Mission & Justice

Natalie O’Brien; 28/6/08

The USA Government told the head of Australia’s spy agency ASIO that it wanted to render Mamdouh Habib to Egypt for questioning, but the then ASIO chief, Dennis Richardson, has never publicly admitted the official approach was made. The startling revelations come from his successor, Paul O’Sullivan, who said Mr Richardson was told about the rendition plan by a US government official weeks before the Sydney father of four was “kidnapped” and sent to Egypt, where prisoners are known to be tortured. This contradicts the Howard government’s claims it had no knowledge of Mr Habib’s rendition until after he had been transferred to Egypt. Mr Richardson, who was questioned in Senate estimates hearings about his knowledge of Mr Habib’s rendition to Egypt, has never admitted the US had told him of the possibility or that he had told the US that Australia would not condone it.

(more…)

Alan Ramsey; 7/6/08

Mamdouh Habib is the Sydney bloke who came to Australia from Egypt 24 years ago, married the daughter of Lebanese migrants, fathered four children, became an Australian citizen and opened a cleaning business and a coffee shop in Lakemba. He spent years under surveillance by Australian security, travelled to Pakistan in July 2001, was picked up there three months later, flown secretly to Egypt by the Americans for “interrogation” in November 2001, transferred in chains to the US military’s Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba in May 2002, and released and flown home in January 2005.At no time was Habib, a devout Muslim, ever charged with anything.

(more…)

Nicola Berkovic; 28/5/08

Assurances given to British authorities about the scope of the Haneef inquiry were inappropriate and an attempt by the Rudd Government to limit the terms of that inquiry, the Opposition alleges. A Senate estimates committee heard yesterday that Attorney-General Robert McClelland assured British prosecutors that “due regard would be paid to the sensitivity of English policing and intelligence information” during the inquiry being conducted by John Clarke QC. Attorney-General’s department secretary Robert Cornall, who was with Mr McClelland on his trip to Britain, said the authorities were concerned that nothing in the inquiry would “intrude into matters that were being investigated and prosecuted in England”.

(more…)

Natalie O’Brien; 23/5/08

Senior government officials have admitted discussing the possibility of “another government” transferring Mamdouh Habib to Egypt after his arrest in Pakistan, despite later denials that they knew he was going to be flown to the North African country, where prisoners are known to be tortured. Documents tabled in parliament yesterday show for the first time the potential for a transfer was discussed at a meeting in Canberra in late October 2001. Present at the meeting were senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General’s Department. The officials agreed at the meeting “that the Australian Government could not agree to the transfer of Mr Habib toEgypt”. It has never been publicly admitted before that senior government officials knew of and discussed the possibility of Mr Habib being sent to Egypt before he disappeared from Pakistani custody in early November 2001.

(more…)

Brendan Nicholson; 22/5/08

An FBI agent has described how she watched Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib vomit repeatedly during a lengthy interrogation session at Guantanamo Bay. In a report prepared by the US Justice Department, the agent said that Mr Habib was interrogated in two 15-hour sessions with only a short break between them. The agent, who was not named, said she was not bothered by Mr Habib’s condition at the time, “but in retrospect she questioned whether the treatment of Habib was appropriate”.

(more…)