ben moretti on 6 Apr 2001 04:01:27 -0000 |
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<nettime> Ruddock unveils law to strip-search detainees |
((I don't know if anyone not in Australia has seen images of these detention camps, but they are basically concentration camps in the desert. Australia has an extraordinarily racist past -- from settlers hunting aboriginies, through the white australia policy and detaining italian immigrants during WWII, and now this. Ben)) http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/04/06/FFX11EYD5LC.html Ruddock unveils law to strip-search detainees IMMIGRATION LAW By DARREN GRAY and ANNABEL CRABB CANBERRA Friday 6 April 2001 Guards will be given the power to strip-search detained illegal migrants - including children as young as 10 - under proposed legislation aimed at quelling unrest in Australia's migrant detention centres. Refugees who escape from detention centres could be jailed for up to five years - three years longer than the present maximum term. Strip searches will be allowed when guards believe a detainee is carrying a hidden weapon. Body cavity searches will be prohibited. Unveiling the legislation yesterday, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the government could not ignore or tolerate the "violent and threatening actions" of some immigration detainees. The extra powers were needed to discourage and better manage violent behavior, he told Federal Parliament. "There have been violent protests, burning of buildings, assaults on officers and other detainees and mass escapes," he said. "The violent actions of some detainees have endangered both other detainees and staff, and caused considerable damage to Commonwealth property." The proposed tough new law's first public airing came just hours after the latest detention centre riot - this one at the remote Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia. In a rampage lasting nearly two hours, about 200 detainees lit fires that destroyed at least two buildings and knocked down fences. Police from Derby attended the scene but left after learning that no detainees had escaped. Key features of the proposed law include: An increase in the prison term for detention centre escapees from two to five years. Strip searches to be made in detention centres for the first time. Three-year jail terms for detainees who have weapons. Mr Ruddock told parliament that strip searches would not be undertaken "as a matter of routine". Detainees would be clearly advised of the nature and reason for a search, and only senior Immigration Department officers could authorise a strip search. Mr Ruddock said: "There must be strong reasons for undertaking such a search. It is a measure of last resort, to be used only in exceptional circumstances." When a strip search is to be conducted on a child aged 10 to 17, the child's parent or guardian must be in attendance. If that is not acceptable to the detainee, or not possible, the child must be represented by somebody else. The Australian Democrats and Amnesty International slammed the legislation. Democrats immigration spokesman Andrew Bartlett said it would make detention centre conditions worse. Amnesty International spokesman Graham Thom said: "The vast majority of recent arrivals have been found to be genuine refugees, in which case they may have suffered torture or trauma. How do you convince a 10-year-old child who has fled Afghanistan or Iraq and ... then is subjected to a strip search, that the country he has arrived at is any different to the country he or she has fled?" he said. Opposition immigration spokesman Con Sciacca said Labor would oppose strip searches for 10-year-olds. -- ben moretti mailto:bmoretti@chariot.net.au http://www.chariot.net.au/~bmoretti news and events in adelaide: http://www.active.org.au/adelaide __o _`\<,_ (*)/ (*) # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net