Monday, September 26, 2005
Shoddy government found out by Hicks
It seems David Hicks, the Australian political prisoner, held in arbitrary detention at Guantanamo Bay, has one last chance for justice.

By becoming a UK citizen, Hicks could command the protection of the British government, which has so far demanded and secured the release of all nine of its own political prisoners held by the US. Hicks’s own Australian government has been one of the few staunch allies of the courts, effectively abandoning any of its citizens held there.

But in a chance conversation about the recent Ashes series with his lawyer, it came to light that Hicks’s mother – though also Australian – holds UK citizenship, thus granting Hicks the right to do the same. As a result, in application, issues of character do not enter the equation – UK citizenship is Hick’s right.

Now the race is on. Hicks’s military ‘trial’ is scheduled to start on November 18. Applications for UK citizenship can take between 3 and 6 months, though there is no reason in law why an emergency case cannot be fast tracked.

Will the UK government stall? Will the military court proceedings be speeded up? Would the UK ask for him back if he is convicted?

Either way, it has placed the US and Australian governments in an embarrassing situation.

Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander ‘Lord’ Downer has rarely had anything constructive to say and yesterday was no exception. "If Mr Hicks and his lawyers want to try to circumvent justice by going to some other country and think that will help them, that's a matter between him and that country," he chided. He then went on to suggest Hicks’s case was somehow different as Hicks has already been charged by the illegal court and so a UK demand for his release would not necessarily be automatic.

Once in the UK, Hicks would be free to return to Australia, as – by the government’s own admission – he has broken no law in this country. Quite why he would wish to return to a country that has essentially washed its hands of any attempt to secure justice for him, is beyond me. But at least he would have the choice. And he would hardly be a ‘free’ man anyway – he wouldn’t be able to fart without Alexander Downer receiving a briefing from intelligence services.

Whatever you think of David Hicks, he has been the subject of shoddy government which has subsequently been found out. Here is a man who has been denied even the most basic standards of justice and has been haplessly abandoned by his own country for the last four years. Everyone deserves better than this from their public institutions.

Now let’s see if the British government can act with a modicum of decency, thus far lacking from Bush and Howard.

---