printable version PDF version

Oz Abbott gov Attempts to Legalise Torture by Subterfuge
by Paul Sheehan via raul - The Age Thursday, Sep 18 2014, 5:00am
international / prose / post

A new bill submitted by Tony Abbott’s AG, George Brandis, names only three offences that intel and regulatory agencies would incur liability/accountability for, they are actions that: "(i) causes the death of, or serious injury to, any person; or (ii) involves the commission of a sexual offence against any person; or (iii) causes significant loss of, or serious damage to, property;" which clearly opens the door to torture, violent interrogation, indefinite detention, entrapment, false arrest or harassment campaigns by police and spy agencies, not to mention staged ‘false flag’ ops, like planning to kidnap and behead Sydney citizens at random, for example!

Abbott and Brandis

It is now CONFIRMED for even the most loyal, one-eyed, lobotomised Aussie conservative that Abbott and his bunch of knee-walking Washington stooges are completely out of touch with the nation and culture, notwithstanding the contempt they share (raft of election LIES) for the Australian electorate and the broader community. One should never imagine that a reprehensible LYING BASTARD couldn’t sink any lower, Abbott is now attempting to legalise torture, American style!

Good policing [remember that?] is able to handle all forms of crime and political terror tactics without resorting to despicable medieval tactics. Only a few decades past Sydney was confronted with REAL bomb-throwing terrorists in the form of Croatian fascists that operated a secret terrorist training camp (in the bush) from which they would plan bombing attacks on businesses in Sydney’s CBD. Without labouring the point, they were all arrested and shipped back to Yugoslavia by Whitlam where Marshal Tito put an end to that type of activity in Oz for good.

Did I mention good and competent policing? The yanks have only INCREASED the terrorist threat globally not put an end to it; the reason is obvious, it clearly serves their invasive interests and permanent war ideology?

Understand that it was illegal to bug a phone without reams of documents from the courts in the 60's and 70's; nevertheless, the Special Branch applied ingenious lateral solutions and monitored every known dangerous fascist in the country and no-one escaped their TARGETED and focused net.

Police swooped at the optimum time and made arrests without drama, bloodshed, alarm or media fanfare; sitting PM, Gough Whitlam, rang Marshal Tito who did the rest and Australia was never bothered by these fascist terrorists groups again.

But its another world today, fascist Croatia is now an ally of the USA which favours extremist, ultra-conservative/fascist groups in the Balkans, Ukraine, Saudi/other Gulf States, and dictators in Africa and Latina America; notwithstanding the ‘minor’ detail that Washington supports and utilises the services of KNOWN terrorists groups in the Middle East via Saudi, Qatar, UAE, Jordan and now Turkey -- ISIL/IS is the latest example of their joint handiwork; well may it be said that you are KNOWN by the company you keep, America.

And so we have the PATHETIC un-Australian conservative party that is now attempting to emulate America’s illegal torture policies and other primitive CRIMINAL tactics. I would emphasise that Australia is culturally averse to all forms of torture due to its penal colony past where early inhabitants were brutalised and routinely tortured by representatives of the British Empire.

The current example of cultural disconnect displayed by Tony Abbott should not come as a surprise as Tony Abbott was born an Englishman in London! And if the good citizens of Australia have their way Abbott and his team of treasonous un-Australian conservative lackeys will be turfed from office in the very near future. Abbott’s back-stabbing and election fraud smolders in the memory of ALL true blue Aussies; gaining the highest office in the land by deceit and fraud is completely un-acceptable, on that subject the overwhelming majority is unanimous.

I would re-iterate that the NSW police dealt with the immediate terrorist danger and criminal threat with the utmost proficiency without the need for alarmist media coverage Mr Murdoch, which is clearly designed to instill fear in the broader community and distract from Abbott's gross incompetence, dishonesty and draconian policies; nevertheless, watch the orchestrated ruse fail! As stated previously, Australia has a strong cultural heritage and rich history which has developed a certain ‘not easily intimidated/fooled or easily scared,’ culture.

Torture and other police state fascist tactics are better left to criminal America and its fascist allies -- it is widely known that the USA is digging its own grave; no civilised human being condones America’s perpetual war ideology, its horrendous (7-8 million since Korea) civilian killing record and the invasive, resource stealing, military campaigns it wages today against much weaker nations.

It is now searingly evident that there is nothing traditionally Australian about Tony Abbott and his treasonous troop of knee-walking, custard-faced, American stooges.


Report from the Melbourne Age follows:

George Brandis' new anti-terror law allows ASIO to torture
by Paul Sheehan

It is not clear why the Attorney-General, George Brandis, believes it is necessary for the Australian government to have the latitude to resort to torture, but you could drive a truck through his National Security Legislation Amendment Bill and not hit anything that says "do not torture people".

I've spoken to two legal experts and one outraged Senator about this bill and it is obvious that allowing torture, by government security agents, lies within the scope of the draft law.

Read it for yourself. Under the heading, "Immunity from liability", Section 35K of the draft National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No.1) 2014 bill states:

"A participant in a special intelligence operation is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for or in relation to conduct if … the conduct does not involve the participant engaging in any conduct that: (i) causes the death of, or serious injury to, any person; or (ii) involves the commission of a sexual offence against any person; or (iii) causes significant loss of, or serious damage to, property;"

You don't need the advice of a QC to work out that this provision states that it is unlawful to kill people, cause serious injury, sexually abuse, or cause serious damage to a person's property, but deliberately leaves about 150 shades of grey, ranging from ethical ambiguity to outright black ops.

In explaining the proposed changes to the law, Senator Brandis told parliament on July 16, "Covert operations may expose intelligence personnel or sources to legal liability in the course of their work. For this reason, some significant covert operations do not commence or are ceased. To address this issue, the Bill implements the recommendation to create a limited immunity for participants in authorised, covert operations...The limited immunity is subject to rigorous safeguards."

The law is silent about an array of punitive measures, including inflicting permanent psychological damage, in the name of security interrogation. You don't even need to have been charged with a crime. The National Security Legislation Amendment Bill is designed to "establish a framework for the conduct of covert intelligence operations". I suspect that framework will now be revisited by the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security.

There is certainly going to be pressure to do so. As Senator David Leyonhjelm, of the Liberal Democratic Party, told me: "These provisions are shameful. As a nation we should be better than this. Australia is engaged in a fight against barbarism, but that does not justify becoming barbarians ourselves."

Senator Brandis has proven as adept at selling the government's law-and-order messages as Treasurer Joe Hockey has been at crafting and selling a tough federal budget.

Instead of recognising that the Human Rights Commission is incapable of either reform or relevance in a nation already replete with laws defending people's rights, and cutting its budget accordingly, he created a new Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson, of the Institute of Public Affairs, on a salary of $325,000 a year. The move was designed to shift the culture of the commission away from punitive accusation to defending individual liberty. It has proved to be mission impossible.

Then came his handling of section 18C of the Anti-Discrimination Bill, which states that, "It is unlawful for a person to do an act … to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people …".

Removing the word "offend", at the minimum, would excise an obviously fertile ground for vexatious litigation, where formal complaints are used as an end in themselves to wage legal warfare. Prior to last year's election Senator Brandis had proposed revising section 18C. Instead, there was vacillation, then a back-flip, because ethnic groups mobilised against the change. So a principle gave way to a capitulation.

Now the torture bill. In a perverse way, Senator Brandis seems determined to make the Human Rights Commission relevant by creating a country where the government has wide latitude to abuse human rights. It is not incidental that the draft bill provides ample political protection for the Attorney-General. He need not be advised of a 'special intelligence operation' in advance. No ministerial or judicial approval is required for such operations. They take place at the discretion of the Director General or the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation or the ASIO deputy director.

The person who has raised the alarm over this proposed legislation is Senator Leyonhjelm, on libertarian grounds. For anyone curious about what libertarians stand for, the Senator offers this summary on his letterhead: "The Liberal Democratic Party supports low taxes, less regulation, free markets, individual liberty, and an end to the nanny state."

Nanny has rarely looked so sinister. "This is not some fringe concern of bleeding hearts or being soft on terrorism," Senator Leyonhjelm told me. "ASIO already has plenty of power to do its job without trampling on our basic rights."

© 2014 Fairfax Media

http://tinyurl.com/m7xgnyl