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APC-SA July 2003 Newsletter
Next APC Meeting
Saturday 19th July at 1.30pm at the Left Bank Coffee Shop
(corner of Pirie and Pultney Streets, City).
Fair go for David
The committee of Fair go for David requests that URGENT ACTION
be taken by all, to lobby MP's, ring talkback radio re David Hicks, Mamdouh
Habib and all other prisoners at Guantanomo Bay, Cuba. An execution chamber is
being built at the prison for execution of prisoners found guilty of offences.
They will be accorded military trials where a series of restrictions will be
placed on defence lawyers. "Some legal experts argue that (the trials will
be) crafted to make winning convictions and getting the death penalty as
easy as possible." (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 May 2003) Fair Go For David,
PO Box 634, Prospect East SA 5082. www.fairgofordavid.org
We call on members and friends to do all possible to assist in
this campaign. Our federal government must be made to exert pressure on the US
administration to prevent this violation of human rights and deprivation of
natural justice. Take action today and every day until David and Mamdouh are
back in Australia.
"In the Land of Guantanamo".
The New York Times magazine, 29 June 2003, had a long article by
Ted Conover, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/magazine/29GUANTANAMO.html
sections are reprinted below:
A surreal society has emerged at the tip of Cuba in which rules are the only
common language and prisoners and guards alike feel marooned. . . . Camp Delta .
. . . has running water, indoor toilets and plenty of unused capacity. (There
are 680 prisoners housed there now, with room for about 1,000.) Soldiers call
Camp Delta ''the Wire,'' and it has plenty of that -- rows of chain link and
concertina. Rising behind them are plywood guard towers, some draped with
American flags, and an array of lights for night. At the camp's main gate, a
4-foot-by-8-foot sign attached at eye level says ''Honor Bound to Defend
Freedom.'' This is the slogan of J.T.F./Guantanamo, the joint military task
force -- 2,000 strong -- that runs the detention-and-interrogation operation. .
. .[which] is clearly a problem area of America's war on terror. . . . Each
prisoner lives in a separate cell that is 6 feet 8 inches by 8 feet. The door
and walls are made of a tight mesh through which it would be hard to pass
anything larger than a pencil. Unless rewarded for good behavior, each prisoner
is allowed out of the cell only three times a week for 20 minutes of solitary
exercise in a large concrete-floored cage, followed by a 5-minute shower. Before
coming out of the cell, he must submit to a shackles-connected-to-handcuffs
arrangement known as a ''three-piece suit.'' Guards escort him on either side. .
. . The United States, for what the administration says are reasons of national
security, has chosen not to designate these combatants from the war in
Afghanistan prisoners of war; this means that they are not protected by the
Geneva Conventions. . . . Officially, the P.O.W.'s are being held for
interrogation, but clearly, to judge by the conditions, they're being held for
punishment as well. But for how long? Who decides? Under these conditions, it
would seem, hopelessness is inevitable. .
. . The Question of Questioning. . . . One reason the interrogation process has
dragged on for months and months, however, is that joint-task-force
investigators are not the only ones doing the questioning.
Presumably because each has a slightly different intelligence agenda, any
interested government agency, including the F.B.I., the Justice Department, the
State Department, the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, is given a shot at interrogating Camp Delta's detainees.
It is easy to imagine that it could go on for a very long time. . . . Being
incommunicado so long, as prisoners all over the world can tell you, is a sort
of death.
Please
help the work of the UniSA Circle of Friends in their Free the Al-Mosawi family
campaign!
Please
send the enclosed postcard to your local member of Federal Parliament, the Prime
Minister, Minister for Immigration or send it to someone who you think it might
have maximum impact on.
More postcards are available from robert.hirsch@adelaide.edu.au
Tel 8303 4614.
Here is a
brief background to the appalling treatment of the Al-Mosawi family, who have
been imprisoned in Australia as ‘failed asylum seekers’ for nearly two and a
half years.
Mohammad, the father is Iraqi; his parents were killed by Saddam
Hussein’s forces during the celebration of his 22nd birthday.
He fled to Jordan where he met and married Samira.
They had one boy in Jordan before taking the people-smuggler’s route to
Australia (Samira was pregnant at the time).
They were sent to the Woomera prison on arrival.
Their second boy was born in the Pt Augusta hospital under terrible
circumstances (Caesarian without consent).
The family’s imprisonment under extremely harsh conditions took its
toll on Samira, who became mute after Mohammad tried to hang himself.
She has not spoken a word in any language since April ‘02.
The family
was brought to the Glenside Hospital in July ’02; Samira was 8 months pregnant
and was psychotic.
It was at this time that members of the UniSA Circle of Friends were able
to befriend the family, although ACM guards were present 24hrs a day.
Salima, the baby shown on the postcard, was born in September ’02.
Three guards were stationed outside her room at the Women’s and
Children’s Hospital 24hrs a day during her labour and after the birth.
The family was then held under constant guard in a motel on Glen Osmond
Rd for about 6 weeks.
They were ‘repatriated’ (ACM euphemism) to Baxter high security
prison near Pt Augusta where they are still held.
Samira was
forcibly removed from her family in Baxter just before Xmas 02; she was
chemically sedated by ACM guards.
She was brought to the RAH by air ambulance without shoes, change of
clothing or her hijab.
When we brought her some basic clothing, sandals and toiletries, the
guards would not allow us to give them to her because “they could be used as
weapons”.
She was sent to the maximum security wing of Glenside (Brentwood North),
where all doors are double locked but even there, 2 ACM guards were keeping
constant surveillance.
She was returned to Baxter and since January this year, has not come out
of her room.
She has a morbid phobia about seeing ACM guards.
Mohammad cares for the 3 children as best he can and reports to us about
her deteriorating condition and the effect it is having on the 3 kids.
There is no medical help for her despite many pleas to the Department of
Immigration for psychiatric assistance.
It is
important that people know what is going on in Australia and how the Al-Mosawi
family, along with many others, continue to suffer terrible abuses by our
government.
These abuses are sanctioned by the ALP whose silence on issues
surrounding the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers is evidence of their
complicity.
The facts
presented in this report are all verifiable.
The UniSA Circle of Friends estimates that the government has spent a
minimum of $750,000 detaining the Al-Mosawi family up until now, and the meter
is still running!
Please contact Robert Hirsch if you would like to join the UniSA Circle
of Friends or to contribute to its work, or, better still, to start your own
Circle of Friends and help others imprisoned in Baxter.
University
accepts need for framework for debate over military and corporate involvement in
Flinders University - a victory for students!
By
James Frazer, Education Research Officer, Students’ Association of Flinders
University.
The
Students' Association of Flinders University has had an important victory in its
campaign against a University Administration decision to formally approve Saab
Systems sponsorship of a History department centre.
Saab
Systems is an Adelaide based company that specialises in military technology.
Saab hails its fire control system as the "silent achiever" behind
naval gunfire support provided by HMAS ANZAC during the recent war of aggression
against Iraq.
The
Students' Association has policies against the influence of militarism on
campus. We do not accept the idea that Flinders University should receive
funding ('blind' or 'tied') from the arms industry. We do not want the
university to play a role in perpetuating (or promoting) weapons proliferation.
The
History centre was operating under the name of the 'Saab Centre for Scandinavian
Studies'. The Saab logo also featured prominently on the website. There are no
provisions under university ‘Policy on Centres’ for corporations to access
naming rights. Through the Saab advertising on the website the university
appeared to be endorsing to our members a company whose activities we have a
policy against.
The
Students' Association campaign opposed the establishment of the centre until our
concerns surrounding it were addressed. We also argued that it was symptomatic
of a wider policy shortcoming of the university in the area of corporate
partnerships. As a result we argued for the establishment of a more formal,
inclusive framework for discussion of corporate partnerships. Our aim was to
develop a platform from which to debate and analyse particular subcategories of
industry and their compatibility with the strategic priorities of the university
and the varied interests of the university community.
The
campaign seemed to come to a head last week with University Administration
refusing all of our demands. Controversial direct action was taken by some
radical students on campus, tense meetings with the Vice-Chancellor ensued,
occupation threats hung in the air, and we received a letter from Saab
threatening to sue the University unless we ceased criticism of their company.
At
the 11th hour University Administration gave in. Administration firstly removed
all Saab advertising from the Centre website. They also sounded out that the
sponsorship from Saab would not be renewed and instead broader community based
funding would be explored. We then took our proposal for a formal framework for
debate over corporate relationships to Academic Senate. This was met with
unexpected support, even from the VC.
The
university has now formally established an Academic Senate working party to
explore models of debate, regulation and policy for corporate relationships.
This
win may not be a revolutionary change but we do believe that it is an important
step forward for building debate and action around the question of who funds our
education and why.
This
working party may well be the first of its kind in the university sector.
Given
the heavy emphasis the Nelson Reforms place on increasing the number of
Uni-Industry partnerships, we urge all other student organisations to campaign
for similar bodies on their campuses.
For
more information or to find out the background of the saga, go to www.flinders.edu.au/StuAssoc
Alison Broinowski : A Moment For Truth
Transcript
of program:
Ten days ago, an article in the Guardian described Australians as apathetic for
not objecting to our government's deception about the reasons for war in Iraq.
The writer, David Fickling, could not understand how the Blair government had
been forced to acknowledge that some of the evidence it cited against Iraq was
false, while the Howard government, that had used the same evidence, did not. In
fact, the Australian public had known two weeks before the war began that the
claims about weapons of mass destruction and alleged links between Saddam
Hussein and Al Qaeda were dubious. Andrew Wilkie, who resigned from the Office
of National Assessments, had told us so. When admissions to that effect seeped
out after the war from Prime Minister Blair and from US Deputy Secretary of
Defence Paul Wolfowitz, few observant Australians were surprised. Instead of
expressing outrage at this gross deception, we are preoccupied instead with the
side issue of the Bali travel warnings: worrying about who knew what and when,
and why they didn't warn the travelling public until it was too late.
Certainly, these are significant questions, and better decisions, with
hindsight, should have been made. But no-one suggests the government
deliberately falsified the facts to endanger Australian lives in Bali. It is
increasing apparent, however, that they did just that by sending Australian
troops to Iraq.
Many of us still don't know why we went to war. We don't understand why
Australia was the only country in our region that felt so threatened by Iraq
that we had to invade it. We don't know why Saddam Hussein was so dangerous and
tyrannical that we had to overthrow his, alone of all the loathsome regimes in
the world.
We all have a right to see the 'compelling evidence' that led Mr Howard to tell
Parliament before the war that Iraq had 'mammoth quantities' of weapons of mass
destruction, chemical, biological and even nuclear, and that Australia must help
rid Iraq of them. We have a right to know what evidence he had of links between
Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda that could lead to these weapons being passed to
terrorists.
All taxpayers have a right to be told what the expenditure of our $700 million
achieved. Instead of producing that evidence, Mr Howard told Parliament on 4
February 2003 that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa to support it its WMD
program. The British intelligence documents on which this allegation was based
have been shown to be crude forgeries, and even the Foreign Minister, Alexander
Downer, said this accusation is 'erroneous'.
Allegations about Iraq's nuclear capacity were exposed as false by the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
As the war progressed and no weapons of mass destruction were found, Mr Howard
spoke less about them and more about 'components' and 'precursors'.
He talked of liberating 'an oppressed people': even though he had stressed
before the war that it was not about regime change, and even though those
fleeing from Saddam Hussein were made unwelcome in Australia.
In late April Mr Howard suddenly declared the notion of further wars ridiculous,
and denied Australia would be involved in attacks on Syria or Iran, saying he
would not the United States 'a blank cheque for pre-emption'. But he did not
explain why the war against Iraq was in our interests, while other pre-emptive
wars would not be. He continued stubbornly to insist in Parliament as late as
last week, citing the CIA, that a third trailer was really a biochemical weapons
laboratory.
Since we have not found Saddam Hussein's WMDs or rid Iraq of them, and since
that was Mr Howard's main reason for sending Australians to war, why are our
troops not still there? Saddam Hussein has not been found or replaced by an
elected government; and the world is clearly no safer from terrorism or weapons
of mass destruction.
Australians who supported our invasion of Iraq should ask Mr Howard to explain.
But it seems we will have no answers before September, when a parliamentary
committee meets to inquire into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
By then, four current investigations in London and Washington will be over, so
the government will know what it's safe to tell us.
Dr Alison Broinowski is a visiting fellow in the faculty of Asian Studies at the
Australian National University and a former Australian diplomat. She is the
author of the forthcoming 'Howard's Phoney War' and, most recently, 'About Face:
Asian Accounts of Australia'. "Perspective" program presented by Sandy
McCutcheon on Monday 23/06/2003. Producer: Keri Phillips
UK
Nuke News
Items
from UK papers
DT
= Daily Times; Ind = Independent; G = Guardian; T = Times;
FT = Financial Times; MEN = Manchester Evening News; SInd = Sunday Independent;
STimes = Sunday Times; NewSc = New Scientist.
--Britain is unprepared to deal with the outbreak of a new disease or a
terrorist attack, which could overwhelm the NHS and threaten a public order
catastrophe, doctors warned yesterday. Ind 2 Jul
--The Pentagon is planning a new generation of weapons, including huge
hypersonic drones and bombs dropped from space, that will allow the US to strike
its enemies at lightning speed from its own territory. G 1 Jul
--Iran appeared to soften its stance yesterday on allowing snap inspections of
its nuclear programme, under growing international pressure. It invited the
director of the IAEA to discuss Tehran's co-operation. G,FT 1 Jul
-- new process to deal with nuclear waste is being developed by US scientists.
It involves heating the waste to more than 2,000 degrees Celsius, turning it
into a glassy, rock-like mass which is ten times stronger than concrete and
impervious to erosion. G 30 Jun
--network of high-security labs for storing and investigating some of the most
lethal viruses known to mankind is being built across the US, leaving
communities in uproar. Andrew Gumbel reports from Los Angeles. SInd 29 Jun
--Ireland's attempt to sue Britain over radioactive discharges from Sellafield
has been thrown into disarray after the EC claimed its action was illegally
bypassing the EU's legal system. SInd 29 Jun
--Taiwan's president has promised to hold a referendum within nine months to
determine whether a controversial nuclear power plant should be scrapped. FT 28
Jun
--America gave notice yesterday that it was ready to act alone against Iran and
N Korea if European countries did not co-operate in stopping them from producing
nuclear weapons. DT 27 Jun
--America's nuclear weapons labs have been ordered to undergo an aggressive
security overhaul prompted by fears that they are vulnerable to terrorists
seeking a `dirty bomb.' T 26 Jun
--US and the EU yesterday agreed on ways to stop the proliferation of WMDs, a
decision that could start the rebuilding of the transatlantic relationship
ruptured during the Iraq war. FT 26 Jun
--Greenpeace yesterday handed over abandoned radioactive material and accused US
and UK military administrations in Iraq of failing to prevent a `nuclear
disaster' in the region. FT,G 26 Jun
--Govt yesterday published plans to establish a nuclear liabilities agency which
could pave the way for the privatisation of BNFL. DT,G,FT 25 jun
--MPs yesterday accused the gvt of suppressing news that the UK will participate
in a plan which could inflame tensions with North Korea by using military force
to search ships and aircraft for illicit nuclear materials. FT 25 Jun
--A nine-month ban on emissions of Technetium-99 from the Sellafield power
station in Cumbria was called for by the gvt last night while new procedures for
storing radioactive waste were introduced by BNFL. DT 24 Jun
--Traces of radioactive waste from Sellafield have been found in packets of
farmed salmon sold in the six leading British supermarkets. DT 23 Jun
--The head of the IAEA said yesterday that his inspectors had tracked down most
of the uranium missing from a looted storage plant at Iraq's main nuclear site.
T 23 Jun
--international hunt is under way for up to 130lb of radioactive material
suitable for use in a terrorist `dirty bomb' that brokers are trying to sell to
the highest bidder in SE Asia. STimes 22 Jun
--BNFL is expected to announce the appointment of Michael Parker, former
president and chief executive of Dow Chemicals, as chief executive this week.
STimes 22 Jun; G,Ind,FT,DT 23
--UK is being prosecuted by the EC for breaching international nuclear safety
rules after allowing the US-owned Devonport dockyard to dump a five-fold
increase in radioactive tritium into the sea. SInd 22 Jun
--UK ministers are poised to halt the dumping of radioactive waste from
Sellafield in a dramatic U-turn while court action continues. SInd 22 Jun
--Plans for a new state-funded body to clean up UKP48bn-worth of Britain's
nuclear waste are expected to be announc-ed in a draft Bill to be published next
week. FT 21 Jun; SInd 22
--Police are to send text messages to workers if they need to evacuate
Manchester city centre, under plans now being drawn up. MEN 20 Jun
--AEA Technology, the former commercial arm of the Atomic Energy Authority,
pledged yesterday to return to the black and complete its exit from the nuclear
industry by the end of the current financial year. FT 20 Jun
--EU moved to back American concerns about terrorism and WMDs last night, but
called for an `effective multilateral system' to combat growing global threats.
Ind,DT 20 Jun
-- President Bush's rush to field a missile defence system before the
presidential elections in September 2004 could endanger the programme's success
because the tight timetable is forcing the Pentagon to use immature and poorly
tested technology, the General Accounting Office warned last week. NewSc 14 Jun
--The Japanese nuclear regulator says no repairs are needed at the Hamaoka
nuclear reactor at Shika on the northern peninsula of Ishikawa, despite the 249
cracks that have been found in a reactor shroud containing its primary coolant,
which has leaked 140 millilitres of water. NewSc 14 Jun
--Georgian police have seized a significant amount of radioactive material from
the boot of a taxi in the capital, Tbilisi. The find comes as a US gvt study
says Washington's plans to clean up the threat of dirty bombs is failing. G 18
Jun
--Conservative US Republicans, backed by some Democrats, are seizing on anti-gvt
protests in Tehran as an opportunity to press the Bush administration to adopt
`regime changes' in Iran as official policy. FT 18 Jun
--The US-led military campaign in Iraq and the policies of President Bush have
been condemned in an 11-country opinion poll conducted by the BBC. FT 17 Jun
European Local Authorities Demand A Moratorium On Radioactive Waste Dumping At
Sea
Local authorities in the UK, Ireland and Norway, together with a pan European
local authorities environment network, have joined together to demand an
immediate moratorium on radioactive waste discharges to sea.
Their joint call comes in advance of a meeting next week in Bremen, Germany,
between Environment Ministers from 15 European States and the European
Environment Commissioner. The ministers will review progress on an agreement
five years ago under the OSPAR Convention (1) to achieve "…progressive
and substantial reductions of discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive
substances" to the marine environment.
The UK Nuclear Free Local Authorities, the South and West Norway Assembly of
County Councils, the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, and
Kommunenes Internasjonale Miløorganisasjon with coastal local authority members
across 10 European States, are jointly pressing the UK Government to intervene
and stop the Sellafield nuclear plant effectly dumping, through discharges,
radioactive wastes to sea that then pollute marine life and coastlines around
Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia.
Concern is focused on stores of a persistent radioactive chemical Technetium-99
(Tc-99), held at Sellafield, that the financially insolvent plant operator,
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), says it wants to dump into the Irish Sea until
2007 to save money.
The four local authority organisations have agreed a joint resolution (2)
opposing this and setting out the action required to comply with OSPAR:
* an immediate UK moratorium on discharges of (Tc99) from Sellafield;
* full evaluation of all technologies to abate discharges of Tc99 and
* the necessary investment to secure these steps.
The resolution has been faxed to all OSPAR Ministers today under cover of a
letter urging them to support the proposed actions at their meeting next week.
END
Further information: Stewart Kemp 07771 930 196
Notes:
1. The Oslo - Paris (OSPAR) Convention for the Protection of the Marine
Environment of the North-East Atlantic ("OSPAR Convention"). See
http://www.ospar.org
2. The text of the joint local authorities resolution is below.
RESOLUTION of The South and West Norway Assembly of County Councils (SAVOS), the
General Council of County Councils of Ireland (GCCC), Kommunenes Internasjonale
Miløorganisasjon (KIMO), and the Nuclear Free Local Authorities Committee of
the UK
WHEREAS the two Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plants in the UK are owned by a
UK Government-controlled company, BNFL;
Whereas the plants' radioactive discharges continue to pollute the marine
environment of Northern European countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom
and Norway;
Whereas the UK Government, the Irish Government and the Norwegian Government all
accept the requirements of:
- the United Nations Law of the Sea
- the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East
Atlantic ("OSPAR") Convention
- the precautionary principle
- the polluter pays principle
- the principle that no state has the right to interfere with the use and
enjoyment of another state's territory;
Whereas the continued pollution from Sellafield breaks these international laws
and principles and jeopardises the health of humans, the health and
marketability of sea produce, the cleanliness of maritime areas and the human
economies that depend on these;
Whereas it is encumbent on local and regional authorities and municipalities,
whose areas and/or inhabitants are, or may be, affected by the impacts of this
ongoing pollution, to do what they can to end this pollution;
Whereas the South and West Norway Assembly of County Councils (SAVOS), the
General Council of County Councils of Ireland (GCCC), Kommunenes Internasjonale
Miløorganisasjon (KIMO) and the Nuclear Free Local Authorities Committee of the
UK (NFLA), wish to work together and with like-minded local or regional
governments, and their associations to secure this objective;
RESOLVE TO:
- cooperate in efforts to secure this objective;
- establish working relations and mechanisms to advance this objective;
- in the first instance to call on Ministers due to attend the Ministerial
Meeting of signatory states to the of the OSPAR Convention meeting in Bremen
between 23rd and 27th June 2003 to press for:
(i) an immediate UK moratorium on discharges of Tc99 from Sellafield; and
(ii) full evaluation of
(a) all technologies to abate discharges of Tc99, including the use of
Tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (TPP) and to retain these wastes on land, if
necessary in new land-based
storage facilities;
(b) the UK regulator's view that impacts of Tc-99 in the international marine
environment are less important than its impacts in conditioned form in a UK
land-based environment;
(c) all interests, economic and non-economic, owned and unowned, actual or
perceived, real or reputational - including particularly those of the Norwegian
fishing and seaweed harvesting industry - and all actual or potential damage to
the same that the continued discharge of radioactive waste, including Tc-99,
affects or jeopardises or creates; and
(iii) the necessary investment to secure these steps.
16 June 2003 Above notice forwarded by:
Nuclear Free Local Authorities, Manchester City Council
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