US: Global terror network uncovered

"Sean Baker, a US military guard, volunteered to wear an orange jumpsuit and pretend to be an uncooperative detainee in Guantanamo [Bay] during a training exercise in January 2003. The guards, who did not know who he was, beat and choked him to the point where he suffered permanent brain injury" -- case study from cruel. inhuman. degrades us all., a publication released by human rights group Amnesty International in August.

This is the reality of the "war on terror", which US President George Bush claimed in a speech on August 24 was being fought because "we believe in human rights, and the human dignity of every man, woman and child on this Earth". Perhaps more than any other distinguishing feature of the "war on terror", it's the willingness of the White House to rehabilitate torture as a tool of warfare that cuts across its rhetoric about defending "democracy" and "human rights".

The latest torture scandal the Bush administration has found itself embroiled in is the revelation, made in a November 2 Washington Post article, of the scope of a secret network of overseas prisons run by the CIA for the purposes of secret detentions and the torturing of prisoners captured in the "war on terror".

According to the Post's report, the secret prisons are located in eight countries, including Afghanistan, Thailand and several "democracies" (as the Post describes them) in eastern Europe. The paper declined to publish the names of the east European countries involved in the torture network at the request of "senior US officials", because doing so "might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation".

However, a November 2 London Financial Times report revealed the likely locations of the prisons to be Romania and Poland. The FT report quoted Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, as saying: "We do what is necessary to defend the country against terrorist attacks and win the war on terror in ways that is consistent with our values.

"The fact that [the alleged prisons] are secret, assuming there are such sites ... some people say the test of your principles is what you do when no-one is looking. The president has insisted that whether in public or private, the same principles will apply."

But given the horrific revelations of what goes on at US-run prisons in places like Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Bagram air base in Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib in Baghdad, Hadley's assurances hold little weight.

CIA torture

The November 9 New York Times revealed that a secret CIA report issued last year warned that some of the spy agency's post-9/11 interrogation procedures "might" violate "some provisions of the international Convention Against Torture".

One of the techniques known to have been employed by the CIA that the report expressed unease about is "waterboarding" -- strapping detainees to a board then pushing them under water until they believe they're about to drown. Getting Away with Torture?, an April 2004 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, accused George Tenet, CIA director from July 1997 until July 2004, of specifically authorising waterboarding.

Moreover, further contradicting Hadley's claims, in late October US Vice-President Dick Cheney and CIA director Porter Goss met with leading Republican Senator John McCain to make the case for a presidential waiver to be incorporated into a McCain-sponsored legislative amendment of a defence appropriations bill. The amendment would ban US forces from employing "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" against prisoners.

In a follow-up to the Washington Post's November 2 report on the CIA's "black sites", a November 7 Post article reported that over "the past year" Cheney "has waged an intense and largely unpublicized campaign to stop Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department from imposing more restrictive rules on the handling of terrorist suspects".

The text of the proposed waiver would make the provisions of the McCain amendment "not apply with respect to clandestine counterterrorism conducted abroad, with respect to terrorists who are not citizens of the Unites States, that are carried out by an element of the United States government other than the Department of Defense". The intent is to free the CIA from any legal restrictions on torturing foreigners suspected of being terrorists.

"The Bush administration is now the only government in the world to claim a legal justification for mistreating prisoners during interrogations", HRW claimed on October 26. "While other governments practice torture and other forms of mistreatment and have records of abuse far worse than the United States, no other government currently claims that such abuse is legally permissible..."

'Rendition'

The CIA "black sites" are just one link in the Bush administration's post-9/11 terror network. Other key pieces in Washington's torture jigsaw are the practice of "rendition" (kidnapping people and transporting them to countries with pro-US regimes such Egypt and Afghanistan for torture) and the ongoing torturing and abuse of detainees in Pentagon-run prisons.

For example, a 14-year-old boy was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, in October 2001. According to cruel. inhuman. degrades us all., he "was taken to a prison and allegedly suspended from his wrists. He says that for around three weeks he was held in this position for between 10 and 16 hours a day, always blindfolded apart from some five minutes a day when he ate.

"In late November 2001 he was transferred into US custody, and his nightmare continued. He says that he was put into blue overalls, hooded, shackled, beaten, threatened with death, and repeatedly called 'nigger', a word he had never heard before. He was then flown to the US airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he says he was assaulted, kept naked, doused in freezing water, and told that his penis would be cut off with scissors."

Early in 2002 he was moved to a prison camp at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "where he says he was hung by the wrists for up to eight hours at a time, beaten, subjected to sleep deprivation, strobe lighting and extreme cold, and racially abused. In 2003 an interrogator allegedly burned his arm with a cigarette. His arm still has scars." The boy has been a prisoner for over four years, in US custody for three and half of them, and has not been charged with any crime.

The exemption from anti-torture provisions for the CIA sought by Cheney is a near-explicit admission that the agency actively employs torture.

More insidious, though, has been the legal redefinition of "prisoner of war" status -- the Bush regime has claimed that those detained by the US military in the "war on terror" are "unlawful combatants" -- and what acts by US forces legally constitute torture.

'Redefining' torture

According to Amnesty, torture techniques used by the US and its "war on terror" allies include prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, sensory manipulation (such as exposure to bright lights and loud music), sexual and other forms of humiliation, the use of dogs, mock executions and other threats, being forced to stand motionless or in stressful positions for hours on end, beatings, exposure to extreme heat and cold, verbal abuse (particularly racial and religious), prolonged handcuffing, hooding and blinding.

Many of these techniques most likely fall outside the new, narrower definitions of torture devised by Washington since the "war on terror" began. An August 1, 2002, US Justice Department memo argued that "acts must be of an extreme nature to rise to the level of torture". The memo, produced by the department's Office of Legal Counsel, further concluded that "certain acts may be cruel, inhuman or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within [US federal law's] proscription against torture."

For the infliction of "physical pain" to be considered "torture", it "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death. For purely mental pain or suffering to amount to torture... it must result in significant psychological harm or significant duration, e.g., lasting for months or even years... We conclude that the statue, taken as a whole, makes plain that it prohibits only extreme acts."
The memo was supposedly superseded by a December 2004 memo from the same office, but according to Amnesty, revised guidelines still leave plenty of scope for the torture of prisoners.

In addition to "legal" and "semi-legal" forms of torture and abuse, it is well-known that beatings, rape and other forms of sexual abuse have occurred in US-run prisons in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan -- most notoriously at Abu Ghraib and Bagram.

No-one living in countries under US military occupation, or living within the borders of Washington's despotic "anti-terror" allies like Pakistan, is safe. In May 2002, a Palestinian man, Hussain Youssouf Mustafa, was arrested in Pakistan and flown to Bagram air base. According to his account, quoted in the March-April edition of Mother Jones, while he was at Bagram three US soldiers took him from his cell and held him down while a fourth raped him with a stick.

While the Pentagon has claimed that the torture and sadistic abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US guards at Abu Ghraib were unauthorised by the White House, according to Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, these gross violations of the Geneva Conventions and US laws emanated from directives and memos issued by Cheney's office.

Wilkerson told the US National Public Radio's November 2 Morning Edition program that Powell, the then US secretary of state and a retired general, had assigned him to investigate the matter after reports emerged in the media about US troops abusing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It was clear to me that there was a visible audit trail from the vice-president's office through the secretary of defence down to the commanders in the field", he told NPR.

By Rohan Pearce posted 17 November 05

Related:

ATROCITY THREATENS TO BECOME OFFICIAL U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
The Senate amendment to the new Defense [WAR] Appropriations Act would explicitly prohibit the U.S. government from subjecting those in its custody to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your Presidency is Effectively Over'
“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

Former chaplain paints grim picture of Guantanamo Bay
KERRY O'BRIEN: Now to a first-hand and rather grim picture of life behind bars for the terrorism suspects [scapegoats and patsies to bolster support for the illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East] at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. It's an account from an officer who served there, a former Army Muslim chaplain, Captain James Yee, one of the few people to have regular contact with Australian detainee David Hicks.

News on David Hicks:
David Hicks will be tried on scapegoat-related charges before a controversial US military rendition on November 18. The 30-year-old Australian citizen, formerly of Adelaide, would be the first Guantanamo prisoner to be tried by a military 'caught' at Guantanamo Bay.

Government must ensure justice for Hicks
The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council is calling on the Australian Government to secure real justice for Australian citizen David Hicks. The call follows a Pentagon announcement of a resumption of military commission hearings at Guantanamo Bay.

For David Hicks
In David's eyes Australia hasn't changed much, a country hidden behind a mask of another foreign nation, freely trading independence, American values, with no real identity, with pseudo autonomy, as long as the strings are attached to another nation's apron, all crystal clear except to dim-witted Australians.

a cowardly disgrace .....
Whilst US lawyers continue their fight to secure the legal and human rights of Australian citizen, David Hicks, his government has quietly reaffirmed its decision to abandon him to his fate.

87 detainees on hunger strike at Guantanamo
A hunger strike at a US detention centre [prison] for terrorism suspects [scapegoats and patsies for resource wars in the Middle East] at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has entered its second month with 87 prisoners refusing food, a military spokesman says.

HUNGER STRIKE AT GUANTANAMO
Detainees [prisoners] at the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are on hunger strike against their indefinite detention, according to human rights lawyers.

All Australians deserve a fair trial
David Hicks will not receive a fair trial in Guantanamo Bay . We must demand that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer get David Hicks back here to face an Australian court:

GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
This government is already rattled. But our work has only just begun. This morning Senator Robert Hill announced that the Government plans to roll back the Senate budget estimates process, which plays a crucial role in exposing government bungles and cover-ups.

David Hicks justice betrayed ......
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/USA: A stated belief of the Liberal Party is: "We believe in a just & humane society in which the importance of the family and the rule of law & justice is maintained."

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.

Democrats make cowardly retreat on Guantanamo torture
US: Senator Richard Durbin's sniveling apology Tuesday for his remarks on US torture at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp was entirely predictable, another of the "profiles in cowardice" that the Democratic Party serves up on a regular basis.

HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
Over 17,000 people including minors are now imprisoned by the US as a result of the 'War on Terror'. More than 540 men and minors, including David Hicks remmain imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.

Hicks 'should be an Australian'
Australian David Hicks should have already been returned to Australia instead of being exploited by the US and Australian authorities.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pilger said White House knew Saddam was no threat
Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie which could cost George W Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.

ACADP CONDEMNS INDONESIAN CONSULATE THREAT!

ACADP condemns the actions of the person/s who sent a threatening letter to staff at the Indonesian Consulate in Perth.

According to police, the letter contained two bullets and threatend to kill staff if alleged Australian drug-trafficker Schapelle Corby, is not released from a Bali jail. The letter also tells Indonesians in Australia to get out.

The Corby trial has aroused strong emotions among most Australians. However, this is no excuse for any Australian to make this uncivilised and offensive demand.

It is not the Australian way.

Opposition to capital punishment can only be solved by diplomatic ways. Violence of any kind, shape or form, is completely unacceptable in this country.

To the person/s responsible for this despicable act --- Grow Up!

By ACADP posted 14 April 05

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

Related:

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

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

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

PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVERSEAS? BEFORE YOU GO, READ THIS!
Currently, 214 Australian citizens are languishing in prisons around the world. The majority of these having been convicted of drug-related crimes.

Victorian Cops Set-Up Carl Williams?

I'll chop up cop's girl: Williams? But when you know you're being bugged words are not deeds unless police are dogs and liars?

The Un-Australian: " IT was the height of Melbourne's gangland war and accused underworld 'murderer'? Carl Williams was out drinking with a mate at Crown casino."

" Late in the evening, he put in a call to his wife, Roberta, and aside from arguing about what time he would be coming home, he threatened to kill a Purana Taskforce detective."

Tongue and cheek: Words.........are not deeds!

Williams: "If a c..ksucker breaks in there or (Detective-Sergeant Stuart) Bateson comes lookin' for me, you know what to do, don't ya?" Williams said to his wife. "Grab the gun from under the mattress and shoot them in the head." A sleepy Roberta appeared to see the funny side. "You're a f..kin' idiot," she replied with a laugh."

The Un-Australian: The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday that nine hours later, on the morning of November 15, 2003, Williams took a call at home from his friend Victor Brincat, who was in jail.

Empathy for mate in jail, Jail camaraderie not un-common

The Un-Australian: "Brincat complained of being "punished" by prison officers, prompting Williams to threaten to "chop up" Sergeant Bateson's girlfriend.

Williams: "If he (Bateson) wants to f..k with my mate, I'll f..k his missus," Williams told Brincat, who had been charged three weeks earlier with the murder of drug dealer Michael Marshall?

"Whatever you need done, just tell me what to do. If you want Bateson's missus, I'll just chop her up."

Remember Williams knows he's being bugged by police and especially if he's in contact with the jail who monitor all calls? Not just that but some slimy dog cop wants to set him up for a murder? Why? Because that takes the heat of some slimy dog cop who's corrupt, no doubt!

The Un-Australian: "Both phone conversations were intercepted by police, and two days later Williams was arrested on the main street in the beachside suburb of Port Melbourne."

What, because his phone was taped? Carl knew it? Then decided tongue and cheek to give the cops some therapy of their own, on the phone, they charge him with two counts of threatening to kill that carries 10 years?

Bad cop knew how to use his power

The Un-Australian: In a statement to police, Sergeant Bateson said he was immediately notified by his colleagues about the content of Williams's phone calls, and that he in turn informed his girlfriend of the threat.

Get the violin out for the Jury?

The Un-Australian: "She immediately broke into tears," Sergeant Bateson said. "I have taken these threats extremely seriously. I have taken precautions in relation to our security both at home and at work.

"The impact of these threats on my personal life has been substantial." ?

But it makes you wonder why this cop set himself up for a fall? Bateson "I have taken these threats extremely seriously". When indeed he really knew that this was by his own creation? Together with the tongue and cheek of Williams, knowing his phone was taped, and just giving the cop some therapy, because the cop wanted some of Carl Williams 'socks and undies'.

If the cop were to be sticking his nose in my undies I would drop a big shit in it, what would you do?

The cop now passes on his stupidity to his girlfriend

The Un-Australian: His girlfriend told police she was "extremely scared and shocked" by the threats. Sergeant Bateson and his girlfriend have since split up"

"Yesterday, 16 months after the incident, Williams faced a one-day committal hearing, charged with two counts of threatening to kill."

But would these additional charges make the other charges against Carl stick better? You bet! The one's the cops set themselves up to receive? The tongue and cheek from Carl Williams that the police allegedly believed was true? So much so that the cop's love for his girlfriend must be very shallow indeed to burden her with his stupidity whilst on the job!

What if it was the cop's dog? Or even his mother in law?

Makes you feel glad that you're not related to the cop. He wants to frame Williams for other murders, cover up for either himself or his mates, and also put his own hand into the girlfriends $60,000 dollars victims comp payout after Williams goes down for the set-up.

The other thing that worries me is that this is what cops do to cover-up for crooked cops and I smell a rat big time!

Come out you rat cop, we have some cheese!

The Un-Australian: "His lawyer Nick Papas told the court that Williams, 34, had been joking and his comments were "entirely stupid" and "off the cuff", not serious threats to kill."

"He said that Williams's threat to "chop up" Sergeant Bateson's girlfriend did not necessarily mean he intended to kill her."

"At an earlier court hearing, Williams had apologised for his comments to Sergeant Bateson and his family, Mr Papas told the court."

Corrupt cops

The Un-Australian: " But the police officer said yesterday that he had been unaware of the apology".?

"Mr Papas said the fact Williams knew his conversations were being taped was evidence the threats were not serious."

Did the cop deserve it?

The Un Australian: " However, prosecutor Andrew Tinney told the court Williams made the comments knowing police were intercepting his phone calls and that the threats would inevitably be relayed to Sergeant Bateson, who at the time was investigating Williams's links to several underworld murders.

"He knew who his audience was," Mr Tinney said.

So he had a shit!

The Un-Australian: " Magistrate Paresa Spanos dismissed the charge over the threat to kill Sergeant Bateson, finding there was no evidence to support the charge based on "the simple meaning of the word 'threat"'.

" However, she committed Williams to stand trial over the second charge of threatening to kill Sergeant Bateson's partner, saying a reasonable jury could convict the defendant, given the evidence." ?

"When Williams was asked yesterday how he pleaded to the charge, he said confidently: "I am not guilty. There's one win and there will be plenty more to come."

But unfortunately for Carl the Magistrate Spanos kept one charge live so that it will stick. The uninformed Jury will find him guilty especially feeling sorry for the girl. Unless the jury are well informed that the cop was setting Carl up and involved his own girlfriend second hand because of the vindictive thin blue line that runs into the Department of Corrective Services by setting upon the prisoner Victor Brincat his friend.

Because the police are involved in the gangland killings they need someone else to take the fall? A demon like Carl Williams will do?

The Un-Australian: "Last week, he was ordered to face a Supreme Court jury over the murders of underworld figures Jason Moran, Pasquale Barbaro and Michael Marshall. He will face a pre-trial hearing in relation to the threat-to-kill charge in June."

Watch this spot!

By Entrapment and The Un-Australian 16 March 05

Related:

Lawyers condemn Vic police confession tactic..
Victoria's legal fraternity has condemned covert tactics employed by police to extract confessions from criminals.

Gangland target? Or police decoy? Refuses protection
Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crime Simon Overland says the man who was the target of an alleged planned gangland killing has refused police protection.

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 prosecutors to drop corruption case
The Office of Public Prosecutions in Victoria will drop drug-related charges against a suspended police officer tomorrow after an informer due to testify in the case was murdered last month.

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.

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.

Victorian Ombudsman's power boosted
The Victorian Government has reacted strongly to continuing allegations of police corruption, with the Premier announcing a big boost to the State Ombudsman's power and resources.

Police silent on witness protection breach claim
Victorian police have been forced to defended the Witness Protection Program again, after an alleged incident involving a police informer.

Former Vic drug squad head working for NSW
It has been revealed that the former head of the disgraced Victorian drug squad is now a senior investigator at the New South Wales Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Penalty given to police officer in corruption case under fire
The Victorian Opposition has criticised the penalty handed down to a Victorian police officer who tried to find the home address of an officer investigating corruption.

Bracks crime team 'not up to job'
Steve Bracks was "fiddling while Melbourne burns", a respected senior crimefighter said yesterday, as the state Ombudsman was attacked for being ill-equipped to tackle entrenched police corruption.

Vic corruption fighter tells of intimidation
A senior Victorian police corruption investigator says fellow officers have intimidated and threatened him.

Vic police corruption 'worst ever', former judge says
A former Federal Court judge last night described corruption in the Victoria police force as the worst ever.

Bullet threat won't stop corruption probe, police say
The Victorian police force says threats against internal investigators will not stop it from weeding out corrupt police and bringing them to justice.

Police corruption linked to underworld slayings
The chairman of Victoria's Ceja police internal corruption task force has admitted there is a link between police corruption and Melbourne's gangland killings.

E-mail to coroner an open-ended threat: QC

So this is what happens when coroners *don't* support the preferred government spin*_*_*

ACT Coroner Maria Doogan had failed to distance herself from an e-mail sent by her senior counsel which was described yesterday as an "open-ended threat", possibly against government employees being treated fairly in the 2003 bushfires inquiry, the ACT Supreme Court heard.

Richard Tracey, QC, counsel for the ACT Government, also told the Supreme Court yesterday that one witness to the inquiry, government media officer Marika Harvey, was treated "unduly harshly" by Mrs Doogan when Ms Harvey gave evidence in March last year.

That differential treatment of Ms Harvey could lead a fairminded observer to fear that her evidence would not be dealt with impartially in the inquiry, he said.

Mr Tracey continued throughout yesterday to detail examples which he argued gave cause for Mrs Doogan to be disqualified from the coronial inquiry on the grounds of an apprehension of bias - that is, a perception of bias rather than actual bias.

Jim Glissan, QC, counsel for nine individuals also seeking Mrs Doogan's disqualification, is expected to address the court. Her clients include former chief fire control officer Peter Lucas-Smith and former Emergency Services Bureau executive director Mike Castle.

He will be followed by Julian Burnside, QC, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, which is supporting Mrs Doogan.

Mr Tracey said there were three issues which were enough to justify Mrs Doogan's disqualification. These were: Her field trip to the Bendora fire ignition point which was not revealed until eight months later and from which notes were produced but then withheld from other parties.

The "gratuitous and unwarranted" remarks Mrs Doogan had made against lawyers representing the ACT and individuals when they "properly" requested access to a range of documents including the notes made by expert witness Phil Cheney on the field trip.

Mrs Doogan had accused the lawyers of "seeking to impugn the integrity" of the inquiry. And Mrs Doogan's failure to disavow herself from the infamous "They'll get theirs Phil" e-mail.

The court heard that Mr Cheney in November 2003 sent an e-mail to Lex Lasry, QC, senior counsel assisting Mrs Doogan.

It referred to comments made earlier by Chief Minister Jon Stanhope in the Legislative Assembly about Mr Cheney.

Mr Cheney had written in the e-mail, "I guess it's an indication of what their tactic will be."

By Megan Doherty posted 11 February 05

Ed: Differential treatment of witnesses at a coronial inquest? Why that's simply unheard of, isn't it?

Govt gagging national youth body

A Federal Government fascist has been accused of trying to gag members of the National Youth Roundtable, the Government's main point of consultation with young people.

Two roundtable members say a media adviser with the Family and Community Services Department used a workshop last week to warn members not to talk to the media about their opinions on how the Government is handling youth affairs?

One of the 50 roundtable members, Ali Childs, says the adviser warned of repercussions for members who did not obey.

"We weren't to speak out against the Government," she said.

"She said that she was under this current Government and ... no matter what, she had to agree with what this Government said and that we were to do that as well.

"She didn't give specific repercussions but all of us in the room generally felt pretty threatened."

The Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sussan Ley, was not at the briefing but says its only purpose was to help the members?

"The suggestion that they were gagged really does surprise me," she said.

Mrs Ley says there was plenty of criticism of government policies in the roundtable's final presentations.

By War on Dissent 15 December 04

In Other Develoments

Peace, Civil Liberties, Intimidation and Harassment in Parramatta

December 13 2004

Australians are being prevented from exercising their democratic rights by Council, State and the Federal Governments. Actions, just like this Council's are preventing citizens from expressing different ideas and dissent, stopping artists from showing anti-war art, banning the use of banners in public malls and town halls, stopping fliers and leaflets from being distributed... and the list goes on....

Let's remind the ALP councilors of their hypocrisy. A Labor Party should define itself as the party of the underdog, of fairness, community and above all, people's rights.

We believe the ALP should be at the forefront, defending full civil rights and showing leadership by opposing authoritarian, bureaucratic and undemocratic tendencies at all government levels.

Yet, all these harassments are occurring in an increasing scale, in our own "democratic" country and under the ALP's watch.

We are calling on all peaceful Australians, all branches of government and other community organisations to show solidarity with all those who are being victimised and whose rights are being abused in wars of aggression and exploitation by our very own countries and in our name.

We will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced!
"HIROSHIMA NEVER AGAIN"
"TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ"
"PEACE AND JUSTICE!"

Very appropriately for this time of the year, the Parramatta Council has a banner at the very top of the Town Hall together with other Christmas decorations. Their banner reads: "Peace and Goodwill for all!"

The Parramatta Peace Group most certainly agrees!
"HIROSHIMA NEVER AGAIN"
"TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ"
"PEACE AND JUSTICE!"

Signed on behalf of the Parramatta Peace Group by
Alistair Dickinson 02 9673 2545
Carlos Medina 0402 070787
(joint acting secretaries)

Related:

More police powers for spyware
Federal and state police now have the power to use computer spyware to gather evidence in a broad range of investigations after legal changes last week.

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

Greens warn of 'politicised' terror trials
AUSTRALIA/CUBA?: The Australian Greens say they are concerned that new anti-terrorism laws being debated in the Senate allow for the "political black-banning" of defence
lawyers at terrorism trials.

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?

Ruddock moves to give police access to emails
Police could get access to stored voicemails; emails and SMS messages under a Bill introduced to federal Parliament today. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says police have had trouble getting access to stored messages because of the laws preventing them intercepting phone calls.

Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
Before returning to Australia last year, Thomas was arrested and held in custody for five months by Pakistani authorities before being released without charge.

Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
A Victorian man has been remanded in custody after being charged with terrorism offences, including having links to Al Qaeda?

Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
ASIO a know Australian terrorist organization is verballing the community again...about allegations that a man, while living overseas, received funds from Al Qaeda and had close association with the members of the terrorist group.

DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network?

He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.

Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
The New South Wales Supreme Court has asked innocent man Bilal Khazal to increase to amount of surety offered, before the bail is formally continued.

HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!

Ul-Haque 'the man who wants to become a doctor'
The taskforce is investigating French man Willie Brigitte, who was tipped back home for a visa breach. Allegedly the Un-Australian Newspaper claimed he also attended training camps before his six-month stay in Sydney. Police have not alleged Mr Ul-Haque knew Brigitte. The Un-Australian just mentioned it because they are 'you guessed it' up John Howard's butt and they like the USA want 'you guessed it' our Federal Government. Well Yankee go home!

Brain injury for suspicion 'inhumane'
Faheem Khalid Lodhi refused bail by a Sydney court and remanded until June in hell at the (HARM-U) High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn. While he is in there he will receive a brain injury and is likely to self-harm due to the gross violation of living standards.

Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
The Islamic Youth Movement has denied having any links to Al Qaeda and says it is considering legal action against the Four Corners program. In a statement released early this morning, the group rejects allegations it is helping coordinate any kind of terrorist network inside Australia and says it is being unfairly targeted.

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.

SMS was Keelty's first choice: Alleged bomber
Keelty: "It was just days before Australia's embassy was attacked on September 9"? But you couldn't believe SMS could you? If your life depended on it? What about inviting him to you birthday party? Would you believe answering his own SMS text message? Could you trust him with that?

Liberal PR stunt, behind SMS attack warning
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty has revealed information about an SMS message warning of an attack on a western embassy in Indonesia came from an Australian businessman in Jakarta.

Keep the bastards honest: Publicity keeps an eye on ethics?
The Australian Federal Police commissioner says investigations into terrorist links to Australia are being made more difficult by public debate about the progress of inquiries.

Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies
A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr Sooth Sayer said " the arrest is most likely connected to the invasion of the mans privacy by the new powers of ASIO. These are extraordinary laws that were invented, using people as pawns to get unprecedented powers to use to lever John Howard's propaganda machine."

QLD Politician (Community Safety) Amendment Bill 2004
NEW LAWS: A picture of the [false flag] Madrid killer bombings was used to introduce a terror Bill so that we are so fearful we will accept it as being appropriate behaviour by the authorities and law enforcement.

Govt rejects ul-Haque's family 'political scapegoat' claims
The Federal Government has rejected as unfounded, claims that it is making a political scapegoat out of a Sydney man arrested on terrorism charges.

Dictatorship under the crimes Act?
Attorney General Phillip Ruddock said yesterday under the Crimes Act Izhar Ul Haque committed a crime.

Standing up for liberties
When a federal Labor Opposition indicates it is prepared to agree to future government legislation even before its detailed content is known, alarm bells should ring.

Fascist wants more power for ASIO
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock wants to strengthen Australia's terrorism laws, to make it easier for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to hold and question suspects without any evidence for three years and ban organisations.

Police raid Iranian 'people'
IN a series of dramatic simultaneous raids in three capital cities, Australian Federal Police officers swooped yesterday on alleged members of an Iranian resistance organisation linked to watching terrorism, seizing mobile telephones and computers.

Gulag bill: ASIO set to ignite blazing debate
The bill, due to be introduced into the Senate, gives ASIO officers new powers to detain for a week citizens aged 14 and over. People could be detained even where they are not suspected of any crime but of having information related to terrorism.

Better late than never'Democrats'
The Democrats are confident they will win at least one seat in the upper house in the NSW election by tapping into voter unease about the Carr Government's tough anti-terrorism laws.The party is using its three-day national conference, starting in Sydney today, as the springboard for its election campaign, and will announce its candidates and policies."Clearly we have a real chance of winning one extra seat in the upper house," the party's federal leader, Andrew Bartlett, said.

Darth Vader!: NSW citizens 'terrorised'
Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader, rests over NSW citizens unrestrained like a mushroom cloud. The State Government's repression, deleting the basic tenant of law itself.

Suspicious police are not trusted to terrorise the community
Short memory my friends when just around the corner police were out of control and now you want to trust Police in NSW to be given extraordinary powers to search vehicles, sites and even a general "type of person" in the event of a terrorism threat or after a terrorist attack.

Seriously Ten seriously blue and seriously flawed!
Channel Tens News broadcast at 5pm with Jessica Rowe reporting that, "Their news poll suggests that 96 per cent of people are in favour of 'new special police powers' to fight the terrorists."

NSW Police Force may get 'special powers'
Civil libertarians are questioning the need for further anti-terrorism laws, which will be announced in the New South Wales Parliament on Tuesday.

The scavengers of terror
The NSW Government is to introduce increased police powers bill. Legislation giving New South Wales police special powers to deal with an emergency terrorist situation will be introduced into the New South Wales Parliament today.

Vic corruption fighter tells of intimidation

A senior Victorian police corruption investigator says fellow officers have intimidated and threatened him.

Detective Sergeant Simon Illingworth has gone public with his fears on the same day a witness due to give evidence in the trial of four Victorian police officers has refused to testify, saying he fears for his own and his family's safety.

Sgt Illingworth has spent four years working with internal affairs to root out corrupt police. He says he and his family have been living in fear because of threats made by his colleagues.

Sgt Illingworth says he is concerned about the lack of protection for police investigators.

"Someone in the police, I believe, has risked my life and my family's lives for whatever reason by handing over my address to criminals," Sgt Illingworth [said.]

Last week, senior police promised to throw the force's full weight behind anti-corruption police who had been threatened with, among other things, bullets in their letterbox.

Sgt Illingworth is on sick leave from the Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department.

He says he was isolated and under-resourced, and intimidated by criminals and other police.

"When I was having a Christmas beer, I looked up and I just couldn't believe it, I've got this underworld figure staring at me and I'm thinking 'how vulnerable am I'," he said.

"You don't know whether you're going to turn a corner and get a handshake or a bullet - and I don't like that."

In a statement, Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana says Sgt Illingworth has been offered assistance, advice and support throughout his time with the Ethical Standards Department.

He says corruption investigations are by their nature very demanding and difficult to conduct, but the officer has courageously pursued investigations despite ongoing attempts to intimidate him.

Witness goes quiet

Victoria's top anti-corruption investigators fear that one of their key prosecutions could falter, as a witness refuses to testify because of the execution of a former police informant a week ago.

Police sources [said], that the witness in yesterday's court case was "devastated" by the murder of police informer Terrance Hodson.

They say the informant's withdrawal is likely to derail their case against allegedly corrupt detectives.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court has been told the man, who cannot be named, received a suspended jail sentence for drugs offences after promising to give evidence against his co-accused, detectives Glenn Saunders, Stephen Campbell and Peter Alexander, as well as former detective David Waters.

It is alleged they stole $100,000 worth of cannabis during a drug swoop at the St Kilda Marina in 1999.

Yesterday the man refused to answer the prosecutor's questions or confirm his statements, saying he feared for the safety of his wife and children.

His lawyer told the court the fears were not associated with the officers.

The man has now been charged with contempt of court.

Meeting

The Victorian Government says that establishing an anti-corruption commission was not discussed at yesterday's meeting involving Premier Steve Bracks, Police Minister Andre Haermeyer, Chief Police Commissioner Christine Nixon and the state's top detective, Simon Overland.

The Government is standing by its belief that expanding the Ombudsman's office will be enough to tackle police corruption.

[Just plain rubbish the Ombudsman is a toothless terrier.]

Neither Mr Haermeyer nor Mr Bracks spoke publicly yesterday on the issue of police corruption.

Opposition leader Robert Doyle renewed his calls for an anti-corruption commission to be established as more accounts of threats against officers and witnesses involved in the police corruption investigation surface.

"This is not something where I want to politically score points," Mr Doyle said. "This is something where I want the problem fixed, I want corruption rooted out and I want our good cops protected."

A spokesman for Mr Bracks says the Government still believes there is no need for an independent commission and that boosting the Ombudsman's powers will be sufficient.

The Opposition will continue to support the legislation to expand the Ombudsman's office, despite its recent U-turn on the issue of a commission of inquiry.

By Starsky and Hutch 25 May 04

Related:

Bullet threat won't stop corruption probe, police say
The Victorian police force says threats against internal investigators will not stop it from weeding out corrupt police and bringing them to justice.

Vic police corruption 'worst ever', former judge says
A former Federal Court judge last night described corruption in the Victoria police force as the worst ever.

Police corruption linked to underworld slayings
The chairman of Victoria's Ceja police internal corruption task force has admitted there is a link between police corruption and Melbourne's gangland killings.

Redfern drug dealers: Who is Mr Big?
A senior Redfern police officer says a flourishing illegal drug trade is the main cause of problems in Redfern's Aboriginal community, known as The Block. But just like Kings Cross it doesn't get cleaned up and the Mr Big's are living like pigs. Ha ha. That's right someone supplies and someone accumulates large sums of money and someone has targeted Redfern and allows it to flourish there.

Victoria's top cop needs a watchdog?
The Bracks Government is expected to announce new powers of investigation for the Victorian Ombudsman today. So what are they trying to say? The dog never had the power?

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

Why the Bulldogs rape case failed?
AFTER two months of turmoil, the rape case against six Bulldogs rugby league players has collapsed, with police saying there was insufficient evidence to press charges. IT is the moment any investigator dreads. [Just plain rubbish and a cover-up.]

NSW Police seizing assets to bolster budgets?
Seized assets to bolster police budgets is going to place crime solving into the corporate arena. Why should they go after a common criminal who is poor? Instead they'll be searching for assets and then solving crime. After all, police budgets will depend on it.

Court accuses police of planting evidence
A magistrate in the south-western New South Wales city of Wagga Wagga says police there nearly beat a man to death, fabricated evidence about him, and later lied in court about the incident.

NSW ex-Inspector Gadget claims credibility again
Just how credible is this former cop? Small's claim on Four Corners [Walls, a government propaganda machine], tonight, [that], the Government warned about Redfern problems before the riot. Like he's Mr squeaky-clean? Bad news more like it, Small was the say anything, do anything, ex-cop from hell for Bob Carr and his cronies.

Gang-rape, police, disparity and the law..
The young woman and her friend have told police they met the players in Coffs Harbour on the evening after the Bulldogs played a trial match there and went back to the team's hotel with them.

Cops Leak: Bulldogs accused of rape at Coffs Harbour
Police are warning media outlets they may face criminal charges if they release confidential information about investigations. The call comes after the details of an assault on a woman at Coffs Harbour were read on a commercial radio station in Sydney yesterday morning.

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.

Man wrongly imprisoned awarded $1m
A Sydney man who was acquitted of murder has won more than $1 million in damages for wrongful arrest and imprisonment. The New South Wales Supreme Court has agreed with Garry Raymond Nye's said that the charge was maliciously laid. Acting on a tip-off, [?], police arrested and charged the 51-year-old with the shooting murder of Roy Thurgar at Randwick in Sydney's east in 1991. He spent 16 months in custody before he was acquitted by a jury.

NSW Police Force: Bent cop Cribb should be treated 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. The Daily Telegraph this morning is calling for special consideration for the cop.

One arrested in random raids: Police
NSW Police said more than 200 officers raided homes in the largest operation ever conducted by Task Force Gain, set up to investigate gun crime in Sydney's south-west.

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

Drive-by shootings: test your political IQ?
What if since the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption the drugs moved from Kings Cross to Cabramatta. Then since the the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Cabramatta the drugs moved to Bankstown/Greenacre. Giving police more power might just be more fuel on the fire.

NSW drug wars: family feud not responsible for shootings
New South Wales Shadow Police Minister Peter Debnam says he does not believe recent shootings in Sydney's south-west are the result of a family feud. And he's not on his own.

Police WarLords set to take over Sydney again
Police warlords are set to take over Sydney's suburbs because police are not being supervised properly.

Jailed man's conviction to be reviewed
The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal will today review the conviction of a man, after claims in the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) last year that police planted weapons and faked suspects' confessions.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

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?

How to become corruption resistant in NSW
Don't trust those who cannot prove themselves with the little amounts of trust you give them. Just because they have a letter of perceived trust doesn't mean they can be trusted.

This is not how you eat 'antisocial behaviour'
Process corruption, perjury, planting of evidence, verbals, fabricated confessions, denial of suspects rights, a solicitor to induce confessions, tampering with electronic recording equipment, framing. Generally green lighting crime, and I say Murder, including the kids who overdosed on heroin. No doubt.

Black Knight - Long way to go home
In line with the current climate of police corruption and the demise of the reform unit set up by Wood, these facts ought to have been a good reason to leave Moroney out of the package as Commissioner.

Bob down and sniff my arse
These are serious invasions of privacy and draconian laws? Where are our democratic soldiers, the lawyers and the barristers who need to take on the government in the courts? Are they plastic? Or to busy feathering their nests? Or have they been cleverly purchased by this black government. Drug test police and politicians, and have the tests independently accessed.

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 Lanfranchi, 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').

Bullet threat won't stop corruption probe, police say

The Victorian police force says threats against internal investigators will not stop it from weeding out corrupt police and bringing them to justice.

The State Opposition says bullets have been used in the latest threat to police corruption investigators.

Opposition police spokesman Kim Wells says an investigator has found two 0.38 police issue bullets in the mail box at his home. His name and his wife's were etched onto the bullets.

The investigator is a member of the Ceja task force investigating corrupt police and Mr Wells says the bullet threat is not an isolated case.

"Another investigator on the Ceja case had been followed, we've also been told that his wife and child were followed to kindergarten," he said.

"They have been offered home security, alarm systems and fences, but when it comes to personal security for these police officers, [it] has been nothing short but pathetic."

Police spokesman Kevin Loomes has confirmed there has been a threat to a task force member, but says security for investigators and their families is a top priority and threats are taken seriously.

By Starsky and Hutch 21 May 04

Related:

Police corruption linked to underworld slayings
The chairman of Victoria's Ceja police internal corruption task force has admitted there is a link between police corruption and Melbourne's gangland killings.

Vic police corruption 'worst ever', former judge says
A former Federal Court judge last night described corruption in the Victoria police force as the worst ever. Sir Edward Woodward told a Criminal Bar Association function, a royal commission would be expensive and would be hindered by the backlog of police corruption cases.

Redfern drug dealers: Who is Mr Big?
A senior Redfern police officer says a flourishing illegal drug trade is the main cause of problems in Redfern's Aboriginal community, known as The Block. But just like Kings Cross it doesn't get cleaned up and the Mr Big's are living like pigs. Ha ha. That's right someone supplies and someone accumulates large sums of money and someone has targeted Redfern and allows it to flourish there.

Victoria's top cop needs a watchdog?
The Bracks Government is expected to announce new powers of investigation for the Victorian Ombudsman today. So what are they trying to say? The dog never had the power?

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

Why the Bulldogs rape case failed?
AFTER two months of turmoil, the rape case against six Bulldogs rugby league players has collapsed, with police saying there was insufficient evidence to press charges. IT is the moment any investigator dreads. [Just plain rubbish and a cover-up.]

NSW Police seizing assets to bolster budgets?
Seized assets to bolster police budgets is going to place crime solving into the corporate arena. Why should they go after a common criminal who is poor? Instead they'll be searching for assets and then solving crime. After all, police budgets will depend on it.

Court accuses police of planting evidence
A magistrate in the south-western New South Wales city of Wagga Wagga says police there nearly beat a man to death, fabricated evidence about him, and later lied in court about the incident.

NSW ex-Inspector Gadget claims credibility again
Just how credible is this former cop? Small's claim on Four Corners [Walls, a government propaganda machine], tonight, [that], the Government warned about Redfern problems before the riot. Like he's Mr squeaky-clean? Bad news more like it, Small was the say anything, do anything, ex-cop from hell for Bob Carr and his cronies.

Gang-rape, police, disparity and the law..
The young woman and her friend have told police they met the players in Coffs Harbour on the evening after the Bulldogs played a trial match there and went back to the team's hotel with them.

Cops Leak: Bulldogs accused of rape at Coffs Harbour
Police are warning media outlets they may face criminal charges if they release confidential information about investigations. The call comes after the details of an assault on a woman at Coffs Harbour were read on a commercial radio station in Sydney yesterday morning.

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.

Man wrongly imprisoned awarded $1m
A Sydney man who was acquitted of murder has won more than $1 million in damages for wrongful arrest and imprisonment. The New South Wales Supreme Court has agreed with Garry Raymond Nye's said that the charge was maliciously laid. Acting on a tip-off, [?], police arrested and charged the 51-year-old with the shooting murder of Roy Thurgar at Randwick in Sydney's east in 1991. He spent 16 months in custody before he was acquitted by a jury.

NSW Police Force: Bent cop Cribb should be treated 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. The Daily Telegraph this morning is calling for special consideration for the cop.

One arrested in random raids: Police
NSW Police said more than 200 officers raided homes in the largest operation ever conducted by Task Force Gain, set up to investigate gun crime in Sydney's south-west.

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

Drive-by shootings: test your political IQ?
What if since the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption the drugs moved from Kings Cross to Cabramatta. Then since the the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Cabramatta the drugs moved to Bankstown/Greenacre. Giving police more power might just be more fuel on the fire.

NSW drug wars: family feud not responsible for shootings
New South Wales Shadow Police Minister Peter Debnam says he does not believe recent shootings in Sydney's south-west are the result of a family feud. And he's not on his own.

Police WarLords set to take over Sydney again
Police warlords are set to take over Sydney's suburbs because police are not being supervised properly.

Jailed man's conviction to be reviewed
The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal will today review the conviction of a man, after claims in the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) last year that police planted weapons and faked suspects' confessions.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

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?

How to become corruption resistant in NSW
Don't trust those who cannot prove themselves with the little amounts of trust you give them. Just because they have a letter of perceived trust doesn't mean they can be trusted.

This is not how you eat 'antisocial behaviour'
Process corruption, perjury, planting of evidence, verbals, fabricated confessions, denial of suspects rights, a solicitor to induce confessions, tampering with electronic recording equipment, framing. Generally green lighting crime, and I say Murder, including the kids who overdosed on heroin. No doubt.

Black Knight - Long way to go home
In line with the current climate of police corruption and the demise of the reform unit set up by Wood, these facts ought to have been a good reason to leave Moroney out of the package as Commissioner.

Bob down and sniff my arse
These are serious invasions of privacy and draconian laws? Where are our democratic soldiers, the lawyers and the barristers who need to take on the government in the courts? Are they plastic? Or to busy feathering their nests? Or have they been cleverly purchased by this black government. Drug test police and politicians, and have the tests independently accessed.

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 Lanfranchi, 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').