Selah Place

Australia’s Director of Military Prosecutions, Brigadier Lynn McDade, is reported in SMH as saying that the treatment of David Hicks is “abominable”. Brigadier McDade said “Quite frankly, I think it’s wrong. I don’t care what he’s done or alleged to have done. I think he’s entitled to a trial and a fair one and he is entitled to be charged and dealt with as quickly as is possible. As is anybody.”

In today’s Sydney Morning Herald, former Prime Minister Fraser is quoted as said that “he never thought he would see the day when Australia would stop providing justice to all its citizens“, that Australia had “depart(ed) from the rule of law and due process and justice to all citizens as we have“. He said “the British started to outlaw evidence taken by torture 500 years ago and now we accept it and we accept it in Hicks’s case.”

I don’t think that many of us know whether David Hicks is innocent or guilty or in a shade somewhere in between, but how can he be left in limbo for so long? My suspicion is that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In 2004 in Portland, Oregon, the anti-terrorist forces were desparate to show that they were doing something about “the war on terror” and arrested Brandon Mayfield, a lawyer, and convert to Islam, for suspicion of being involved in the bombing in Madrid. He has since been released, being totally innocent, but in the process, the effect on his young family, his reputation as a lawyer has been severely impacted. He has been awarded a $USD2 million payment in recognition of that (KATU article), but is continuing a legal battle, challenging the government’s surveillance of his home and office (KATU article).

Brandon Mayfield had a few things on his side: he is a lawyer, he had people fighting for him, and he was physically located in the US. David Hicks has his government ignoring him, locked away in solitary confinement, not just in a foreign country, but in a place which human rights organizations denigrate (Wikipedia), with only a relative few fighting on his behalf.

What does it take for Prime Minister Howard to step in, and at least bring him back to Australia, for the charges to be investigated here? What does it take for enough Australians to stand up and make it clear that it is important that our fellow compatriots are treated fairly and legally?

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas time, and fun celebrations for the New Year! May the year bring good things for you, full of special times with family and friends.