Australian senator says Guantanamo detainees abused and should be sent home

[Willis, Katrina (Sen B. Brown)]

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Thursday, 27 May 2004, Washington DC

Australian Senator says Guantanamo detainees abused and should be sent
home


Visiting Australian Senator Bob Brown says two Australians, David Hicks
and Mamdouh Habib, detained at Guantanamo Bay, were tortured and should
be sent home immediately.

"These men were beaten and psychologically abused before being
transferred to Guantanamo Bay and in nearly two years of detention have
been held in conditions of sensory deprivation no Australian prison
would allow," Senator Brown said.

"In Australia, the jailers would be on trial."

Senator Brown, who interrupted President George W. Bush's speech to the
Australian parliament last October to demand the two Australians be
treated legally, says the men's detention is creating a furore in
Australia.  Prime Minister John Howard is due to raise the issue with
President Bush in Washington next week.

Senator Brown alleges that:
	*	There is credible evidence from Hicks' fellow prisoner
Shah Mohammed, released back to Britain last year that Hicks was bashed
in Afghanistan.
	*	Australian officials have visited the men at Guantanamo
Bay but been refused permission to see their cell area.
	*	Habib is reported to have been seen lying unconscious at
Guantanamo with blood coming from his head and, on another occasion,
dragged across the floor by chains.
	*	Habib, arrested in Pakistan, is reported to have been
tortured by Egyptian authorities before transfer to Guantanamo.
	*	Habib's lawyers have not been let see him.
	*	Hicks' lawyers have visited but are gagged.
	*	Senator Brown has not been let visit Guantanamo.

	/2
Senator Brown said that the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
breaks international law and the Geneva Conventions.

"The Australian government has been weak and compliant to this
illegality and abuse," Senator Brown said. 

"There is a growing tide of anger in my country that the Australians
remain incarcerated without charge or hearing, while American inmates
were repatriated long ago.

"I challenge the Bush Administration to release all records on Hicks and
Habib, including videotapes of their interrogation.

"This is a travesty of justice, not just illegal treatment of two
Australians but an insult to our nation by America," Senator Brown said.

Senator Brown met Hicks' lawyer, Major Mori, in Washington DC this
morning.

Australia may leave Iraq

"The polls in Australia show the Howard government likely to lose to the
Labor opposition which is committed to bringing Australia's small
contingent of troops home from Iraq," Senator Brown said.

"63% of Australians think the invasion of Iraq was a mistake."

Australia's election is slated before April 2005 but speculation is for
7 August 2004.

Note: Senator Brown is the Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania in the
Australian parliament. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is meeting
President George W. Bush next week.

More information: Margaret Blakers  +61 419 877 325






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