Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—At the request of Senator Stott Despoja, I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the condemnation of the United States of America (US) military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay by British Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith and his call for the facility to be closed,

(ii)

Lord Goldsmith’s comments that the US military tribunal system does not offer ‘sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards’,

(iii)

that a number of world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, have also called for the facility to be closed,

(iv)

that, in February 2006, a report by the United Nations (UN) condemned the operation of Guantanamo Bay as a military detention facility, and in May 2006 the UN Committee against Torture called for the facility to be closed as it breaches international law,

(v)

human rights groups including Amnesty International have repeatedly called for the facility to be closed,

(vi)

the recent suicide of three Guantanamo Bay inmates,

(vii)

the long history of the US Central Intelligence Agency’s use of invasive physiological and subtle psychological interrogation techniques against suspected national security threats as documented by American historian, Professor Alfred W McCoy, and

(viii)

that South Australian David Hicks has now been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than 4 years and is awaiting trial under the commission process, pending a ruling on the legality of the process by the US Supreme Court; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

acknowledge the criticism of Guantanamo Bay by international leaders and jurists,

(ii)

join international calls for the Guantanamo Bay military facility to be closed, and

(iii)

seek the repatriation of citizen David Hicks or take urgent action to ensure that David Hicks receives a full and fair trial that meets international standards of human rights and justice.

Question negatived.