BY SARAH STEPHEN
ASIO, the Police and You
Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network
38 pages
Available at or phone (02) 9349 7186
This pamphlet is big news, if the audience at its July 26 launch is anything to go by. The inspector-general of intelligence and security, Ian Carnell, was there, as was a representative of the Australian Federal Police, and reportedly one of the heads of ASIO. The room was also packed with members of AMCRAN, the Civil Rights Network, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) and community legal centres.
ASIO, the Police and You seeks to explain what Australia's "anti-terrorism" laws are and what powers they give ASIO and the AFP. It describes what to do if your house is raided, what to do if you are arrested or detained, where to go for help and how to lodge a complaint.
According to Waleed Kadous, co-convener of AMCRAN: "The complexity of these laws has meant that most people — Muslim or otherwise — are unaware as to their rights and responsibilities under these laws as well as the avenues of complaint. It is this gap in understanding amongst the wider community that [we] hope to address with this guide."
NSWCCL vice-president David Bernie told the launch that the powers given to ASIO under "anti-terrorism" legislation are "a threat to all of us". "On the face of them, the laws don't discriminate. But their application in the short term may always discriminate."
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle told the launch that "the 'war on terror' is taking away our rights, and it's not bringing security to us or the region". She added that Muslim Australians had told her that they were advising their children not to go to rallies or political meetings, and not to donate to Muslim charities.
Vicki Sentas from the UTS Community Law Centre told the audience: "The 'war on terror' has normalised discrimination and racist attacks on Muslim and Arab people around the world." In Australia, Sentas said, "the laws rely heavily on police and ASIO discretion and religious and racial profiling", which must be "challenged as a matter of urgency".
Justice John Dowd, president of the International Commission of Jurists and soon-to-retire member of the NSW Supreme Court, officially launched the booklet. He told the audience: "I recently went to a Tamil fundraising function. I went to a similar function a year ago, and I didn't check that the money didn't go directly to buying bullets. This function was to buy ambulances."
Referring to the fact that it is an offence punishable by 15 years' imprisonment to unknowingly give funds to a listed terrorist organisation, Dowd said: "I bought $40 worth of raffle tickets, because I wanted to make a point. I'm appalled that I have to audit my dollar back to Jaffna before I can agree to donate."
Much of the booklet's first print run of 4000 has been distributed, but AMCRAN is currently seeking funding to produce a second edition, which they also hope to translate into a number of different languages.
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From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, August 4, 2004.
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