- Australia rejects anti-torture move
Govt defends torture stance
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/26/1027497398766.html- Commentary from Cliff:
For over a year now I have been actively opposed to compulsory detention of
Asylum Seekers/Boat People/Illegal Immigrants and did make my opposition
known to the Australian Senate and Government Ministers as well as our local
representative in the House. Now I find that Mr. Ruddock (Defence Minister)
and Mr. Downer (Foreign Minister) using the excuses that one would expect
from Idi Amin, "That of course we don't have torture in our prisons" but
conversely "We've been happy to comply with all visits to inspect our
detention centres, but we don't believe it should be a standing invitation."I would have thought, if there was any doubt about our detention policy and
practice, we would be happy to have UN inspectors over to put to bed any
adverse speculation about torture. Under Australian Law, it is illegal to
use torture. Instead, we have been bad hosts to UN inspections and delayed
inspections to tidy up the detention centres. If there is any doubt, such
behaviour does little to mitigate it. If there is no torture here, then we
have nothing to fear, I should think.The other thinks is, we have allied with some notorious regimes that
practice torture as an acceptable right of a police state. Surely that is
an undesirable outcome.
- Guatemala plan to pay paramilitaries for killings
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/25/1027497382134.html
Now this is just plain amazing and a challenge to honesty by the Guatemalan
Government to actually reward such murdering groups with government money
when the private sponsors (land owners and business owners) have already
paid these people, and greased the wheels of government for them when
investigations into their activities a launched. George Orwell would be
impressed with such newspeak.- Peru regime sterilised poor
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/25/1027497382131.html
Now this one takes the cake. To think the West (US, Canada, Australia, UK,
Europe) supported this megalomaniac because they didn't trust the Peruvians
to make their own choices. This disclosure demonstrates just plain evil, on
par with China and Nazi Germany. Where were our government on this one in
the 90's?- Now there is good news:
Congress push to lift bans on Cuba
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/25/1027497382149.html
Maybe we will see some normalisation and reasonable encouragement of
democracy, instead of the oast regime of blockade, blockade, blockade.Clifford M Dubery
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