Demand justice for Hicks
I heard David Hicks’ defence lawyer, the affable Major Michael (Dan) Mori, speak in Melbourne today and (updating a previous post) he mentioned that Hicks’ British citizenship was revoked shortly after it was granted. Mori is pressing to have it restored.
Mori emphasised the importance, in so politicised a case, of the Australian public (and others) exerting pressure on US and Australian politicians to give Hicks justice. In his view, Hicks would be home tomorrow if the Australian Government requested it.
He can’t fathom why Australians are not more indignant about Hicks’ treatment.
"I can only look at the situation through my eyes as an American. I know America wouldn’t tolerate this. First, we don’t allow US citizens to go to the Military Commissions. That’s just not permissible because Americans have too many rights."
Hicks has been awaiting trial since November 2001. He has almost certainly been abused and probably tortured. He’s spent months in solitary confinement. He’s been locked up without a right to challenge his detention for nearly five years. How many years must he endure before this starts to seem a little outrageous?
Contact Australian parliamentarians to demand justice for David Hicks. If you want to write to their US counterparts, Mori recommends fax rather than post, owing to anthrax-related delays.
You can catch a video snippet of Mori’s recent interview with Andrew Denton on Australian television, or listen or read the transcript in full.
[…] Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who has thus far received poor advice on matters of international law ("I would love to see the advice!" says Defence Counsel Dan Mori), may wish to note: War crimes may be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court in The Hague or, at first resort, in national courts that have the benefit of relevant legislation. Australia does not have universal jurisdiction legislation, and suffers from weak war crimes legislation, but it is a member of the ICC. If Australia is unwilling or unable to try war crimes committed since 1 July 2002 (when the ICC came into being) they may be tried on the global stage at The Hague. […]
[…] Thanks to the efforts of civil society and Hicks’ high-profile US defence attorney, Dan Mori, Australians are starting to clamour for Hicks’ human rights. Asked why this has taken so long, Mori replies that he cannot understand Australians’ complacency. In the US, he says, they just would not stand for it. […]