Lisa Macdonald, Sydney
Braving heavy rain, around 100 people rallied at Sydney Town Hall on July 15 to demand "Close Guantanamo", "Stop the torture" and "Bring David Hicks home".
The action, organised by Sydney's Stop the War Coalition, the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group and Justice for Hicks and Habib, was held on the international day of protest called by the National Guantanamo Coalition in Britain. The Sydney rally was addressed by former Guantanamo detainee Mamdouh Habib.
The worldwide protests followed the announcement last week of a formal change in United States government policy to acknowledge that Guantanamo Bay detainees are entitled to humane treatment and legal protections under the Geneva Conventions. The announcement came two weeks after the US Supreme Court ruled to that effect.
The international campaign for the closure of the US prison camp has been gaining momentum. In Australia, the associated campaign to end Hicks' four-and-a-half years of detention without legal charge has also grown.
An online petition set up by community lobby group GetUp demands that foreign minister Alexander Downer and PM John Howard take action to bring David Hicks home immediately and let the evidence be heard (visit <http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights>). GetUp says: "David Hicks' rights must no longer be forsaken for political convenience. If you haven't already, please join us now in taking a stand."
Last week, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's NSW construction division began seeking endorsements from community, trade union, political and religious leaders for a statement, authorised by John North of the Law Council of Australia and endorsed by Catholic Bishop Kevin Manning, to be published in the Sydney Morning Herald. The statement describes the treatment of Hicks as "a fundamental breach of human rights under the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights", to which Australia is a signatory. It states: "Australians expect their Government to ... defend its citizens against breaches of the rule of law wherever they occur. The Australian Government can no longer abdicate its responsibilities in this regard. We call upon the Australian Government to take immediate action to secure the repatriation of David Hicks."
For the full text of the statement, visit <http://www.davidhickscampaign.com>, where you can also send it by email to every member of the federal parliament.
From Green Left Weekly, July 19, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.