Geoff Elliott & Peter Wilson; 7/1/08; (3 Items)
Australia has a better case to deny requests from Washington to resettle detainees when the Guantanamo Bay detention centre closes because it has pulled its weight during the war on terror, says a leading voice on the issue in Washington. Benjamin Wittes, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and author of a definitive study last month on the detainee population at Guantanamo Bay, said the incoming Obama administration would expect help to close the centre but would probably understand if the Rudd Government continued a closed-door policy. Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has denied a second request from the Bush administration to resettle a number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but left the door open for more requests from the Obama administration on a case-by-case basis.
See; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24881972-5013404,00.html
Legacy of seven lost years in US detention
Jane Perlez; 7/1/09
When Muhammad Saad Iqbal arrived home in August after more than six years in US custody, including five at Guantanamo Bay, he had difficulty walking, his left ear was severely infected, and he was dependent on antibiotics and antidepressants. In November, a Pakistani surgeon operated on his ear, physical therapists were working on lower back problems and a psychiatrist was trying to wean him off the drugs he carried around in a white plastic shopping bag. The maladies, said Mr Iqbal, 31, a professional reader of the Koran, are the result of a gauntlet of torture, imprisonment and interrogation for which his Washington lawyer plans to sue the US Government.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/legacy-of-seven-lost-years-in-us-detention-20090106-7b5y.html
No whys or wherefores on refusals to accept US detainees
Mark Metherell; 7/1/09
Thhe Rudd Government has refused to give details about why it has rejected two requests by the US President, George Bush, for Australia to accept detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison. The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said that Australian law prevented the Government from revealing specific reasons for its refusal. But it was based on “national security and immigration grounds”, such as security, health and character issues, the spokeswoman said. The Acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has said the Government twice rejected requests from the Bush Administration to take a small number of detainees. But she said the Government, although unlikely to change its mind, was prepared to consider any other requests on a case-by-case basis.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/no-whys-or-wherefores-on-refusals-to-accept-us-detainees/2009/01/06/1231004021075.html