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Hick’s control order undermines Australia’s human rights record

21 December 2007, 05:49PM

"Control orders at the very least severely restrict a person's liberty and at worst can amount to house arrest," says Katie Wood, Campaign Coordinator, Amnesty International Australia.

"Control orders, although issued by a judge, do not have the fair trial guarantees required in criminal cases."

Amnesty International Australia believes that control orders violate human rights, including the right to a fair trial, the right to liberty, the right to freedom from arbitrary detention, the right to freedom of movement and association, and the right to be presumed innocent.

After almost six years of being denied his basic human rights, David Hicks should be allowed to return to a normal life after his release from Adelaide's Yatala prison on 29 December.

David Hicks was held in detention at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for almost six years without trial, and allegedly subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. He became the first person to be sentenced by a military commission at Guantanamo on 30 March 2007, pleading guilty to one charge of 'providing material support for terrorism'.

"We believe David Hicks pleaded guilty to trumped up charges in a kangaroo court. He has served more than six years in custody, and must now be left alone to get on with his life," says Ms Wood.

Amnesty International is deeply critical of the military commissions. Guantanamo Bay is a legal black hole designed to put detainees outside the rule of law and US Administration beyond the rule of law.

"Guantanamo Bay must be shut down immediately and the remaining 300 or so detainees, who have been held for nearly six years without trial, should be released or charged immediately and tried in fair proceedings."

Amnesty International is campaigning for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, and the disclosure of all other secret prison camps run by the US Administration in the name of counter-terrorism.

"The illegal practices promoted by the US government in its 'war on terror' - exemplified by Guantanamo and the CIA program of secret detentions - have failed to make the world a safer place and have grossly eroded our human rights," says Ms Wood.

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