Civil Liberties

Beware this evil little Elf-man

Do me a favour. Get out your diary or novelty calendar and mark down this month - July, 2007. Make it in red pen. It’s the month that some of our most fundamental liberties were eroded. You’ll be able to look back on this time in a few years and realise that this was the start of the decline – you might even be called upon to recall for your children what it was like before the war with the terrorists began.

Since the War on Terror™ was heralded in 2001, American citizens have seen their individual freedoms chipped away (most notably by the Patriot Act) and the rights of detainees (both US citizens and foreign combatants) all but removed - all in the name of greater public safety and combating the terrorist threat. The story goes a little like this: your safety cannot be guaranteed unless you consent to giving up rights you once held dear, like the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence, the right to basic privacy… and so forth.

So, while this has been happening abroad for five years or so now, I thought for some reason that we would be immune to it here. We’re a tolerant nation, right? Even dare I say an enlightened one? Well, not so much anymore. The case of ‘suspected terrorist accomplice’ Mohamed Haneef, together with expanded police powers to obtain DNA samples from anyone suspected of a crime have called into question the very notion of civil liberties here in Australia. I’ve got two problems in particular; 1. Anyone of us can be detained with very little actual evidence under the Terrorism Act and 2. The media are perpetuating the idea that this imposition is necessary for our safety.

It makes me so angry; I don’t even know where to start. Let me summarise the case against Haneef. His second cousin (or uncle, or brother depending on your media outlet of choice) was allegedly involved in the bombing of Glasgow Airport earlier this month. As Haneef tried to leave Brisbane Airport he was Tazered by AFP members and detained. He is accused of giving his cousin a mobile SIM card found at the bomb site (false), of buying a one-way ticket home (true, but irrelevant), of living with accused terrorists in London (false) and most recently of plotting to blow up a 77-storey gold coast high-rise (genuinely made-up). The AFP has also recently admitted writing the names of terrorist suspects in his diary…presumably to shore up their paper thin case. Given the clear lack of evidence against Haneef, the AFP were forced to let him go on $10,000 bail – until of course the government (via Kevin Andrews, the evil pixie) intervened and cancelled his visa, for associating with criminals. [A federal justice reviewing the decision has already noted that he would fail these criteria, having represented a number of murders during his time a defender…] Haneef is now in detention (in solitary confinement 23 hours a day) awaiting trial, or a review of his visa situation.

Let me summarise further. An Indian migrant has ‘an association’ with someone who turns out to be a suspected terrorist. He goes on holidays and takes some photos of a popular landmark. He tries to fly home to see his new wife and baby. Frankly, it makes me afraid. I hate to think how many people I have ‘an association with’ – and if someone blows up the Eiffel Tower anytime soon, my photo album (containing many up close shots of the structure of the tower) could get me in some hot water. It seems in that instance I could easily find my good self detained by the AFP – an organisation who seem to be revelling in their new found ability to keep alleged evidence a secret, and to invent it when all else fails.

My plea then, is not a new one. We must protect the rules and laws that have kept us safe up to this point. You are innocent until proven guilty. That proof needs to contain actual evidence. The government have no place meddling in this process. The media have even less place – stop running pictures of exploding vehicles and buildings when they have little or no relevance to the story. Get out of the fear business.

The reality is, you realistically have much more to fear from an over zealous government taking away your rights than a lone bomber and an explosive vest.