David Hicks
Is it just me or does everyone think the federal government would be very nervous about the outcome of David Hicks controversial military tribunal?
David Hicks has been detained for more than five years, the bulk of that time at Guantanamo Bay.
Until this morning he had not formally been charged with anything,
There are many detainees at Guantanmo Bay – there were British citizens there too – but two years ago the Blair Government secured their release, intervening on the basis that the US had no right to detain Britons without charge.
The Australian Government failed to act similarly on David Hicks behalf. Today, finally, he was formally charged with supporting terrorism.
The US government allegedly underwent training at an al-Qaeda camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan and volunteered to fight alongside Taliban forces during the US-led invasion.
The charge sheet does not allege Hicks fired on US troops or attacked a US target, but says he conducted surveillance on the abandoned US embassy in Kabul and met Osama bin Laden as well as accused "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
Previous charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy have been dropped.
Hicks' defence lawyers say that move shows US authorities have no case against their client.
No cameras were allowed in the court room today but reports have told us that while David Hicks was clean shaven, his hair is chest length. He uses his hair to block the constant light in his cell at Guantanamo Bay.
Just imagine that for a second.
He is kept in 24 hour isolation…in constant light. That’s what his life has been like for more than three years. Before that he was subject to constant beating and interrogation.
I want to hear David Hicks story. I am not a complete bleeding heart, people died on September 11. If David Hicks was a key mastermind in that, then maybe he has got what he deserved.
But if David Hicks was a bit player who, as I suspect, was a nobody, a none too smart kangaroo skinner was Adelaide who was looking for adventure, who suddenly found himself on the wrong side, come September 12….then I think the Australian government has failed a basic test, to protect it’s citizens.
David Hicks has been detained for more than five years, the bulk of that time at Guantanamo Bay.
Until this morning he had not formally been charged with anything,
There are many detainees at Guantanmo Bay – there were British citizens there too – but two years ago the Blair Government secured their release, intervening on the basis that the US had no right to detain Britons without charge.
The Australian Government failed to act similarly on David Hicks behalf. Today, finally, he was formally charged with supporting terrorism.
The US government allegedly underwent training at an al-Qaeda camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan and volunteered to fight alongside Taliban forces during the US-led invasion.
The charge sheet does not allege Hicks fired on US troops or attacked a US target, but says he conducted surveillance on the abandoned US embassy in Kabul and met Osama bin Laden as well as accused "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
Previous charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy have been dropped.
Hicks' defence lawyers say that move shows US authorities have no case against their client.
No cameras were allowed in the court room today but reports have told us that while David Hicks was clean shaven, his hair is chest length. He uses his hair to block the constant light in his cell at Guantanamo Bay.
Just imagine that for a second.
He is kept in 24 hour isolation…in constant light. That’s what his life has been like for more than three years. Before that he was subject to constant beating and interrogation.
I want to hear David Hicks story. I am not a complete bleeding heart, people died on September 11. If David Hicks was a key mastermind in that, then maybe he has got what he deserved.
But if David Hicks was a bit player who, as I suspect, was a nobody, a none too smart kangaroo skinner was Adelaide who was looking for adventure, who suddenly found himself on the wrong side, come September 12….then I think the Australian government has failed a basic test, to protect it’s citizens.
4 Comments:
what happened to human rights, this is shit, who even knows wat he did or didnt, guilt or not. this could be your son!!!! god help us..........
Caroline ... sorry to see you crossing the line to become yet another media person who is so quick to pull down their own government and so keen to cheer on a terrorist propaganda.
I listened to the radio comments and read your blog and it truly saddened me.
We need to give our military and our leaders a fair go - As Victorian Liberal MP Bernie Finn put it recently: “I must offer a word of caution to those seeking to elevate Hicks to national hero status. David Hicks was not in Afghanistan to judge the Kabul beach babe contest. He was there fighting for one of the most oppressive regimes on earth, which is and was a supporter and promoter of terrorism both locally and internationally. He was there in Afghanistan to kill Australians and its allies.
Janet Albrechtsen nicely summaries some of the facts about Hicks in her Australian column today (“Gun-toting jihadi was not an angel,” March 28, 2007). She begins this way: “Finally David Hicks, also known as Abu Muslim al Australia, aka Abu Muslim Philippine, aka Muhammad Dawood, has pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism. And now watch as the real PR campaign goes into angelic overdrive. His vociferous cheer squad will proclaim his innocence, declaring the plea was the only way for Hicks to get out of Guantanamo Bay.”
The specification Hicks admits to sets out the extraordinary detail: he travelled to Afghanistan with the help of Lashkar-e-Toiba to attend al-Qa’ida terrorist training camps. He was schooled by al-Qa’ida in weapons familiarisation, landmines, tactics, basic explosives, guerilla warfare, ambush, camouflage and surveillance.”
She continues: “He then moved up the ladder to urban tactics training and surveillance of the US and British embassies in Kabul. The specification Hicks admits to traces how he went to Pakistan, only to return to Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks, joining al-Qa’ida forces at Kandahar airport, later travelling to the front lines in Kunduz to fight coalition forces. He was captured by the Northern Alliance in December 2001 while trying to flee to Pakistan.”
“Long before his admission yesterday, Hicks has made plenty of other, earlier admissions: training with the Kosovo Liberation Army in Albania and fighting with Lashkar-e-Toiba, where he ‘got to fire hundreds of rounds’ into Indian-controlled Kashmir. In letters home to dad, he called himself a ‘well-trained and practical soldier’. He admitted to preparing for martyrdom because ‘the highest position in heaven’ goes to those who ‘go fighting in the way of God against the friends of Satan’.”
Moreover, “Hicks has called the Taliban regime ‘the best in the world’ and congratulated the regime for running ‘the country by strict Islamic law’, making particular mention of the death sentence and ‘all Islamic punishments’. He urged ‘an Islamic revolution’, hoping that the Afghanistan model would ‘spread throughout the Muslim world’ so that ‘Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim rule again’.”
Says Albrechtsen, “Hicks’s admission is a vindication of the Howard Government’s steadfast position that he ought to be tried, not freed as his supporters have long demanded. Hicks has admitted to siding with the enemy. He was never an unfortunate victim of circumstance. Bringing him home, where he would escape trial, was always ridiculous. But then the law and facts have never been part of the Hicks campaign. His team of grandstanding Gitmo lawyers and extended human rights supporters always understood they needed a strategy of obfuscation, mystique and delay.”
She concludes, “Hicks will be brought home to serve out his sentence. When that happens, and following his release, let’s hope the facts are not forgotten.” Quite right. All the hype about Hicks must be balanced with some reality here. The appeasers of terrorism have had a good run in the media, seeking to put a “human face” on their latest poster boy. They have gone on and on about the need for justice. I just wish they were as concerned about justice for the victims of terrorism.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,21458490,00.html
Dear Bev HB If David Hicks is terrorist I'll ride John Howard all the way to Adelaide and back wearing a pink stetson. David Hicks isn't the pimple on the arse of a terrorist's aunty's milkman. Love you all.... Osama Smith
Can you name a country or government that you would rather live under ... I can't ... we treat our leaders as if they are liars and con men ... You would think it was the PM or his leadership team that was intent on killing australians or innocent civilians they way some people talk about them. personally I would not put the words of someone who was training for guerilla warfare etc with people who hate Australia before the words of someone who has dedicated their life to serving their nation ... and I don't consider a life in politics a small thing - it takes guts, and tenacity ... look at the venom being spewed about this Hicks case ... as if the government could actually tell the public about the finer details of the case ... they are bound by so many privacy regs and have to just cop the insults without being able to answer back - meanwhile those eager to see signs of weakness in western nations laugh at how easily the people become their pawns ... only fools pull down their own house over their heads
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