Issues identified by Civil Liberties Australia and raised in Senate hearings have motivated the government to change Australia’s laws relating to extradition and mutual assistance in criminal matters. But protecting Australians from being “shopped” by Australian Federal Police officers, as happened to the ‘Bali 9’ drug smugglers, is a battle that continues.
In international news, support for assisted suicide for terminally ill people rises in the UK, while the propriety of the conviction of Australia’s David Hicks becomes increasingly tenuous as more information emerges about the US Administration and Guantanamo Bay.
Also connected with Guantanamo, former inmates are starting to sue the US Administration for being locked up without charge for six years. As well, there’s more presssure on the current US Government stemming from former President George W. Bush’s regime of secret jails run by the CIA throughout the world, and “rendering” (kidnapping) of people through sites close to Australia, such as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Other issues covered include:
- Sedition laws: when will Rudd Government act on promises? Health files/identifiers and other issues come to the fore;
- Privacy watchdogs react against Facebook;
- War on Words begins…can Thoughts be far behind?
- Stun guns: report, problems in two States;
- Bahais still facing uncertain future;
- DNA data has major flaws, experts say;
- Chinese driver sentenced to death over crash;
- Arab groups attack UN’s Human Rights Council.
Read this month’s CLArion here.