Pixelated Semantics

Forward to the Dark Ages

Australia seems ready to re-enter the dark ages, following calls from the Federal Police commissioner to allow evidence gained by torture overseas to be admitted to Australian courts, and for the removal of the right to silence. Somehow existing laws are never adequate, despite a lack of cases that would prove the need for these kind of medieval practises to be sanctioned, and the demands for increasingly draconian powers escalates. Even the BBC is reporting our shame, along with libertarian reponses that this move would indeed "subvert our whole criminal justice process". Although the reality of thought-crime is finally getting some attention through this coverage, with the ABC and the Courier Mail running a quote from Bob Brown acknowledging "we have enormous powers available for surveillance, apprehension and punishment of people who are engaged in or intending to engage in, or thinking about being engaged in, terrorist acts in this country" - stating plainly what the Federal government is trying to conceal, that it is now a crime to think about certain acts.

The Sun-Herald reports that the Commissioner "said groups such as al-Qaida had skilfully used the internet and international television to broadcast their threats and atrocities and to spread their culture of fear, violence and intimidation" - in a tried and true manner first mastered by the Americans, one might observe. So rather than persuade other nations to conduct their anti-terror investigations with the highest of standards and with due human rights respect, instead we are being told we "ought to lower [...] evidentiary standards by allowing courts to consider evidence obtained in circumstances that may not strictly conform to domestic requirements". It is extremely disingenuous to label torture as "circumstances that may not strictly conform to domestic requirements", and it is surreal and disturbing to find our society even contemplating sanctioning torture and the deprivation of rights, regardless of the crime of which they may be accused. This is no better than the witch-hunts of the middle ages, which resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people (despite recent attempts to rewrite that history more favourably for the church): a government that sanctions evidence obtained by torture does not represent civil society, it represents the power of the priveledged to manipulate.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 10:04 am ::