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David Hicks: Ex judges & lawyers write to Howard

"A group of the nation's eminent legal minds, including four former Supreme and Federal Court judges, have warned John Howard that terrorism would destroy civilised society if Australia continued to back the detention and military trial of David Hicks.

Former Federal Court judge Ron Merkel and former NSW Liberal attorney-general and Supreme Court judge John Dowd are among the 76 signatories on an open letter to the Prime Minister arguing that Hicks - who remains in indefinite US detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - is being held illegally and deserves a fair trial.

"Whether or not David Hicks is in fact guilty or innocent is not the issue. The illegality lies in the process of indefinite detention and unfair trial by military commission," the lawyers say".

The continued detention of David Hicks is a disgrace. More so is the assertion by PM Howard and A-G Ruddock the other day that had Hicks not challenged a military tribunal hearing that he would now know his fate. Being slaven to the US is one thing, but for Howard and Ruddock, more so as lawyers, to see no issue with Hicks' continued detention says a lot for their values - absolutely none! The time has come to act!

Read an article in The Australian, here, dealing with the letter to Howard.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think the most definitive article on the punishment of David Hicks is in our latest The Monthly magazine. Professor of History and CIA torture expert Alfred McCoy chronicles the unbelievable torture at the hands of the CIA. I can email it if you are interested in seeing it.. Johnd (AT) themonthly.com.au
June 06, 2006 12:10 pm
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