ASIO told to show why men were a danger
Peter Gregory; 19/7/08
Years after they were held on Nauru, or forced to leave the country, two Iraqi refugees and an American peace activist are a step closer to learning why they were considered a danger to Australia. Scott Parkin, a US campaigner now working on climate change issues in his home country, has the highest profile of the three men trying to see the details of their adverse security assessments by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. But Iraqis Mohammed Yussef Sagar and Muhammad Faisal can probably claim to have suffered the most. According to a judgement delivered yesterday by a full bench of the Federal Court, the pair was held in detention at Nauru between 2002 and 2005 before the Immigration Department determined they were entitled to be recognised as refugees. Their visa applications were then refused after ASIO provided their assessments.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/national/asio-told-to-show-why-men-were-a-danger-20080718-3hkc.html
First Guantanamo trial given green light
Carol Williams; 19/7/08
Senior US military officers will be scrambled from around the world this weekend for jury duty at Guantanamo Bay in the Pentagon’s first war crimes trial since World War II. In a victory for the Bush Administration in its protracted quest to prosecute terror suspects held at the naval base in Cuba, a federal judge in Washington has rejected defence attorneys’ appeals to halt the trial of Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan. It will begin on Monday. Hamdan’s lawyers had argued before both US District judge James Robertson and the military judge hearing pre-trial motions at Guantanamo, navy captain Keith Allred, that the trial should be delayed until civilian judges weigh the constitutionality of the tribunal’s rules and procedures. Judge Robertson said those challenges could be brought during or after the trial and he would respect “the balance struck by Congress” when it created the war crimes tribunal with the 2006 Military Commissions Act.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/first-guantanamo-trial-given-green-light-20080718-3hl2.html
Tags: Australia, Guantanamo BayAdd new tag, Terrorism, USA