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

We're all going on a summer holiday, no more working for a week or two. Fun and laughter on our summer holiday, no more worries for me or you, for a week or two?

Each year, a number of Australian citizens are arrested overseas, the majority for alleged drug-related offences.

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

In many countries drug-traffickers are presented with the death penalty. If you are caught with 15 grams heroin, or more, it is a mandatory death sentence.

These countries make no legal distinction between 'soft' and 'hard' drugs. Penalties for carrying illegal drugs can be severe, even for offences involving marijuana and alcohol.

Penalties include, the death penalty, life in prison without parole, limb amputation, flogging and even torture.

Being an Australian citizen will not save you from such penalties.

IF YOU ARE UNLUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND YOURSELF ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY --- HERE IS A SAMPLE OF WHAT TO EXPECT

Be prepared to share your cell with a bucket, at least a dozen cockroaches, some lice and a few rats. You will need to become accustomed to the aroma from the bucket (your toilet).

If you conform, prison officials will reward you with a lid for your bucket. If you refuse to conform, you may be legally flogged.

We're going where the sun shines brightly. We're going where the sea is blue. We've seen it in the movies, now let's see if it's true?

Dormitory cells can contain up to 20 prisoners with one large bucket for everyone to share. Contagious diseases, including Hepatitis and HIV are plentiful. The local drinking water contains a natural potent laxative. You are allowed one shower (2-3 minutes max) and clean underpants once a week.

The bed is usually a thin mat on the floor, but do not assume you will get much sleep - those annoying mosquitoes keep buzzing in your ears, and the rats have a bad habit of running over your face throughout the night.

As for the food - you wouldn't feed it to a dog - the cockroaches look more appetizing!

(source - Australians incarcerated in Asian/Middle Eastern prisons)

SENTENCES IMPOSED ON AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS FOR DRUG OFFENCES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Malaysia..... Heroin 141.9 grams ... Sentenced to Death - (executed July 07, 1986)
Malaysia ...... Heroin 141 grams.....Sentenced to Death - (executed June 18, 1993)
Thailand ...... Heroin 5.4 kilos.... Death Sentence (commuted to 50 years)
Thailand.......Heroin 190 grams.....Life Sentence (commuted to 25 years)
Thailand.......Heroin 350 grams ... Life Sentence (commuted to 33 years 4 months)
Thailand........Heroin 2.7 kilos.... Life Sentence (50 years)
Indonesia........Hashish 12 kilos.....20 years
Indonesia......Hashish 40 grams.....17 years
Vietnam ......Heroin 888 grams.....Sentenced to Death (commuted to Life without parole)
Vietnam ...... Heroin 300 grams.....Life Sentence (without parole)
Singapore.......Heroin 400 grams....Sentenced to Death Vietnam......Heroin ? grams.....Sentenced to Death

IF YOU ARE ARRESTED OR IMPRISONED OVERSEAS ----WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

If you find yourself arrested or imprisoned, you should IMMEDIATELY ask to be put in touch with the Australian Consul. The Consul will VISIT you as soon as possible after notification of your arrest.

Under the 'Vienna Convention on Consular Relations' which is the generally accepted standard for all countries, a person who has been arrested outside their own country MUST have access to their consular representative. This is international law, and you have the RIGHT to communicate with your Consul, before answering any questions.

In the meantime ....you have the right to refuse to answer questions in all circumstances (except your name and address). Say in answer to all questions --- "At this time I have nothing to say". Do NOT admit guilt. Do NOT sign anything. Do NOT believe anything authorities tell you before your Consul visits you.

In many countries, torture is often used by authorities to extract a confession. If you are assaulted by authorities, it is important that you tell your Consul as soon as they arrive to visit you. Ensure that they record your injuries, the date and the time of the incident. Try to remember the names and contact details of any witnesses to the assault, and the people who saw you immediately before, and immediately after the assault.

Your Consul and consular staff are there to assist you and to help you - they are genuinely interested in your welfare. They are NOT judgmental. They are on YOUR side and you can trust them.

If you wish, you should ask for meetings with your Consul to be in PRIVATE, out of the hearing of prison or police officials.

Your Consul will provide you with general information about the legal system of the country you are being held in. Your Consul will also give you a list of lawyers. Information includes, details on legal aid, prosecution, remand, bail and appeal procedures. This will help you to understand what is happening and you will be made aware of your RIGHTS.

Your Consul will approach local authorities to request that your basic needs are met, and that international humanitarian standards of treatment are respected. They will OBJECT if you are treated less favourably than local citizens arrested for similar offences, or if you are subjected to cruel or degrading treatment.

Your Consul will take up any justified and serious complaint about ill-treatment or discrimination with the police or prison authorities and advise your lawyer on this aspect. You should discuss any problems you may have with your Consul, such as; your financial situation, any health, medical, psychiatric, dental or other problems.

It is the job of the local courts of the country where you have been arrested, to decide on your innocence or guilt.

Your Consul WILL attend your trial in court as an observer. If you are found guilty, your Consul will continue to visit you and to help you, and you should not feel embarrassed in your dealings with your Consul. Arrangements can also be made to help members of your family, to the extent that is possible.

Remember.....If you are arrested in a foreign country, the laws of that country also apply to you. Hence, your Consul cannot get bail for you, cannot get you out of prison, and cannot pay your fines.

Consular officers are located in Australian diplomatic and consular posts abroad. These overseas posts are usually located in capital cities, but there are also some in regional centres.

Everybody has a summer holiday, doing things they always wanted to. So we're going on a summer holiday, to make our dreams come true?

For me and you?

By Gregory Kable, Cliff Richard & ACADP posted 17 November 04

.......AND FINALLY - A 'TIP' FROM ACADP

If you drink and drive - you're a bloody idiot.
If you peddle drugs - you're a bloody fool.

Have a great holiday. Come back safe and soon!

******************************************
AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
© ACADP Incorporated ¨
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The Premier Australian Internet
Resource on Capital Punishment

Related:

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

Clemency for condemned man
The Federal Government will appeal to Singapore's President for clemency for a Melbourne man who has been sentenced to death there. The death penalty was imposed on Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, in March after he was found guilty of smuggling almost 400 grams of heroin into Singapore.

Australian loses Singapore death sentence appeal
An appeal by an Australian citizen against the death sentence in Singapore has been dismissed. Nguyen Tuong Van was sentenced to death in March after being found guilty of smuggling about 400 grams of heroin into the country.

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

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

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

Doing time even harder: 146 prisoners far from home

They can be arrested, tortured, tried, convicted or flogged on evidence that would not be accepted by an Australian court.

They can languish in poor health in dangerous conditions, surviving only because relatives and friends send them money for food, medicine and protection or because Australian embassy officials pressure for an improvement in their treatment.

Robert Thomas, sentenced to 300 lashes by a Saudi court, is one of many Australians caught up in a foreign legal system.

All up, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping 146 Australians doing time in jails overseas. It provides consular assistance to a further 98 Australians facing charges overseas.

"All over the world, prisoners and detainees are held in conditions which threaten their health and their lives," says Russell Thirgood, president of Amnesty International, Australia.

Forty-five Australians are detained in the US, 65 in Europe, 16 in China, 26 in Thailand, and others in locations such as the Philippines, China, Vietnam and South America.

In some jails overseas, there are health and education programs, and remissions for good behaviour. Some countries offer legal and constitutional protection, including the right to a state-funded lawyer.

The United States, however, has detained without trial about 650 men from 43 countries. They include Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, who are held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of the sweep against global terrorism [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's, pre-emptive strikes, occupation and genocide for resources in the Middle East.]

A Melbourne man, Jack "Jihad" [keyword: Jihad] Thomas, has been held in Pakistan for months, without charge, allegedly for links with the al-Qaeda terrorist group [scapegoat to bolster support and quell dissent for the Coalition of the Killing's resouce wars.]

Australians jailed in the 50-plus countries that have a prisoner exchange agreement with Australia can serve out their sentences at home.

Overseas prison conditions came into focus again this week after Robert Thomas, an anaesthetic technician, was jailed and flogged for theft.

His family and friends are critical of Foreign Affairs, saying not enough has been done to free him, while Mr Thirgood says Amnesty regards the floggings as torture.

But a department spokeswoman said: "Mr Thomas advised us in writing that he had decided to accept the verdict, with only a verbal protest. Nevertheless, we proposed to Mr Thomas last November that we make representations to the Saudi authorities given Australia's strong opposition to corporal punishment. He agreed we could do that."

She said he had an air-conditioned cell that he shared with 11 other prisoners, and a television with access to English-language programs. He had access to a laundry and to funds via a prison trust. Embassy officials had visited him and given him books, she said.

"They let him watch Skippy and The Curiosity Shop," said his daughter Sarah Munro. "He can use the laundry but he has to pay for it, and he cannot eat the local food, so he has to buy Western food. He has no money for any of this. We send it to him."

What they're in for

Crimes committed by Australians held in jail overseas

Drugs (67), fraud (22), murder (19), assault (18), theft (nine), public security offences (six), sexual offences against minors (five).

Criminal charges faced by Australians overseas
Drugs (32), fraud (22), immigration (16), murder (seven), theft (seven), security (six), assault (five) (including three of sexual assault), sexual crimes against minors (three).

By Martin Daly Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 03

PM lost in space! Pre-emptive Strikes & Star Wars Defence!!

War criminal PM backs missile defence investigation but he is not on his own. Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader after draconian laws were introduced in NSW following John Howard's threats to strike first and ask questions later. [?]

NSW Election 2003: The Sale of Justice

NSW Young Lawyers' Criminal Law & Human Rights Committees, however, have been concerned about the civil rights trade-offs that both major parties have been proposing (or, in the case of the Government, implementing) prior to the election.

Related:

Human Rights 'Framed'
Here is a quick report on our Human Rights Commission approach on Framed (the quarterly magazine of Justice Action) being banned from all NSW prisons. After 42 issues went in.

Prison Privatisation: Death camps looming in NSW
I asked for the identification of the person I was speaking to and was told that I was not entitled to that information. I needed to verify the call and asked for a name or number to register my call because I was asked to get those details by my coordinator.The person refused to identify themselves either by name or number. I asked to be transferred to a senior person and was refused. The person I spoke to then hung up the phone.

Justice Action criticises Govt's victim voice policy
Victims are not being properly considered in compensation and no expression is given to them, of community goodwill. A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr Brett Collins said, "No community expression or concern is given to the victims of crime. They feel their pain is not acknowledged by the government which tries to balance pain against pain. Never! The community is being misled."

NSW education professor warns further commitment needed
The author of a report on the New South Wales education system has urged the major political parties to do more for education in the election campaign.

Coalition proposes to exploit children
The Coalition says it would reform juvenile justice in New South Wales to require the courts to "get tough" on juvenile crime.

Corrections Victoria and criminal acts: SCS-4\320 UPDATE
You have stated "Section 30 of the Corrections Act 1986 and the Information Privacy Act 2000, restricts the release of confidential information regarding prisoners, I therefore am unable to provide any information regarding this matter."

Death camps looming in Victoria
A letter was received on 15 January 03 from SCS-4\320 a remand prisoner in Victoria's Barwon Prison I later found out that the prisoner was in the Acacia High Security Unit.

Jail search finds knives, syringes
Mr Brett Collins a spokesperson for Justice Action said, "It shows there is a lot of desperation in the prison system at the moment and has been for some time."

Take crime talk beyond the bars:'lobby group'
A coalition of academics, crime experts, welfare and church groups is preparing to launch an intensive pre-election campaign aimed at refocusing the attention of NSW politicians from harsh sentencing reforms to crime prevention strategies.

Six weeks, six months, six years: inmates have little chance of making fresh start More than 15,500 people are released from NSW prisons each year, twice the number of 20 years ago. But new research shows many ex-prisoners find it impossible to reintegrate into society and, months after release, are worse off than before they went to jail.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Attempted thong theft costs $560
A man has been fined $500 after appearing in a northern New South Wales court charged with stealing a pair of thongs.

NSW A-G moves to stop criminals and ex-criminals selling stories
From next month criminals or ex-criminals who try to profit (earn a living for paid work, like writing a book etc..) from their crimes in New South Wales will have the proceeds confiscated.

NSW Govt criticised over criminal justice record
Key criminal justice groups have described the New South Wales Government's record on justice issues as a "disappointing performance".

APPOINTMENT OF KLOK IS: 'DECLARATION OF WAR'
The decision of the Carr government to appoint John Jacob Klok as the new Assistant Commissioner for Corrective Services in charge of security represents a statement of contempt to all those concerned about law and justice in NSW.

How NSW Dept of Corrective Services spent $800,000 dollars to rehabilitate a Sydney man sentenced to life for second murder! A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr Pro Grams said, "Well it's your money, how would you like it spent? And what do you think about rehabilitation on behalf of the Department of Corruptive Services?

Prisoners Representatives Excommunicated
Ron Woodham, Commissioner Corrective Services stated "[this Department] does not recognise Justice Action as an advocate on correctional centre issues." He has ordered a ban on all Justice Action material inside the NSW prison system. This resulted from a request for the approval of the latest edition of Framed (the Magazine of Justice Action) to be distributed throughout NSW prisons as has occurred for the past ten years.

Academic devises scheme for low income earners to pay back fines:
A professor at the Australian National University [another one of John Howard's hand picked losers like Peter Saunders the social services head-kicker has come up with a scheme which could see low income earners pay back criminal fines over a period of time.

Dept of Corrective Services: Rotten Ron Woodham on the ropes
This is The Freeedom Of Speech and The Press in a goldfish-bowl! Herr Goebells has spoken. Zieg Heil! (Which means, actually: "aim-for health!" incidentally)Apologies for not making meetings ... my first experiences with Woodham (then a -screw-gestapo-minor-with-a-friendly-dog - AND YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS WHEN EVEN HIS DOG DOESN`T LIKE HIM?)

At the Minister's Pleasure The case of Michael Kelly
Michael is caught up in a particularly cruel version of the game of Cat and Mouse. Because he is classified as a forensic patient under the Mental Heath Act of NSW, the Minister for Health is his master, not the Minister for Corrective Services. And the Minister for health will not let him go.

EX-PRISONER UNEMPLOYMENT: SENTENCED FOR LIFE
Name removed by request served time in prison decades ago. Shes still being punished today. According to commonwealth and state legislation, ex-prisoners applying for jobs must declare any conviction that fits into the following categories: less than 10 years old, more than 10 years old but served more than 30 months in prison.

ARE YOU INNOCENT?
The Australian Law Reform Commission had recommended that the Innocence Panel be independent and have the power to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

NSW Department of Corrective Services attack right to privacy
Corrective Services Minister Richard Amery has a problem attacking prisoners right to privacy.It seems to us that a civil society is best served when social justice laws are applied to all people regardless of their circumstances. Once government starts making exceptions which disadvantage certain groups and individuals, such laws are meaningless.

Litigants are drowning: in the High Court
There were so many self represented litigants appearing in the High Court that more than half of its registry staff's time was taken up in dealing with them. The "go it alone" litigants have to take on tasks well above their qualified league causing them stress. This growing problem cannot be left unchecked.

Everyone wants to get out of 'jail' but 'Framed' wants life: Rotten Ron on the ropes On 2 May 2002, Justice Action received a faxed letter from Manager of DCS Operations Support Branch saying that, in his view, articles in Framed edition #42 'lack balance and integrity' and he is therefore 'not prepared to recommend this issue of Framed for placement in to correctional centre libraries.' Prisoners and those concerned about prisoner issues have very few sources of information.

Methadone addicts formed within: 'NSW Prisons'
The New South Wales Opposition has accused the State Government of turning jailed heroin users into Methadone addicts.

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder Mass DNA testing of prisoners has [allegedly] led to the first NSW case of a person being charged with a previously unsolved murder as a result of a controversial gene-matching data bank.

Medical Records: Alex Mitchell's lost world
Perhaps we can get your medical report and spew it around publicly so you can see how it feels. But surely we do not have to go that far. And of course we are law-abiding citizens and I should think it would be enough to remind you of your ethics to report at all.

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20?
Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

NSW opposition pledges review of detention laws
A spokesperson for Justice Action Ms Anal Advice said " NSW Prisons are a sex offence if you have been raped, bashed and squatted down to be strip searched. People should be diverted from going there at all material times".

Civil libertarians condemn planned changes to prisoners' privacy rights The New South Wales Government is using a recent case involving [framed] serial killer Ivan Milat to justify its decision to remove the privacy rights of prisoners. But really just another attack on Ivan Milat from Parliament House.

The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

Mr. & Mrs. Mandatory Sentencing
Well congratulations to the bride and groom. Could you please be upstanding and raise your glasses for Mr. And Mrs. Mandatory.

Just wipe your arse on Ivan again Minister?
Mr Amery Minister for Corrective services has a problem with finding a toilet roll to wipe his bottom. Justice Action is appalled at the attacks by Amery and others in parliament on Ivan Milat's right to privacy and their attacks on the Privacy Commissioner and his office.

NSW Parliament Bitter Pills To Swallow?
One delusion pill: So people who investigate their own mistakes make sure there was no mistake or someone else made the mistake. Perhaps you're not biased and you will be honest about it.

NSW prisons - primary industry bailed up!
In many quiet regional centres around NSW there is a new primary industry shaping up. It has something to do with Bail but not with bales. The minister for Agriculture Richard Amery who also has the prisons portfolio is now committed to farming prisoners.

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'.

Prison Mind Games-Do they exist?
Directives are given inside the prison system that are not consistent with the law in NSW. And not in the good interests of the health and well being of the prisoners.

The Government is likely to abolish the Inspector General of Corrective Services position The Mulawa inspection report recommendations below strictly illustrate how important he is.