Amnesty hits Aust on refugees, women's rights, Aboriginal, Hicks, WOT
Not your ABC | 23.05.2007 22:21 | Analysis | Repression | Terror War | World
"We've seen a wave of xenophobia and racism against groups like Roma, we've seen a rise of Islamophobia and anti-semitism on the back of fear about security, about terrorism," she said.
Fearmongering
Amnesty International has accused the Federal Government of fearmongering by portraying asylum seekers as a threat to national security.
This year Amnesty's annual report into global human rights abuses focuses on the politics of fear, and argues fear thrives on "myopic and cowardly leadership".
The Government is singled out for criticism for its portrayal of "asylum seekers in leaky boats" as a "refugee invasion", which Amnesty secretary-general Irene Khan says contributed to John Howard's election win in 2001.
Ms Khan says the new refugee exchange deal with the US proves the offshore processing centres have failed.
The report also criticises Australia's treatment of tortured political scapegoat David Hicks.
"The Australian Government continued to support trial by the US Military Commission, which fell below international standards," it notes.
Amnesty has also expressed concern over Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's power to proscribe organisations as terrorist groups.
Mr Ruddock last year rejected recommendations by the Security Legislation Review Committee to make this a judicial process.
Violence against women
The London-based group also says it is seriously concerned about the low rates of prosecution for violence against women and the "lack of support services for Indigenous women".
"The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern about the high level of violence against women, and the low rates of prosecution and convictions in sexual assault cases," the report said.
"The committee was also concerned about the continued violence and discrimination faced by women in Indigenous, refugee and migrant communities.
"There were concerns about the lack of appropriate action against the trafficking of women into Australia."
'Political document'
The report accuses the US of trampling on human rights and using the world as "a giant battlefield" in its "war on terror".
US State Department spokesman Tom Casey has dismissed it as a "political document".
"It's pretty clear that Amnesty International thought that we make a convenient ideological punching ball," he said.
"That is something that is not, unfortunately, new.
"I think if you look at the report, unfortunately, it reads more like a political document than an honest review of human rights around the world."
War on terror' leading to human rights erosions: Amnesty
Amnesty International says there has been a downward spiral of human rights worldwide, fuelled by what it calls the "politics of fear" following [ the false flag black ops by G W Bush] terrorist attacks in the US in 2001.
Amnesty says the the war in Iraq and what the United States calls its "war on terror" have led to an erosion of human rights and deep divisions across the world.
The group also criticises the repression of Europe's Roma communities, saying politicians are using fear of immigration and terrorism to justify tough measures against refugees and asylum seekers.
In a statement, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, said minorities around the world were under threat.
"We've seen a wave of xenophobia and racism against groups like Roma, we've seen a rise of Islamophobia and anti-semitism on the back of fear about security, about terrorism," she said.
"So in this way, what we see is a world enveloped in fear and fear being used by governments to create false certainties to avoid accountability."
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931616.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931551.htm
In other developments:
Muslim group questions citizenship test's fairness
An Australian Muslim group has criticised the Federal Government's citizenship test, saying it places an unfair burden on immigrants who are not Christian.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931459.htm
Aust hospitals accused of racism
The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association says systemic racism in hospitals is part of the reason why Indigenous people are disadvantaged when it comes to health.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1927885.htm
Related:
Politics of fear damaging traditional values: Fraser
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says the Federal Government has used the politics of fear to damage traditional Australian values.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144264_comment.php#144271
British Lancet medical journal calls for defeat of Australian government
The editorial condemned “Prime Minister John Howard’s indifference to the academic medical community and his profound intolerance to those less secure than himself and his administration”. As the latest example, it cited Howard’s comment on a Melbourne radio station last week, declaring that people living with HIV should not be allowed to enter and live in Australia.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144115.php
David Hicks very lucky to be tortured, isolated for 5.5 years for nothing?
John Howard must repudiate the deal as it was illegal - done under duress and with an illegally constituted tribunal which didn’t conform to Australian standards of justice. Any confession is obviously worthless. That on the same basis that having David Hicks meant they could do whatever they wanted to him – and did, now that Australia has him we will treat me with the dignity and respect for legal institutions that we should always do.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145083.php
PRISON AUTHORITIES RAISE RELIGIOUS FEAR
NSW Justice Minister Hatzistergos is trying to frighten us with the threat of domestic terrorism to justify spending almost $1 billion a year and still having the highest recidivist rate in the country² said Mr Collins.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143893.php
AFP questions Hilali over Iran comments
Australia's most senior muslim cleric has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over comments he made about Iran.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1921797.htm
AFP clears Al Hilali of funding Hezbollah
An Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation has cleared the Sydney Muslim cleric, Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali, of diverting charitable funds to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1919590.htm
ACT Muslims split after mosque fight
The ACT Islamic Society will take out a restraining order against Canberra's former imam and his supporters today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915706.htm
Police interview Hilali over Lebanon funds
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric, Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali, has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1910664.htm
Australia: bipartisan support for media instigator of Cronulla race riot
The unanimity with which the entire official establishment has come together to condone Jones and condemn Hilali demonstrates the real agenda behind the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign—to stoke racialist prejudices and fears that will be used to justify further crimes committed under the aegis of the “war on terror”—in particular, an assault on Iran.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143732.php
Ruddock asks states, territories to 'urgently' approve censorship law changes
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says he has asked the states and territories to urgently approve changes to censorship laws so that material that advocates terrorism can be banned.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143593_comment.php#143613
PM urged to take action over PG rating on radical Islamic films
Acting New South Wales Premier John Watkins says the Prime Minister should step-in over the decision to give a series of radical Islamic films a PG rating.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143583_comment.php
Islamic speaker condemns media 'Islamaphobia'
A 'controversial' speaker at an Islamic conference in Melbourne this weekend has lashed out at the media, accusing reporters of whipping up hysteria over Muslims.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143196_comment.php#143240
Our Fascist Welcome Mat John Howard's ABC
Anger as Beslan massacre apologist arrives in Aust
A British reporter who converted to Islam after being kidnapped by the Taliban is set to address a controversial Islamic conference beginning in Melbourne today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1891486.htm
Yvonne Ridleys article
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143196_comment.php#143244
Opposition questions Ridley's character test
The Federal Opposition says the Government should explain how high-profile British Muslim Yvonne Ridley passed the character test to visit Australia for a conference this weekend.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143038_comment.php#143145
Muslim group rejects visa ban on sheikh
The Islamic community has questioned the Government's ban on Canadian Sheikh Bilal Philips, who was to speak at the first Australian Islamic Conference.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1889980.htm
Trade Centre sheikh barred from entering Australia
A Canadian Muslim cleric linked by the US Government to the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing has been refused entry to Australia on security grounds.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1889169.htm
Nile claims NSW election win for Muslim bashing
Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile says he has been re-elected to the Upper House for a fourth term in the New South Wales election, after proposing to freeze Muslim immigration.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1880686.htm
Banning Muslim group 'would be dangerous'
A leading Muslim says the Federal Government is right to allow the controversial Islamic group, Hizb ut Tahrir, to practice in Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1835066.htm
Islamophobic Australians attack peaceful Aussie mufti
January 15, 2007 - Aussie mufti Sheik Taj al-Din Hilali's recent comments during an Egyptian TV interview have triggered more Islamaphobic outrage in Australia, with a number of politicians, including Federal Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone, laughing him off as an "irrelevance" or demanding he "stay in his native Egypt if did not like Australia."
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57907
Australian media seizes upon Muslim cleric’s comments to whip up xenophobia
There is now an inescapable necessity for all those opposed to militarism and war, and committed to the defence of democratic rights, to develop an independent political opposition to the xenophobic campaign being directed against Muslims. No faction of the media or political establishment has any opposition to the drive to militarise society under the banner of “Australian values”, and all are complicit in the cultivation of anti-Muslim communalism.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/45493
When are you going to arrest the perpetrators of the Bali Bombing?
The Office of National Assessments (ONA) says the likelihood of Jemaah Islamiah-(JI)[-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)] launching another massive terrorist attack like the Bali bombings has diminished.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/58469/index.php
Bin Laden 'ordered Zarqawi' to attack US
A senior US official says Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden told the group's Iraq head Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to plan attacks inside the United States, before Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike last year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1930729.htm
==============================
And the cow jumped over the moon!
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145335_comment.php#145342
This year Amnesty's annual report into global human rights abuses focuses on the politics of fear, and argues fear thrives on "myopic and cowardly leadership".
The Government is singled out for criticism for its portrayal of "asylum seekers in leaky boats" as a "refugee invasion", which Amnesty secretary-general Irene Khan says contributed to John Howard's election win in 2001.
Ms Khan says the new refugee exchange deal with the US proves the offshore processing centres have failed.
The report also criticises Australia's treatment of tortured political scapegoat David Hicks.
"The Australian Government continued to support trial by the US Military Commission, which fell below international standards," it notes.
Amnesty has also expressed concern over Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's power to proscribe organisations as terrorist groups.
Mr Ruddock last year rejected recommendations by the Security Legislation Review Committee to make this a judicial process.
Violence against women
The London-based group also says it is seriously concerned about the low rates of prosecution for violence against women and the "lack of support services for Indigenous women".
"The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern about the high level of violence against women, and the low rates of prosecution and convictions in sexual assault cases," the report said.
"The committee was also concerned about the continued violence and discrimination faced by women in Indigenous, refugee and migrant communities.
"There were concerns about the lack of appropriate action against the trafficking of women into Australia."
'Political document'
The report accuses the US of trampling on human rights and using the world as "a giant battlefield" in its "war on terror".
US State Department spokesman Tom Casey has dismissed it as a "political document".
"It's pretty clear that Amnesty International thought that we make a convenient ideological punching ball," he said.
"That is something that is not, unfortunately, new.
"I think if you look at the report, unfortunately, it reads more like a political document than an honest review of human rights around the world."
War on terror' leading to human rights erosions: Amnesty
Amnesty International says there has been a downward spiral of human rights worldwide, fuelled by what it calls the "politics of fear" following [ the false flag black ops by G W Bush] terrorist attacks in the US in 2001.
Amnesty says the the war in Iraq and what the United States calls its "war on terror" have led to an erosion of human rights and deep divisions across the world.
The group also criticises the repression of Europe's Roma communities, saying politicians are using fear of immigration and terrorism to justify tough measures against refugees and asylum seekers.
In a statement, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, said minorities around the world were under threat.
"We've seen a wave of xenophobia and racism against groups like Roma, we've seen a rise of Islamophobia and anti-semitism on the back of fear about security, about terrorism," she said.
"So in this way, what we see is a world enveloped in fear and fear being used by governments to create false certainties to avoid accountability."
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931616.htm http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931551.htm In other developments:
Muslim group questions citizenship test's fairness
An Australian Muslim group has criticised the Federal Government's citizenship test, saying it places an unfair burden on immigrants who are not Christian.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931459.htm Aust hospitals accused of racism
The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association says systemic racism in hospitals is part of the reason why Indigenous people are disadvantaged when it comes to health.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1927885.htm Related:
Politics of fear damaging traditional values: Fraser
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says the Federal Government has used the politics of fear to damage traditional Australian values.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144264_comment.php#144271 British Lancet medical journal calls for defeat of Australian government
The editorial condemned “Prime Minister John Howard’s indifference to the academic medical community and his profound intolerance to those less secure than himself and his administration”. As the latest example, it cited Howard’s comment on a Melbourne radio station last week, declaring that people living with HIV should not be allowed to enter and live in Australia.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144115.php David Hicks very lucky to be tortured, isolated for 5.5 years for nothing?
John Howard must repudiate the deal as it was illegal - done under duress and with an illegally constituted tribunal which didn’t conform to Australian standards of justice. Any confession is obviously worthless. That on the same basis that having David Hicks meant they could do whatever they wanted to him – and did, now that Australia has him we will treat me with the dignity and respect for legal institutions that we should always do.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145083.php PRISON AUTHORITIES RAISE RELIGIOUS FEAR
NSW Justice Minister Hatzistergos is trying to frighten us with the threat of domestic terrorism to justify spending almost $1 billion a year and still having the highest recidivist rate in the country² said Mr Collins.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143893.php AFP questions Hilali over Iran comments
Australia's most senior muslim cleric has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over comments he made about Iran.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1921797.htm AFP clears Al Hilali of funding Hezbollah
An Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation has cleared the Sydney Muslim cleric, Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali, of diverting charitable funds to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1919590.htm ACT Muslims split after mosque fight
The ACT Islamic Society will take out a restraining order against Canberra's former imam and his supporters today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915706.htm Police interview Hilali over Lebanon funds
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric, Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali, has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1910664.htm Australia: bipartisan support for media instigator of Cronulla race riot
The unanimity with which the entire official establishment has come together to condone Jones and condemn Hilali demonstrates the real agenda behind the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign—to stoke racialist prejudices and fears that will be used to justify further crimes committed under the aegis of the “war on terror”—in particular, an assault on Iran.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143732.php Ruddock asks states, territories to 'urgently' approve censorship law changes
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says he has asked the states and territories to urgently approve changes to censorship laws so that material that advocates terrorism can be banned.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143593_comment.php#143613 PM urged to take action over PG rating on radical Islamic films
Acting New South Wales Premier John Watkins says the Prime Minister should step-in over the decision to give a series of radical Islamic films a PG rating.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143583_comment.php Islamic speaker condemns media 'Islamaphobia'
A 'controversial' speaker at an Islamic conference in Melbourne this weekend has lashed out at the media, accusing reporters of whipping up hysteria over Muslims.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143196_comment.php#143240 Our Fascist Welcome Mat John Howard's ABC
Anger as Beslan massacre apologist arrives in Aust
A British reporter who converted to Islam after being kidnapped by the Taliban is set to address a controversial Islamic conference beginning in Melbourne today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1891486.htm Yvonne Ridleys article
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143196_comment.php#143244 Opposition questions Ridley's character test
The Federal Opposition says the Government should explain how high-profile British Muslim Yvonne Ridley passed the character test to visit Australia for a conference this weekend.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/143038_comment.php#143145 Muslim group rejects visa ban on sheikh
The Islamic community has questioned the Government's ban on Canadian Sheikh Bilal Philips, who was to speak at the first Australian Islamic Conference.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1889980.htm Trade Centre sheikh barred from entering Australia
A Canadian Muslim cleric linked by the US Government to the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing has been refused entry to Australia on security grounds.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1889169.htm Nile claims NSW election win for Muslim bashing
Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile says he has been re-elected to the Upper House for a fourth term in the New South Wales election, after proposing to freeze Muslim immigration.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1880686.htm Banning Muslim group 'would be dangerous'
A leading Muslim says the Federal Government is right to allow the controversial Islamic group, Hizb ut Tahrir, to practice in Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1835066.htm Islamophobic Australians attack peaceful Aussie mufti
January 15, 2007 - Aussie mufti Sheik Taj al-Din Hilali's recent comments during an Egyptian TV interview have triggered more Islamaphobic outrage in Australia, with a number of politicians, including Federal Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone, laughing him off as an "irrelevance" or demanding he "stay in his native Egypt if did not like Australia."
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57907 Australian media seizes upon Muslim cleric’s comments to whip up xenophobia
There is now an inescapable necessity for all those opposed to militarism and war, and committed to the defence of democratic rights, to develop an independent political opposition to the xenophobic campaign being directed against Muslims. No faction of the media or political establishment has any opposition to the drive to militarise society under the banner of “Australian values”, and all are complicit in the cultivation of anti-Muslim communalism.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/45493 When are you going to arrest the perpetrators of the Bali Bombing?
The Office of National Assessments (ONA) says the likelihood of Jemaah Islamiah-(JI)[-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)] launching another massive terrorist attack like the Bali bombings has diminished.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/58469/index.php Bin Laden 'ordered Zarqawi' to attack US
A senior US official says Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden told the group's Iraq head Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to plan attacks inside the United States, before Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike last year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1930729.htm ==============================
And the cow jumped over the moon!
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/145335_comment.php#145342
Not your ABC
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