[Greens-Media] Raids, forbidden zones and random searches – CHOGM in Perth under Colin Barnett

[Torre, Giovanni (Sen S. Ludlam)]

Raids, forbidden zones and random searches – CHOGM in Perth under Colin Barnett
Media Release: Alison Xamon MLC and Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, Wednesday October 26th

WA Greens have warned against growing hysteria around security for the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting in Perth.

East Metropolitan MLC Alison Xamon said reports of police raids on the homes of protest organisers last week had unfortunately set the tone for the upcoming event.

“We’ve been advised that the Organised Crime Squad and State Security were involved in the raids, and that people were held for hours in custody - in a case said to involve the word ‘protest’ allegedly being spray-painted on grass. That seems like an extraordinary over-reaction.”

Ms Xamon said the CHOGM security laws  introduced by the Barnett government and their heavy-handed implementation had cast a pall over CHOGM.

"During the debate on the CHOGM laws the WA Government gave clear assurances that the police powers they were introducing were not intended to capture ordinary citizens engaging in non-violent protest, but would be used only against people who posed a real security threat. That is clearly not the way the laws are now being used.”

Ms Xamon said the CHOGM laws had given the Police Commissioner the power to ban people from the city with no transparent or appealable justification.

“The Greens agree with Justice Michael Kirby that demonstrations within a democratic country are an expected part of the democratic process.  CHOGM is an opportunity for ordinary citizens to bring forward concerns about a variety of issues in a non-violent way.  Perth people have a right to expect that they won’t be subject to excessive and repressive police powers.  Whether people agree with them or not, demonstrators have a right to protest and this right needs to be respected.”

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam noted that “peaceful West Australians are being treated like potential criminals while the red carpet is being rolled out for visiting heads of government – some of whom, allegedly, are actual criminals”.

“This month a one-time ally of Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused him of complicity in the killing of a former president which sparked the 1994 genocide. A French judge raised the same accusation in 2006, and there is ongoing political repression in Rwanda. In regards to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse; US Embassy officials and the International Council of Jurists are among many who have raised allegations of war crimes and the Australian Federal Police are currently reviewing evidence against him. Yet these two individuals are welcome while law-abiding locals are banned.”

The Greens warned against the impact of the CHOGM laws when they were proposed in February: http://www.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/greens-warn-extreme-police-powers-wa


Media Contact: Giovanni Torre – 0417 174 302