Australian government backs the Bush administration.
In contrast to mounting protests from civil rights lawyers around the world, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Howard government has fully backed the Bush administration’s treatment of the prisoners. It has ignored the blatant breaches of the Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and rejected appeals for legal and family access.
Moreover, senior government officials, in contravention of the principle of presumption of innocence and without producing a shred of evidence, have publicly declared that Hicks and Habib are terrorists and/or connected with Al Qaeda.
Attorney General Daryl Williams and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recently visited Guantanamo Bay, the first visit by any Australian officials to the infamous U.S. prison camp, where they issued a joint statement claiming that the inmates were being detained in “safe and humane conditions”.
In contrast to mounting protests from civil rights lawyers around the world, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Howard government has fully backed the Bush administration’s treatment of the prisoners. It has ignored the blatant breaches of the Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and rejected appeals for legal and family access.
Moreover, senior government officials, in contravention of the principle of presumption of innocence and without producing a shred of evidence, have publicly declared that Hicks and Habib are terrorists and/or connected with Al Qaeda.
Attorney General Daryl Williams and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recently visited Guantanamo Bay, the first visit by any Australian officials to the infamous U.S. prison camp, where they issued a joint statement claiming that the inmates were being detained in “safe and humane conditions”.