Geoff Elliott; 10/1/09; (4 Items)
The Rudd Government denied a request from the Bush administration to resettle 17 Chinese locked up in Guantanamo Bay military prison after a number of warnings from Beijing not to take the former terror suspects. Beijing heavily lobbied the federal Government against resettling the group of Muslims from northwestern China, known as Uyghurs, whom the US has cleared but refuses to send home for fear of their torture and possible execution. The Canberra meeting – described as a mid-level diplomatic approach – took place about three weeks ago. It came as the Foreign Ministry in Beijing stressed publicly its opposition to any resettlement of the Uyghurs. “We have said on many occasions that the 17 terrorist suspects detained at the US military base of Guantanamo are members of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed as a terrorist group by the UN Security Council,” a spokesman said.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24893752-2702,00.html
Asylum plea for Guantanamo Uyghurs
Justine Ferrari; 10/1/09
Leaders of the Australian Uyghur community yesterday called on Canberra to grant asylum to their 17 kinsmen detained in Guantanamo Bay, many of whom have families already settled here. Australian Uyghur Association president Husan Hasan and secretary Ala, who did not wish to reveal his first name, said the Guantanamo detainees were not terrorists but fighting for the freedom of their land, East Turkestan, from Chinese rule. The Uyghurs are a Muslim Turkic race whose land is now the Xinjiang province in northwest China. Australia has the third-largest Uyghur community outside China, with almost 2000 refugees settling here over the past 15 years, with the biggest group in Adelaide. The AUA is organising a petition in support of settling the Guantanamo detainees in Australia.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24893693-5013404,00.html
Bigots unwelcome in true democracy
Peter van Onselen; 10/1/09
Fostering the notion of “the other” is the sort of divisive thinking that should be corrected in individuals early in life, for a cornerstone of democracy is that everyone is treated equally before the law. In practice, of course, variables such as wealth can skew such a principle, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to work towards creating the kind of harmony between religions or racial groupings that helps make our liberal democracy function more effectively. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon there has been a raft of examples of unnecessary discrimination against people of Middle Eastern descent or appearance, the misguided assumption being that they are more likely to be terrorists. It is a form of racial profiling. This week yet another instance came to public attention. An airline passenger in the US was awarded nearly $350,000 in compensation for being forced to cover up the T-shirt with Arabic script on it that he was wearing when trying to board a flight in August 2006, nearly five years after the 9/11 attacks. He was told wearing such a shirt at an airport was the equivalent of “wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, ‘I am a robber”‘. Not much tolerance there. At least the court sent the right message.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24892928-7583,00.html
An ending that highlights a flawed start
Waleed Aly; 10/1/09
What is the first image that comes to mind when you hear the words “Guantanamo Bay”? I’m almost certain you’ve pictured a prisoner, shackled and manacled, wearing that infamous orange jumpsuit. He’s probably being led somewhere by a guard. That seems to be the definitive Gitmo emblem because it is symbolic of all that has dogged the detention camp during the post-September 11 era: the denial of legal process, the seemingly endless detention without charge and, especially, the torture. So it’s worth reflecting on this: many of those photographs you’ve seen were not taken by intrepid investigative journalists and were not designed to horrify their audience, but perhaps to inspire them. They came from the Bush Administration and signified US strength, resolve and an uncompromising will in the fight against terrorism. The prison’s motto declared it was “Honour Bound to Defend Freedom”. How things change. The next US president has pledged to shut the prison early in his first term. Indeed, so uncontroversial has this policy become that even President George Bush — the very man who delivered it to us — has already begun the process.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/an-ending-that-highlights-a-flawed-start-20090109-7dn9.html
Tags: China, Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights, Terrorism, USA