Dale Mills
Ciaron O'Reilly, a Catholic peace activist, says he was treated in a heavy-handed way by two Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) officers when he was detained at Brisbane Airport on February 3.
O'Reilly, an Australian citizen, was detained for 30 minutes in a secure office at the airport after disembarking from his 30-hour flight from Dublin. He was returning from Ireland to visit his family.
O'Reilly reported to Project SafeCom () after the interview that ASIO had questioned him about his plans for the next three months and about the civil disobedience that occurred during the Shoalwater "Operation Talisman Sabre" joint US-Australia military exercises in 2005.
O'Reilly has also been involved in non-violent protest actions against Indonesia's occupation of East Timor and uranium mining at Jabiluka. He is one of the Pit Stop Ploughshares defendants awaiting a third trial in Dublin on July 5 for allegedly disabling a US military plane that was due to fly to Iraq in February 2003.
O'Reilly explained to Project SafeCom that ASIO also questioned him about whether he would be accompanying his brother Sean to his late-February court hearing in Alice Springs arising from his arrest following a peace demonstration at the Pine Gap spy base. O'Reilly said he assured the agents that he and his brother were innocent of all charges awaiting hearing.
According to Crikey.com.au, there was a Keystone Kops moment when the ASIO agents, having finished their interview, had to call for outside assistance to open the interview room, with O'Reilly and themselves locked in.
O'Reilly told media that he believes his movements will be closely monitored by ASIO while he is in Australia, but that his "best protection is to be as loud about it as possible. That is why I am saying this has happened to me and not to keep it a secret and not to be embarrassed about it."
Following the detention and deportation of US peace activist Scott Parkin last September, O'Reilly's detention seems to be more proof that ASIO is willing to target peace activists. As in the Parkin case, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has been silent about the reasons for O'Reilly's detention and interview.
O'Reilly wrote to Project SafeCom: "We believe security is built on the pursuit of peace and justice through nonviolent action. Security is not secured by shrinking freedoms, crushing civil liberties and harassing peace activists! If ASIO is serious about addressing violence and terrorism it should have investigated the role and arms of the USS Ronald Reagan in Brisbane last week and the ongoing targeting carried out by Pine Gap!"
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, February 15, 2006.
Visit the