Aussie motorists getting angrier: report

Australian drivers are getting angrier and they're not shy about showing other motorists exactly how they feel.

Figures released by insurance company AAMI shows driver aggression is at an all-time high with acts of revenge becoming increasingly popular.

The figures show 68 per cent of drivers had been tailgated at some point, while 32 per cent said they had been followed.

The number of motorists who considered tailgating to be an acceptable response to road rage had more than quadrupled since AAMI first canvassed road rage among drivers in 1997 when just five per cent said they had been angry enough to tailgate another driver.

Alarmingly, one in seven drivers surveyed said they had been forced off the road, while one in 10 have had their car wilfully damaged as a result of an altercation with another motorist.

Two-thirds, or 69 per cent, said they had been verbally abused, while four in five, or 83 per cent, had received rude hand gestures.

More than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed admitted to gesturing rudely or yelling at another driver when they had done something dangerous or rude.

Of those, 83 per cent thought the payback was justified.

"While many of us have sworn or gestured rudely at other drivers from time to time, it is completely unacceptable that one-fifth of drivers have become so angry with the actions of another motorist that they have resorted to tailgating," AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said.

"If this wasn't bad enough, 60 per cent of those drivers thought tailgating as retribution was entirely justifiable."

"The rise in road rage is worrying in itself, however, also concerning is the increasing number of motorists who believe this sort of retaliation is entirely acceptable," Mr Hughes said.

China in human rights dance, says Rudd

Kevin Rudd poses for photos with a Chinese children's choir after they sang at the welcoming ceremony for the Australian Olympic Team.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday summed up China's progress on human rights as "two steps forward and one step back".

Speaking before the opening of the Olympic Games, Mr Rudd said China deserved credit for moving beyond the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and the suppression of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement in 1989, but that "much, much more" needed to be done.

"As someone who's looked at the history of human rights in China, it's always been two steps forward, one step back," Mr Rudd said when asked if China had fulfilled its promise, made in 2001 when it was awarded the 2008 Games, to improve human rights.

Mr Rudd said China's record on human rights had to be viewed in a longer time frame and to acknowledge that China had made "significant progress, while saying in the same breath there is much more progress that still needs to occur".

Mr Rudd was speaking just hours before Tibetan Buddhist monks tried to storm the heavily guarded Chinese embassy complex in New Delhi as the Games opening ceremony got underway in Beijing. As the police tackled the Tibetan exiles, some monks ran through the barricades towards the embassy walls but were stopped and taken into custody.

Mr Rudd declined to comment on US President George Bush's speech made in Bangkok, before his arrival in Beijing to attend last night's opening ceremony, in which Mr Bush criticised China's continued human rights abuses. Mr Rudd said he wanted to read Mr Bush's full speech before commenting.

Mr Rudd spoke to the media after a private meeting of about 45 minutes with Premier Wen Jiabao, one of the few bilateral meetings granted during the Olympic period.

He said he raised human rights, religious freedom, Tibet and internet freedom with Mr Wen, but declined to say how this was received.

"My responsibility as Prime Minister of Australia is to be frank about what I have seen … where positive changes have occurred and where we still believe changes need to occur."

After 30 years of studying China, he said he found a combination of "private diplomacy as well as periodic public reminders" of international concerns about human rights was the most effective way to encourage change.

He stressed several times the importance of bringing up human rights concerns "respectfully" and acknowledging how far civil liberties had improved since China began opening to the world in 1978.

Mr Wen agreed these matters would be pursued through Australia's annual human rights dialogue with China.

Mr Rudd noted the resumption of dialogue between China and representatives of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama after the sustained riots in Tibet and western China since March.

At a state banquet for world leaders yesterday, Mr Rudd was seated next to Mr Wen and President Bush was seated next to President Hu Jintao.

Asked about the grey smog that yesterday cloaked Beijing, Mr Rudd said he was relying on the International Olympic Committee to monitor pollution levels to protect athletes' health.

Mr Rudd said his main job here was to support the 433 Australian athletes, who had given Beijing's physical preparations a good "rap".

He brushed off a question about whether ordinary Chinese were being kept away from the Games by the security clampdown, saying it was much easier for 20 million Australians to be involved in the Sydney Games than it was for 1.3 billion Chinese.He is due to meet Mr Hu later today.

Mr Rudd also:
* Stressed his government's non-discriminatory policy on foreign investment in Australia.
* Said Mr Wen agreed to pursue the stuttering bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
* Announced that the first ministerial dialogue on climate change would be held in Canberra in November.

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Olympics human rights ads pulled: GetUp!
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Summer Olympic Games Open in Beijing, Pro-Tibet Protester Deported to US


The eyes of the world are focused on China today as the Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing. One big question centers on whether the Olympic Committee and the Chinese government will allow any public protests during the Games. We speak with an activist who was arrested in China and deported after unfurling a Tibet independence banner close to the main Olympic stadium.

Hypocrisy, human rights and the Beijing games
The Beijing Olympic games, which began on August 8, are shaping up to be a perfect reflection of our times — taking place against a backdrop of human rights abuses, terrorism scares and under a blanket of chemical smog.

“This is the Olympics the West Wanted”–Dave Zirin on US Corporations Entering China, Athletes Speaking Out and the Games from ’68 to Today


As the 2008 Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, we speak with sportswriter Dave Zirin. “This is the Olympics the West wanted: games where the grandest prize is not a gold medal but a glittering entree to China’s seemingly endless army of potential consumers,” writes Zirin. “This is the reason that George W. Bush will attend the opening ceremonies, the first U.S. President to do so on foreign soil.”

Athletes' letter condemns China on rights
Forty athletes taking part in the games have written an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing their concerns about Tibet. The signatories to the letter, which was sent to the International Herald Tribune newspaper, include Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, Croatian world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic, and US 400 metres runner DeeDee Trotter.

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Falun Gong's Olympic 'call for justice'
About 100 protesters from the Falun Gong have gathered in Sydney's CBD calling for greater scrutiny of China's labour camps during the Olympics. The Falun Gong say about 8,000 of their members in China have been arrested since December in crackdown leading up to the games.

Before the Olympics, 'Free Tibet'
A "Free Tibet" activist group will screen an advertisement urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to speak to the Chinese leadership about finding a solution for Tibet during his visit to the Olympics in Beijing.

American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China: Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing


President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The Games’ presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home. In the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called “constructive engagement” with China are tied to major US multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market.

Rudd to raise China Olympic censorship
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will raise concerns with the Chinese Government about internet censorship during the Olympics. Chinese authorities are blocking sensitive websites used by the international media and are using spyware to monitor internet use in hotels used by journalists and other visitors to the Games.

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Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

Kucinich Testifies Bush Impeachment House Judiciary Committee Holds Historic Hearings on the Case for Impeachment, Democracy Now! The House Judiciary Committee held historic hearings on Friday about whether the White House overstepped its constitutional authority during the presidency of George W. Bush and whether or not such abuses would justify his impeachment. The hearing was billed as one on “Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations.” Although the title expressly did not include the word “impeachment,” several Democratic Congress members and witnesses used the opportunity to begin impeachment proceedings against the President and Vice President. We play highlights.

Olympics human rights ads pulled: GetUp!

Advocacy group GetUp says they expect to be reimbursed for advertisements protesting human rights abuses in China that were stopped from going to air during the coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony.

The organisation says they paid Channel Seven to feature the ads before and after the event and were given approval to do so.

GetUp's Brett Solomon says he is extremely disappointed by the decision not to air the ads.

"This is really a slap in the face to all the people who put in small amounts of money to fund the advertisement and so I guess there's a range of options at this point," he said.

GetUp says it will continue to try to get mainstream coverage for the campaign but will now approach other commercial networks.

Related:

Summer Olympic Games Open in Beijing, Pro-Tibet Protester Deported to US


The eyes of the world are focused on China today as the Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing. One big question centers on whether the Olympic Committee and the Chinese government will allow any public protests during the Games. We speak with an activist who was arrested in China and deported after unfurling a Tibet independence banner close to the main Olympic stadium.

Athletes' letter condemns China on rights
Forty athletes taking part in the games have written an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing their concerns about Tibet. The signatories to the letter, which was sent to the International Herald Tribune newspaper, include Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, Croatian world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic, and US 400 metres runner DeeDee Trotter.

Australia to sign up to anti-torture treaty
Things like the Death Penalty, Genocide, Water boarding, Rendition, Terror, False Flag Ops, Propaganda, War on Witches, State-Terror, Selling Human Body Parts of Executed Prisoners, Occupation of Sovereign Nation States, Pre-emptive Strikes on Sovereign Nation States, No Freedom After Speech, Killing Their Opposition Political Party Leaders and Media, Inhibiting or Killing Freedom of the Press, Inhibiting Internet Freedom, Conspiracy Theories, and Govenment Propaganda by Corporate Media etc...

Falun Gong's Olympic 'call for justice'
About 100 protesters from the Falun Gong have gathered in Sydney's CBD calling for greater scrutiny of China's labour camps during the Olympics. The Falun Gong say about 8,000 of their members in China have been arrested since December in crackdown leading up to the games.

Before the Olympics, 'Free Tibet'
A "Free Tibet" activist group will screen an advertisement urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to speak to the Chinese leadership about finding a solution for Tibet during his visit to the Olympics in Beijing.

American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China: Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing


President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The Games’ presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home. In the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called “constructive engagement” with China are tied to major US multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market.

Rudd to raise China Olympic censorship
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will raise concerns with the Chinese Government about internet censorship during the Olympics. Chinese authorities are blocking sensitive websites used by the international media and are using spyware to monitor internet use in hotels used by journalists and other visitors to the Games.

China's human rights worse: Amnesty
Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

Australia to sign up to anti-torture treaty

Australian complicity in War Crimes in the Middle East, Torture, Rendition. In Australia Draconian Laws, Indefinite Solitary Confinement of prisoners at places like the HRMU at Goulburn Correctional Centre.

The Federal Government is moving to ratify an optional protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and is also considering bringing in legislation to formally outlaw it in Australia.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has said that the Government also considers the controversial practice of waterboarding as a method of torture.

[People also consider complicity in US war crimes, torture, rendition and war crimes in the Middle East and Indefinite solitary confinement and draconian laws here in Australia as controversial practices.

The Government is consulting with the states about signing up to the optional protocol, which means UN inspectors could visit Australian detention facilities.

Mr McClelland says the move signifies that the Government is re-engaging with the international community.

"I think the United Nations will appreciate it's more than a gesture," he said.

"It's significant. It helps to facilitate and give credibility to the international human rights framework.

"It's quite hypocritical for a modern and advanced nation to call upon neighbouring countries to lift their standards in a number of human rights areas if we aren't prepared to set our own example."

While Mr McClelland admits there are already laws against assault and detention which protect Australians against torture, he says there are still benefits to enacting a specific domestic law.

[Yes well, the fact that there are no laws against 'indefinite solitary confinement' and detention in Australia which actually don't protect Australians against torture!!! Why isn't that defined as torture? Because it's the new form of torture in Australia's New World Order. You see assault leaves marks on the body but psychological torture is hidden to the general public but inflicted on those being tortured right now!. What about draconian laws?]

McClelland: "The international body that monitors the convention thinks it is desirable where countries can specifically state and declare a specific offence of torture and that's what we're also exploring and canvassing the views of the states about," he said.

Mr McClelland says the practice of waterboarding is "unquestionably" torture but would not specify if Australia's latest move was aimed at putting pressure on the US to outlaw it.

"We would like to think that the greater number of countries that sign up to these international human rights standards and adhere to them sets an example for all other countries without specifically identifying any country," he said.

Waterboarding, where water is repeatedly poured over a person's face, has been used by the US as an interrogation method.

Australia is already a party to the UN Convention Against Torture which requires signatories to take steps to prevent torture inside their borders.

But the Howard government had refused to ratify the optional protocol to the Convention which sets up a system for international inspections of member countries' prisons and detention centres.

Quote: McClelland made the US and waterboaring his prime argument but why not look further in his own backyard? Because that appears to let him and his government, in some part, as well as the late Howard government, off the hook? Accept for the compliant and complicit war crimes, torture of prisoners in the Middle East, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Grahib and turning a blind eye to rendition etc. There are issues here in Australia like indefinite solitary confinement in prisons and draconian laws amongst other things....Like not sending war criminals like ex prime minister John Howard and his cronies like ex Federal Attorney General Phillip Ruddock to the Hague War Criminal Court.

But having said that, people shouldn't think that It's quite hypocritical like, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said, for a modern and advanced nation like Australia to call upon neighbouring countries like the US, Canada, Britain, Israel, China, Russia, France, Pakistan, India, etc.. To lift their standards in a number of human rights areas if we have been kinder, in some respects to most of our citizenry lately, than they're. Things like the Death Penalty, Genocide, Water boarding, Rendition, Terror, False Flag Ops, Propaganda, War on Witches, State-Terror, Selling Human Body Parts of Executed Prisoners, Occupation of Sovereign Nation States, Pre-emptive Strikes on Sovereign Nation States, No Freedom After Speech, Killing Their Opposition Political Party Leaders and Media, Inhibiting or Killing Freedom of the Press, Inhibiting Internet Freedom, Conspiracy Theories, and Govenment Propaganda by Corporate Media etc...

Updated: 2:05pm (AEST)

Tasers are torture, say rights advocates

Civil rights advocates have seized on Federal Government plans for new legal bans on torture to argue for tighter controls on the use of Taser stun guns by police.

The Federal Attorney-General says if Australia ratifies an optional protocol on the UN Convention Against Torture it would not stop Australian police from using Tasers.

USA: Taser-related deaths pass 150 mark. Amnesty International Australia.

The president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties Terry O'Gorman called on the Federal Government to make good its stance against torture by pushing the states to introduce stricter rules on the use of Tasers by police.

Tasers are electronic stun guns used to paralyse their targets. They are used by police in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Mr O'Gorman said Tasers were extremely painful and could cause death and were being used too readily by police.

"The United Nations have said that it is a form of torture so the Federal Government has got to grab this whole issue with both hands and address the widespread, growing use of tasers in at least three of the eight state and territory police services in this country," he said.

Australia is already a party to the UN Convention Against Torture which requires signatories to take steps to prevent torture inside their borders.

But the Howard government had refused to ratify the optional protocol to the Convention which sets up a system for international inspections of member countries' prisons and detention centres.

Robert McClelland says he is consulting with the state and territory governments about whether it should be ratified, and expects to release his opinion in the next few months.

Mr McClelland says it would depend on how the Tasers were used.

"Clearly if a Taser is used as an alternative to shooting someone dead then that is one thing, if on the other hand a Taser was used to repeatedly fire into someone for purpose of eliciting information then obviously that's a different situation," he said.

But the UN's Committee Against Torture has said that they can cause acute pain amounting to a form of torture.

Quote: What if Tazers were used against prisoners, detainees, demonstrators, protestors, dissent, public nuisances, pests, drunks, intolerance, unpopular people, homeless and the mentally ill, instead of just using dialogue or keeping them quiet by other means? Then the argument that the only use of a Tazer as an alternative to shooting a person dead is not true like McClelland says and that wouldn't sway the 150 dead in the US or those who would subsequently be killed in Australia. So there is a definite need to introduce stricter rules on the use of Tasers by police or prison guards if they're intent on using them at all. Tasers are a Lethal Meme.

Updated: 4:41pm (AEST)

LONG BAY PRISON HOSPITAL – OFFICERS’ STRIKE

“Officers at Long Bay Prison Complex are on total strike at the removal of their positions in the Long Bay Prison Hospital. This means that Justice Minister Hatzistergos has the whole Long Bay prison community in crisis due to his callous attempt to cut costs and remove 28 prison officer positions on April 2” said Justice Action spokesperson Brett Collins.

The loss of those positions led to the permanent 18 hour solitary confinement of mental patients. The whole mental health profession nationally, other authorities, teachers and patients have called for its reversal, ” said Justice Action spokesperson Michael Poynder.

The strike began last Tuesday, and is likely to continue over the weekend.

“The effect on the patients has been horrific. Service providers have expressed horror at this latest escalation. Normally such vulnerable people would be exempt from industrial action. This total isolation in single cells for mentally ill people amounts to torture and will cause immense damage,” said Mr Collins.

“This out of control crisis means that Premier Iemma can no longer abandon responsibility to his minister. He gave assurances to Parliament as Health Minister in 2004 that oblige him to intervene. We call for him to accept judicial control of the area as is adopted by the US in such a situation, and to grant an immediate visit to the patients from their families and community support” said Mr Collins.

Comments: Brett Collins 0438 705003
Michael Poynder 0401 371077

JUSTICE ACTION
Trades Hall, Suite 204, 4 Goulburn St, Sydney NSW 2000
PO Box 386, Broadway NSW 2007
T 02 9283 0123 ext 14 | F 02 9283 0112 | M 0438 705003
E brett@justiceaction.org.au
W Justice Action

BREAKOUT DESIGNPRINTWEB
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LINE IN SAND ON MENTAL HEALTH
“Patients under state control have had their social interaction reduced, and right to smoke removed. These vulnerable and isolated citizens, to whom the state owes a special obligation, are extremely distressed and have asked for community assistance,” said JA spokesperson Michael Poynder.

International Conference on Penal Abolition
The full agenda for ICOPA is now online, and pending any further changes, the line-up is looking like we're going to have a fascinating conference. With speakers coming to present papers from Brazil, Trinidad, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa plus many more including the UK, we are really looking at a truly international conference.

We owe prisoners more than jail
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Hicks media gag order ends
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Athletes' letter condemns China on rights

Forty athletes taking part in the games have written an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing their concerns about Tibet.

The signatories to the letter, which was sent to the International Herald Tribune newspaper, include Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, Croatian world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic, and US 400 metres runner DeeDee Trotter.

Olympic athletes have been given a warning about expressing political opinions and protesting in China as the communist country prepares to open the Games tonight.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says the rules on athletes expressing their political opinions are clear.

"The athletes have the full right of course to express their views outside of accredited zones," he said.

"They can express their views the way they wish while respecting the laws of the country where they are.

Buddhists arrested after Kathmandu anti-China protest

Security forces in Nepal have broken up a demonstration in Kathmandu by about 2,000 Buddhists angry about China's policies in Tibet.

The protesters chanted religious mantras and accused Beijing of suppressing religious freedom in Tibet.

About 500 people were arrested after security forces moved in to disperse the crowd.

There have been regular protests by Tibetan exiles in Nepal since China suppressed demonstrations in Tibet in March.

Rights group hijacks Chinese radio frequency

A human rights group has broken China's tight control of the media by broadcasting a radio show calling for freedom of expression in Beijing.

The pirate broadcast happened exactly 12 hours before the Olympic Games opening ceremony begins.

Using FM transmitters, the group Reporters Without Borders sent out a 20-minute program in French, Chinese and English slamming the Communist Government's control of the media and free expression.

"It's our way of saying to them, despite everything you do, here are the voices of people you want to silence and they are speaking, in the heart of Beijing on the very first day of the Olympics," a spokesman said.

It is not known how many people were able to listen to the program.

The group says it was the first broadcast by a radio station not controlled by China's Government since the Communists took power in 1949.

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Australia to sign up to anti-torture treaty
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Falun Gong's Olympic 'call for justice'
About 100 protesters from the Falun Gong have gathered in Sydney's CBD calling for greater scrutiny of China's labour camps during the Olympics. The Falun Gong say about 8,000 of their members in China have been arrested since December in crackdown leading up to the games.

Before the Olympics, 'Free Tibet'
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American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China: Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing


President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The Games’ presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home. In the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called “constructive engagement” with China are tied to major US multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market.

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China's human rights worse: Amnesty
Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

Open hearts for the youngest on the streets

PAUL MOULDS began working with homeless people more than 20 years ago, before the 1989 Burdekin Inquiry into youth homelessness. Since then, the number of homeless teenagers has doubled in Australia.

Of the 100,000 people whom the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates are homeless each night, about 36,000 are thought to be under the age of 25 and 10,000 under 12. Every night, one in two young people who seeks support accommodation will be turned away.

"The faces change but the stories I hear are the same," Captain Moulds, the director of the Oasis Youth Support Network, said. "Torment, abuse, neglect - they were the same stories [20 years ago] but the figures just show we could do more."

Captain Moulds is one of many youth workers who gave evidence last year at the National Youth Commission's inquiry into youth homelessness. Its findings will be issued on Tuesday.

Since the hearings, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, pushed the issue of wider homelessness onto the political agenda in January. The Rudd Government's first white paper - to be prepared by Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director Tony Nicholson - will deal with homelessness, for which $150 million was promised in the lead-up to the election.

"You can't put your finger on one thing," Captain Moulds said, of what caused homelessness. "Some people have mental health issues, some have family issues, some have fallen out of state care … It is not about material things; it is mainly about the quality of relationships in families - leaving, without the financial basis or the emotional basis."

Captain Moulds was 19 when he began as an outreach worker in Kings Cross and has run the Oasis Youth Support Network in Surry Hills for 12 years. In the two years that Sascha Ettinger Epstein spent making a documentary about the program at Oasis, to be aired on ABC1 on Thursday, she said she struggled to comprehend his optimism and support for children straying from his programs.

"There is a massive emotional void in the kids' lives and they look for someone who is going to be there consistently," she said. "Paul is worse than the Energizer Bunny. He just perpetually has empathy: that unconditional love that you just want from a parent."

Her assessment was true for Beau Berry-Porter, who became homeless when he was about 13 and credits Captain Moulds for the stable housing in which he now lives. Though he left home thinking he could look after himself, last year he suffered a psychotic episode and he says the decision to leave is not one children can properly make.

"You can grow up but your priorities change," he said. "You can't have the successful life … of a job and a family and those things. But once you get that stable accommodation you can focus on those other things."

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Public housing rorts cost $53m a year
A new offence of failure to notify change of conditions will be created, with the maximum punishment being a jail sentence.

Public Meeting - Putting the Terror Laws on Trial

PUBLIC MEETING - PUTTING THE TERROR LAWS ON TRIAL

Presented by Civil Rights Defence and Amnesty International Australia.

Tuesday April 15, 7pm, Kaleide Theatre, RMIT, Swanston St, City.

In the past five years Australia's anti-terrorism laws have been revealed as unjust, unnecessary, expensive and open to abuse. Six months since the botched prosecution of Mohamed Haneef, three months after the dismissal of the trial of Izhar Ul Haque, and weeks into the trial of Melbourne men (arrested over two years ago) charged with comprising "a terrorist organisation", we think it's time to take a look at the laws and how they are being used and abused.

It is time to put the laws on trial.

Come hear the accounts of people who have direct experience of both the laws and some of Australia's most prominent terror cases:

Peter Russo, lawyer for Dr Mohamed Haneef
David McLeod, lawyer for David Hicks
The meeting with begin with an excerpt from the play "Haneef - the interrogation", written by Graham Pitts and directed by Gorkem Acoroglu.

No booking required, entry by donation.
For enquiries, contact 0400 541 046.
www.civilrightsdefence.org
www.amnesty.org.au

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Terror trial halted over prison conditions

The men have been held in the high security Acacia wing of Barwon Prison, near Geelong, since their arrest two years ago. To attend court they must travel for up to two hours to Melbourne each day, and two hours back, shackled and handcuffed, are strip-searched twice, and have little time outside their cells.

The Street review: a review of interoperability between the Australian Federal Police and its national security partners

Laurence Street, Martin Brady and Ken Moroney / Australian Federal Police

This is the report of an internal review, headed by former New South Wales Chief Justice Sir Laurence Street, looking at the way in which the Australian Federal Police works with its partner agencies on counter-terrorism investigations. The committee made recommendations covering the four broad areas of operational decision-making processes, joint taskforce arrangements, information sharing, and training and education.

Available online at:
www.afp.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/71833/The_Street_Review.pdf

Child abuse 'a huge problem for Australia'

Child health care workers say new figures showing an increase in child abuse cases presents a huge problem for Australia which must be addressed.

The figures from the Institute of Health and Welfare show there were 55,000 substantiated cases of abuse in 2005-2006 - a rise of 10,000 on the previous year.

There has also been a 40 per cent increase in the past five years in the number of children removed from their family home by authorities.

Dr Sue Packer has been working as a community paediatrician in the ACT since 1990 and says almost all the parents she meets want to do a good job.

But she says the new statistics are a concern.

"I think it's really enforcing for me that child abuse is a huge problem for Australia, it's something that I'm myopic about because of my work but it really is out there and it really is a problem," she said.

Child abuse 'a huge problem for Australia'