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| Down Under |
| 80 Aussies face house arrest under new legislation |
| 2005-10-22 |
| Up to 80 Australians could immediately be placed under effective house arrest under the federal government's proposed anti-terror laws. The laws mean they could be forced to wear tracking devices, or be prevented from working, or using the telephone or internet, or communicating with certain people. Almost all are Muslims who have received or provided training with a listed terrorist organisation before 2002, The Weekend Australian reports. To date, the government has had no effective powers over these people, the newspaper says. Laws prohibiting training with terrorist groups came into force only in July 2002 and were not retrospective. However, under the proposed new laws, such people can be subjected to tough so-called control orders if authorities still believe they pose a security risk. The proposed laws will apply to anyone who has trained with any of 17 banned terror groups, including al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah, LET, Abu Sayyaf and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The new laws could also mean a parent who is told that their child is being held under anti-terrorism laws faces five years' jail if they shared that knowledge with their partner. The laws, being considered by premiers and chief ministers, provide special conditions for detaining those aged between 16 and 18, Fairfax newspapers report. The laws ban detention for children under 16. But for those aged 16 and 17, a role is created for one parent or guardian in the detention process, Fairfax says. That parent would be allowed up to two hours' daily contact, with detention lasting up to two weeks. Any conversation between the parent and the child would be monitored by the federal police. However, the newspapers says, if the parent told their wife or husband that the child had been detained as a terrorist suspect they would face up to five years' jail. A spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock confirmed parents would have no (no) special exemption in the ban on disclosing information. "There would only be one parent allowed to see the minor," the spokesman told the newspapers. "It would be visited by one parent or guardian. "While the subject of a preventative detention could tell the other parent they were safe, they couldn't tell them they were in preventative detention." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 The new laws could also mean a parent who is told that their child is being held under anti-terrorism laws faces five years' jail if they shared that knowledge with their partner. huh? I don't get it. |
| Posted by: Grush Tholuger7316 2005-10-22 05:56 |