing the disabled to work and increase his defence commitment.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Climate Change

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

HoWARd: Winner who failed to lead by example but still won?
CHRISTMAS and the lead-up have their familiar rituals. On Christmas Day there is the present giving, church going and massive lunch, followed by the big recovery sleep.

Kyoto Protocol start date set
The Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming will take effect from February 16 after Russia formally handed over its notice of ratification overnight.

Law Enforcement Violence

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.

Restrictions on police stun guns
UK: The controversial Taser stun gun is a "dangerous weapon" which should not yet be issued to all frontline police officers, Home Office minister Hazel Blears has said.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Death in Custody: Douglas Bruce Scott
We congratulate Ms Letty Scott, her Family and her supporters, of which the writer counts himself and this Association as being, towards their successful twenty year struggle for Justice.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
This is for all the children, now, and those to be............

Rally to seek fresh Hickey hearings
A community rally calling for the reopening of the inquest into the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey will be held at Walgett in northern New South Wales today.

Doomadgee's body released for burial
The body of a man who died in custody on Palm Island last month has been released for burial.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

Community disturbed by riot violence?
Don't blame it on the social mix, don't blame it on the housing estate, don't blame it on the dysfunctional community but blame it on the Police Force!

The ALP's fascist police states
Welcome back Sid-in-knee. Old Falangist Samaranch would surely feel right at home in any number of fascist police states around this wide brown land today. Who needs Franco when you have Beattie, Rann, Carr, Bracks and co. Flamin' fascist fucks the lot of them.

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.

GIVE A DOG A BONE?
When the Ombudsman investigates police in most States and Territories of Australia they set about asking the police to investigate themselves to see if there is any validity to a complaint.

Fatal accident prompts police pursuit probe
A fatal car accident in New South Wales has prompted a review of the procedures police use during high-speed pursuits.

Bent cop no different
34-year-old police inspector Shane Cribb, who shot a man shouldn't be treated differently than any other person charged with the same offence.

Random police raid terrorised residents
A police task Force randomly targeting gang warfare is investigating nine murders and one disappearance, including a shooting death that sparked a dramatic random dawn raid in south-western Sydney yesterday.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

MISTREATED IN CUSTODY - NO ACCOUNTABILTY
I was in custody in NSW six weeks ago, and was a victim of an aggravated assault incited by a prison officer. Despite this happening in front of many witnesses, including correctional services officers and other detainees, and under mandatory video surveillance, a formal complaint to the NSW Commissioner of Corrective Services an his Professional Conduct Management Committee only revealed that as far as they were concerned, this didn't happen.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Baxter visit convinces Burke of need for royal commission
AUSTRALIA/CUBA Federal Labor's new immigration spokesman Tony Burke says after visiting the Baxter detention centre he is now more convinced then ever of the need for a royal commission into immigration detention.

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

Unlock the Box:
Unlock the Box is a product of many years of struggle to shut down the Security Housing Units in California. During this time, the United Front to Abolish the SHU was created as a forum to coordinate the actions of everyone involved in this campaign.

Baxter,'akin to the time in Nazi Germany'
I went to Baxter this Easter just past, and became more aware that this time is akin to the time in Nazi Germany when the concentration camps were being set up.

Overhaul Department of Justice: Reform Group
WA: The Prison Reform Group of WA is calling for a complete overhaul of the Department of Justice following recent events which have compromised its integrity, placing prison staff, prisoners, their families and the community, at risk. We call for the Minister to publicly apologise for last week's debacle which has seen the public badly let down by the Department of Justice yet again.

Detention Centres, Solitary Confinement
On Friday night the NSW Council for Civil Liberties awarded Sydney solicitor John Marsden honorary life membership. Julian Burnside was invited to make the speech in Marsden's honour. In the course of his speech, Burnside referred to the unregulated use of solitary confinement in Australia's immigration detention centres, criticising it as inhumane and also as unlawful.

Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

On Solitary Confinement
There has been much written about solitary confinement by some of the world's leading psychiatrists, but very little written by victims of solitary themselves. I believe that the 32 years I have spent in solitary qualifies me for the task.

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

30A.org AT THE OPERA: An eyewitness account

Well I rode into town on my pushbike and went straight down to the Quay to the protest location, got to about Surry Hills and could smell horse shit thinking the cops aren't far off. Sure enough I went around the corner and there were four cops on horseback and they were in riot gear so I avoided them.

I cut across Hyde Park but couldn't avoid the cops on every street corner. Must be hundreds! On my own quite early so I thought I better scan the area to see what the fuss was all about and the chopper was overhead loud as hell hovering above the skyscrapers.

Trying to warn off the protests is not a bad trick from the police gang but there is strength in numbers I thought, touch-wood! So it was quite early about 4pm and I wandered down the mall to get a drink to throw off any suspicion and to see what prevents the protesters getting to the Opera House.

But as I went closer it just got worse. A big cruiser in the harbour and cops walking all around not your average cops either they got the big ones out!

Just then I went over to the water to look into the sea and this bunch of cops comes past in this rubber dingy like the avengers of the neo-cons. Shit I thought, I'd better wait till the tribe gets here before I go any further. And to add to that feeling the atmosphere was bent just like a war zone and now I know what that feels like, cold and uncertain about your presence and future.

I knew I should have been a reporter!

Guerrillas everywhere, so I go over to a table just for fun and ask these tourists, "is this what normally happens around here?" Thinking if I had company it wouldn't feel so bad. Well they looked at me startled and said, "We can't believe it either". Just then they got up and left. I shouted 'be alert and don't be alarmed' they took no notice and I didn't blame them as I was definitely thinking the same thing myself.

Oh well, I thought I've come this far I guess I should have a look at the end. And when I got there it was a dead-end, a trap and I seen about 10 people and a girl with a sign that said 'No to corporate Greed' and a 100 police so I thought no, now is definitely not the time.

Like cold steel I slowly pushed my bike out of there away from the 'rocky web' for fear of prosecution for minding my own business and as I got closer to the Quay I felt relieved.

Then the tribe arrived from the Town Hall and what a relief to be with some real people at last. Then a short time later lots of people several hundred and if I can just say that the atmosphere was back to normal and not like a war zone.

That point I would like to express to everyone of you for this is precious and something we must never take for granted or for that matter ever let john hoWARd forget, amongst other things!

Even with hundreds of people at the Quay the police gang surrounded the people bridging up on three sides and most likely although I did not notice in the building as well and that would have fenced everyone in. The chopper noise drowned out the speakers until it was almost time to march to the dead-end! Coppers on horses, in the harbour, on foot and in the air for what? Forbes!

The police gang like to fence the protesters in and surround them grunting and staring is the tactic and if taxpayers are prepared to be pushed to that level then it is time to stand up for your rights to protest as well. Don't let them stand over your youth and fellow citizens who should be allowed to protest and demonstrate without feeling sick in the stomach with fear and worried about being there.

Or even to walk onto the forecourt of their Opera House and not be stood over by a bunch of cops and goons hell bent on foxing, intimidating and victimising the community so they will either get out of the trap and not protest or get caught in it.

Do we employ our police to intimidate?

You can just go down to Circular Quay sometime in the next three days and stand by your fellow citizens just as observers.

Related Video:

Revolution Inc: 2005 in Review2

By Just Us 30 August 05

Related:

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" As the free-market Forbes freaks meet in Sydney, proposed new "terror" laws have been touted as "inherently dangerous" and open to misuse. A recent poll, found that 70 per cent of respondents expected a terrorist attack in Australia within two years -- up from 66 per cent in March last year...

Community to keep an eye on police violence
The Community will keep an eye out for police violence while they are having fun demonstrating and protesting the Global Forbes conference today.

Clowning as a protest tactic
Australian police will call in reinforcements to help guard next week's Forbes Conference of world business heavyweights which is expected to draw thousands of demonstrators, they said on Tuesday.

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay
Trade unionists, anti-globalisation activists, peace campaigners, environmentalists and religious groups will join forces as the 30A Network on the opening day of the conference, August 30, to make their point on everything from industrial relations reform to global warming and the continuing commitment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Illegal and Degrading War

Teachers accused of anti-US bias
AUSTRALIA: The fascist federal treasurer has drawn a rebuke from teachers for warning them against spreading anti-Americanism in schools and suggesting it could mutate into anti-Westernism and terrorist attacks against Australia.

Social Services

Australian Greens Senator Responds To: Social Services Cuts
I am writing to you because I am concerned about people living in poverty in Australia. In Parliament, legislation will be introduced to put many people with disabilities and single parents on unemployment payments. If this law goes ahead unchanged, more people will live on less money after July 2006.

Corporate Welfare

Corporate welfare or how to steal social services?
Ever wondered why there are so many homeless, why we need a 10 pc GST, lack of services for mental disability, still paying off the Olympics, poor public transport planning etc etc etc?

Unemployment

Work for the dole is legal slavery
Work for the dole was originally sold to us by Howard as a warm and fuzzy light work project. We would be working for nothing but we would be enjoying giving back something to the community, so it was reckoned.

Military Spending

Howard: We as a nation have got to invest heavily in defence?
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd has indicated the Government will make major changes to work place laws, cut disability support forcing the disabled to work and increase his defence commitment.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Climate Change

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

HoWARd: Winner who failed to lead by example but still won?
CHRISTMAS and the lead-up have their familiar rituals. On Christmas Day there is the present giving, church going and massive lunch, followed by the big recovery sleep.

Kyoto Protocol start date set
The Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming will take effect from February 16 after Russia formally handed over its notice of ratification overnight.

Law Enforcement Violence

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.

Restrictions on police stun guns
UK: The controversial Taser stun gun is a "dangerous weapon" which should not yet be issued to all frontline police officers, Home Office minister Hazel Blears has said.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Death in Custody: Douglas Bruce Scott
We congratulate Ms Letty Scott, her Family and her supporters, of which the writer counts himself and this Association as being, towards their successful twenty year struggle for Justice.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
This is for all the children, now, and those to be............

Rally to seek fresh Hickey hearings
A community rally calling for the reopening of the inquest into the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey will be held at Walgett in northern New South Wales today.

Doomadgee's body released for burial
The body of a man who died in custody on Palm Island last month has been released for burial.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

Community disturbed by riot violence?
Don't blame it on the social mix, don't blame it on the housing estate, don't blame it on the dysfunctional community but blame it on the Police Force!

The ALP's fascist police states
Welcome back Sid-in-knee. Old Falangist Samaranch would surely feel right at home in any number of fascist police states around this wide brown land today. Who needs Franco when you have Beattie, Rann, Carr, Bracks and co. Flamin' fascist fucks the lot of them.

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.

GIVE A DOG A BONE?
When the Ombudsman investigates police in most States and Territories of Australia they set about asking the police to investigate themselves to see if there is any validity to a complaint.

Fatal accident prompts police pursuit probe
A fatal car accident in New South Wales has prompted a review of the procedures police use during high-speed pursuits.

Bent cop no different
34-year-old police inspector Shane Cribb, who shot a man shouldn't be treated differently than any other person charged with the same offence.

Random police raid terrorised residents
A police task Force randomly targeting gang warfare is investigating nine murders and one disappearance, including a shooting death that sparked a dramatic random dawn raid in south-western Sydney yesterday.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

MISTREATED IN CUSTODY - NO ACCOUNTABILTY
I was in custody in NSW six weeks ago, and was a victim of an aggravated assault incited by a prison officer. Despite this happening in front of many witnesses, including correctional services officers and other detainees, and under mandatory video surveillance, a formal complaint to the NSW Commissioner of Corrective Services an his Professional Conduct Management Committee only revealed that as far as they were concerned, this didn't happen.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Baxter visit convinces Burke of need for royal commission
AUSTRALIA/CUBA Federal Labor's new immigration spokesman Tony Burke says after visiting the Baxter detention centre he is now more convinced then ever of the need for a royal commission into immigration detention.

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

Unlock the Box:
Unlock the Box is a product of many years of struggle to shut down the Security Housing Units in California. During this time, the United Front to Abolish the SHU was created as a forum to coordinate the actions of everyone involved in this campaign.

Baxter,'akin to the time in Nazi Germany'
I went to Baxter this Easter just past, and became more aware that this time is akin to the time in Nazi Germany when the concentration camps were being set up.

Overhaul Department of Justice: Reform Group
WA: The Prison Reform Group of WA is calling for a complete overhaul of the Department of Justice following recent events which have compromised its integrity, placing prison staff, prisoners, their families and the community, at risk. We call for the Minister to publicly apologise for last week's debacle which has seen the public badly let down by the Department of Justice yet again.

Detention Centres, Solitary Confinement
On Friday night the NSW Council for Civil Liberties awarded Sydney solicitor John Marsden honorary life membership. Julian Burnside was invited to make the speech in Marsden's honour. In the course of his speech, Burnside referred to the unregulated use of solitary confinement in Australia's immigration detention centres, criticising it as inhumane and also as unlawful.

Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

On Solitary Confinement
There has been much written about solitary confinement by some of the world's leading psychiatrists, but very little written by victims of solitary themselves. I believe that the 32 years I have spent in solitary qualifies me for the task.

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

Cop Watch: When permanent head injuries ruled to be reasonable force

Former copper kidnaps and rapes 10 year old (allegedly) - Commission rules that police violence that leads to serious and permanent head injuries is 'reasonable' - more police lies on the de Menezes killing in London by terrorist police officers - NSW Police Association criticise A30 Opera House cost of policing - Victorian Police stuff up traffic tickets (again).

As teams of thugs with guns on their hips gear up for their protest against democratic dissent at Circular Quay, Sydney, on Tuesday, the thugs have been showing their true character nationally and overseas.

Former copper Christopher Ronald White has been arrested for sexually abusing a 13 year old girl in Thailand, according to the August 25 Bangkok Post.

The former senior constable kept the girl as a sex slave for 3 years, beginning her abuse at the age of 10.

His trial is expected soon.

Elsewhere, the ABC's 7.30 Report paid a visit to an old story which was broadcast in April, about a young Queenslander named Sam Hogan.

Sam was taken into police custody and mysteriously ended up with massive and permanent brain injuries.

He had been earlier been sprayed with capsicum spray and placed in a 'neck restraint.'

The ever-vigilant Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission has found that the massive and permanent brain injuries were not the result of unreasonable force.

In the words of the Commission, 'The arrest of Samuel Hogan was lawful and the force used was not excessive.'

In the word's of Sam's mother, Leslee Hogan, 'I think the report represents a gross miscarriage of justice and I just wonder how many people have to die or be grievously harmed before police get more than a rap over the knuckles.'

So, lets give the thugs more powers. ABC News Online on August 25 reports that the Tasmanian Opposition has called for new laws allowing random (ie, blanket) searching on TT-Line passengers. Heaven help us.

In other news, even more lies have been discovered about the killing of de Menezes in London by terrorist police, go to More lies from the British police on the de Menezes murder

The NSW Police Association has questioned why the so-called user-pays system, whereby organisers foot the bill for a police presence, was not being used for the Forbes conference, according to a Police Association spokesperson who was critical of the funding arrangements, on Thursday August 25,

AND, the poor bloody stupid and corrupt police in Victoria have received another ticking off, with the Victorian opposition calling for a review of the speed camera network following 119 infringements being sent out incorrectly, according to an August 25 AAP story.

By Cop Watcher 26 August 05

Related:

Cop Watch: No. 4 Terrorism in Ballarat
Terrorism in Ballarat - former Sydney copper sues the police after becoming drug addict - Victorian Police unlawfully releases 'up to 20,000 pages' of confidential files.

Australia: Cop Watch No. 3
This round-up includes: disgraced officers may get reinstated with back pay - more confidential information gets released into the public domain by police - body searching at the Sydney Opera House - and Irish police pissed off over WA police poaching campaign in Ireland.

Australia: Copwatch No.2
A review of what the boys and girls in blue have been up to shows that their respective juices have been stimulated by their ability to demand greater and greater police powers.

Australia: Cop Watch
The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the Ceja Taskforce and drug related corruption in Victoria police has been tabled in State Parliament.

Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden could have compromised gang-rape investigation? Steve Mortimer resigned!

More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has sacked an officer who confessed to being involved in corrupt activities over the past eight years.

Policeman draws blank on fake raids
A suspended Sydney policeman has told an inquiry that he has "little recollection" of the details of fake police raids he set up.

Officer planned to kidnap criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Capsicum spray killed Brisbane man
Remember one "Flick" and they're gone. A 26-year-old man has died in Brisbane after a scuffle with police in the inner-city suburb of Highgate Hill. Police say they went to a unit complex just after midnight to speak to the man. Inspector Ian Robinson says police used capsicum spray and the man collapsed and died.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

Australia's Political Underworld...And their enforcers
The promotion of law and order means money to big business. Profits from insurance, security fixtures, patrol services and the like can only continue to grow if the perceived threat of uncontrollable crime wave escalates. In the past few months there have been many examples of the true nature of our blood thirsty politicians and their sinister attempts to spoon-feed a not so gullible public with their repetitious rhetoric.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerouse senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Lanfranchy, or Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).Similarly, Peter Ryan facing the Police Integrity Commission for questions about his involvement in the demise of the dysfunctional reform unit. Chess in the court (rolling the legal system).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

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.