Our Trial
When all the world is become military then not killing when orders demand will be a crime. And when the inevitable mistakes are made and innocent people are caught up in these new 'laws'that too will be a crime, but of a different kind. A crime as described by Kafka.
There are draconian restrictions on people under detention making contact with the outside world and a five-year jail sentence for those who disclose "any information" after being contacted by a person under preventive detention. The Government seriously think that the sudden disappearance of a person will not arouse any interest or concern among family and acquaintances!
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission president John von Doussa was moved on Monday to compare the stop, question and search provisions, which require no court warrant and already have been implemented by some governments, with those of a police state.
He asked people to think about it: "The defining characteristic of a police state is that the police exercise power on behalf of the executive and the conduct of the police cannot be effectively challenged through the justice system of the state. This is exactly what the laws which are currently under debate will achieve."
One reason we should not trust politicians such as Ruddock is because he has form. As immigration minister, he presided over tight restrictions on media access to asylum-seekers and helped instil the culture among his bureaucrats that resulted in the shocking abuses of power experienced by Cornelia Rau, Vivian Alvarez and others.
One justification Ruddock offered last week for measures such as preventive detention and control orders was that it required 30 people to conduct a covert surveillance operation. To argue that saving manpower justifies overturning the rule of law, which is the mark of a civilised society, shows how politicians have lost their sense of proportion.
There are draconian restrictions on people under detention making contact with the outside world and a five-year jail sentence for those who disclose "any information" after being contacted by a person under preventive detention. The Government seriously think that the sudden disappearance of a person will not arouse any interest or concern among family and acquaintances!
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission president John von Doussa was moved on Monday to compare the stop, question and search provisions, which require no court warrant and already have been implemented by some governments, with those of a police state.
He asked people to think about it: "The defining characteristic of a police state is that the police exercise power on behalf of the executive and the conduct of the police cannot be effectively challenged through the justice system of the state. This is exactly what the laws which are currently under debate will achieve."
One reason we should not trust politicians such as Ruddock is because he has form. As immigration minister, he presided over tight restrictions on media access to asylum-seekers and helped instil the culture among his bureaucrats that resulted in the shocking abuses of power experienced by Cornelia Rau, Vivian Alvarez and others.
One justification Ruddock offered last week for measures such as preventive detention and control orders was that it required 30 people to conduct a covert surveillance operation. To argue that saving manpower justifies overturning the rule of law, which is the mark of a civilised society, shows how politicians have lost their sense of proportion.
posted by professor rat at 4:33 AM
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