Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Today we reflected in this House on the terrible loss of two more Australian diggers who died in war so that we and others may live a life of freedom and dignity. Five kilometres south-west of Damascus is a tree-lined Commonwealth war cemetery where at least 37 young Australian men are buried. They fought and died in two separate wars so that we and others may live with freedom and dignity. Their bodies never came home. Even though time and distance separate the fallen soldiers, the reason for the sacrifice of their young lives endures. We must as a nation speak for the voiceless. We must stand up for the weak. So it is tonight in this House, where we have sent so many of our own children to war to fight and die for freedom and dignity, that I speak of the recently deceased Hamza Ali Al Khateeb. Hamza was a peaceful protester in the Syrian town of Dara'a . According to gulfnews.com:

He was arrested for chanting 'down with the regime' along with a group of young protesters.

That day, the day of the protest, 29 April, was the last day he was seen alive. He was 13 years old. The boy's mutilated body was returned to the family just last Wednesday, nearly one month later. A very distressing video of his corpse has been posted on YouTube. According to the Washington Post:

The boy's head was swollen, purple and disfigured. His body was a mess of welts, cigarette burns and wounds from bullets fired to injure, not kill. His kneecaps had been smashed, his neck broken, his jaw shattered and his penis cut off.

What finally killed him was not clear, but it appeared painfully, shockingly clear that he had suffered terribly during the month he spent in Syrian custody.

The Syrian people have suffered for far too long. Bashar al-Assad, the current president and son of the former dictator, promised a more compassionate, humane government based on the principles of good governance and human rights. He has failed his own people. Over a month ago the Syrian people, motivated by events elsewhere in the Middle East and northern Africa, began protests calling for an end to 50 years of Syrian emergency rule. The reaction of Syrian authorities has been brutal. Since mid-March, Amnesty International indicates around 10,000 protesters have been imprisoned. The amnesty offered today by Assad is too little and too late. Emergency rule was supposedly lifted the day Assad instructed forces to take control of the town of Dara'a, an ancient city near the border with Jordan. All this was just a couple of days before Hamza disappeared. He was detained and tortured to death—a 13-year-old boy. Our limited knowledge of events has filtered out because courageous young Syrians are using technology to disseminate news. But the situation in Syria is getting worse, not better. Syrian activists are reporting that government snipers stood on top of apartment buildings in Dara'a, shooting people preparing to take to the streets to peacefully protest. The regime's actions are un-Syrian, un-Islamic and unacceptable.

Freedom is never without cost. In Iran, the struggle for free and fair elections was epitomised by the life of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman killed during the Iranian election protests in 2009. The Tiananmen protests were epitomised by the man with his shopping bags who stood in front of a tank. These brave people are the symbols of a greater movement of people demanding control over their own destiny. The Arab Spring has led to the transition of power from dictators in Egypt and Tunisia. It is the start, I hope, across the region of a liberal revolution which will deliver peace, security and democracy. But the people need and deserve our support. We cannot be selective; we must be consistent in our approach to the region. It is not good enough that Australia and the international community offer little more than words and sanctions that continue to be defied. Australia needs to be a leader in its condemnation of the atrocities.

Today the Minister for Foreign Affairs wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council seeking to refer President Assad to the International Criminal Court. I congratulate him on this initiative. But we can go further. It is time that Australia considers refusing to give credentials to the new Syrian ambassador designate in Canberra. The ambassador, who I understand is close to President Assad, should be given the opportunity to tell President Assad directly about the depth of feeling here.

The Syrian people deserve freedom. Hamza's death cannot be in vain. Young Australian soldiers who have died so that others may live expect us to be ever vigilant. (Time expired)

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