By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Canberra, Australia 

On Friday, Australia’s Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, signed a deal with Cambodia’s Interior Minister Sar Kheng for Cambodia to accept some of Australia’s rejected asylum seekers for money. The deal requires Australia to pay $40 million (Aus.) over a four-year period to cover resettlement costs. A spokes person for Morrison pointed out that under the deal only those refugees that chose to go to Cambodia would be sent. The trial phase is set to begin first and Cambodia has said that it plans to take between two and five people from the Australian refugee center on Nauru for relocation to Cambodia. It is understood that the deal could involve the relocation of up to 1,000 refugees from Nauru to Cambodia.

 

Political opposition groups in both countries have voiced their dissent about the new deal. The Australian Green Party has said that the refugees would be at high risk of abuse and exploitation in Cambodia. The Australian opposition parties have warned that the level of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation in Cambodia have increased dramatically in recent years. These groups have also said that any deal signed with Cambodia must get Parliamentary approval first. So far Parliament has not voted on the new refugee deal and has only approved refugees to be sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Human rights groups have also voiced their displeasure with the deal. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights was not involved in the deal and a spokes person said that there is concern with such a bilateral agreement that might involve the divesting of certain obligations under the refugee convention. The director of Australian Human Rights Watch said the deal would send people to a country that has a terrible record of protecting refugees and has many human rights issues of its own.

The Refugees of Nauru have said that they will reject the offer to be relocated in Cambodia. Those refugees that have been interviewed stated that it was the common opinion amongst the camp that Cambodia is very poor with a long history of abuse and killings. 80 refugees staged a protest outside the Australian High Commission on Nauru in response to the deal.  Australia has also recently granted temporary visas to refugees on Christmas Island, who arrived on the same boats as those on Nauru but those on Nauru now only have the option of going to Cambodia.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian — Australia Signs Controversial Refugee Transfer Deal with Cambodia — 26 September 2014

ABC News — Scott Morrison to Sign MOU on Refugee Resettlement, Cambodian Government Says — 25 September 2014

BBC News — Australia and Cambodia Sign Refugee Resettlement Deal — 26 September 2014

The Phenom Phen Post — Refugees in Nauru Protest — 30 September 2014

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Canberra, Australia 

The Australian Senate has passed a new bill in response to the recent foreign and domestic terrorist threats facing Australia. The new legislation will make it easier for intelligence and law enforcement agencies to access the personal information on computers and cell phones of Australian citizens overseas. The bill would also create an increased penalty of up to 10 years in prison for disclosing secret information, this is especially concerning for journalists, who are concerned that they will be targeted with these new penalties. Lastly the new legislation gives civil and criminal immunity to Australian intelligence agents. The government was quick to comment that the immunity would not be extended to those agents that caused death, serious injury, engaged in sexual offenses or severe damage to property.

The Parliament has pushed for these new laws in response to major counter terrorist operations in recent weeks, where Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies foiled an ISIS plot to stage a public beheading in Sydney. There have also been smaller incidents, including a number of arrests involving ISIS recruiters operating in Australia. The Australian response was to lift restrictions on the intelligence community however; the political opposition parties are voicing their disapproval. Both the Liberal Democratic Party as well as the Green Party has stated that these new laws will effectively restrict freedom of the press. The major concern is that if the press is not able to report on intelligence activities then democracy in Australia will be undermined.

Another major concern of the opposition groups was that torture could be included in the new laws. Prime Minister Tony Abbott gave a speech in response to this rumor that torture would not be included in the new legislation and that it will remain outlawed in Australia. The legal immunity was also explicitly stated to not cover incidents of torture. It has only  been in the last few weeks that Australia responded to a call from the U.S. to aide international efforts in combating ISIS. In response to that call Australia deployed troops abroad, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott stating that Australia was not out of the reach of the ISIS threat. Shortly after the deployment announcement, ISIS became very active in Australia, evident from a foiled terrorist plot as well as a slew of arrests. Now Australia has adapted their laws to face the new threat but many worry that it will lead to injustice.

For more information, please see:

ABC News — Senate Passes New Counter-Terrorism Giving Stronger Powers to Intelligence Agency ASIO — 25 September 2014

The Guardian — Torture Ruled Out of Counter- Terrorism Laws For Australian Security Agencies — 21 September 2014

The Guardian — Australia’s Counter- Terror Laws Will Restrict our Free Speech and Free Press — 21 September 2014

SBS — What Will the Counter- Terror Laws Mean for Australians? — 24 September 2014

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

 

Canberrra, Australia 

The largest counter-terrorism operation in the history of Australia took place today as somewhere between 800 to 1,000 Australian police officers took part in raids across Sydney to apprehend members of ISIS plotting terror acts in the city. 15 suspects were arrested and over a dozen raids executed on properties across Sydney. The Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott stated today that he was briefed by Australian intelligence agencies Wednesday night about a potential plot by ISIS member in Sydney to stage a public execution in an attempt to demonstrate the groups reach. The police have further stated that they have gathered evidence showing that ISIS supporters in Australia have been plotting these attacks since May.

Calls for attacks in Australia have apparently been coming from an Australian who is reported by Abbott to be high up in the ISIS ranks. Abbott refused to state the name of the suspected high up Australian ISIS member. Police arrested a 22- year- old member of ISIS, who prosecutors say planned to gruesomely behead a randomly selected person in public with a clear intent to shock and horrify. The police have since stated that 9 of the 15 suspects arrested during the raid have been released on bail.

Raids on a smaller scale were executed in Brisbane last week, where two men were arrested for attempting to recruit members to join the AL-Qaeda off shoot group called the “Nursa Front”. These men were also preparing to leave for Syria themselves. In the wake of these recent events the Australian government has raised the terrorist threat level from medium to high. Australian intelligence agencies report that some 60 Australian citizens have gone abroad to fight for ISIS and other militant Islamic groups in the Middle East. These agencies also report that they believe that there are around  100 Australians in Australia supporting ISIS by recruiting fighters, grooming suicide candidates and providing funds and equipment.

On Thursday night a crowd of around 300 protesters gathered in Sydney to protest against the raids. Australian Islamic groups are warning the government of potential unrest over the governments new anti-terror polices. The leader of one of these Islamic groups stated that the Muslim community is being made scapegoats and that he believes  the real terrorists are the government. He further stated that Muslims in Australia do not feel safe and that the Muslim community has been victimized for years.

Last week Australia announced that it would be contributing to the international effort to combat ISIS by deploying military forces to the Middle East. Abbott stated then that there was a concern of ISIS threats in Australia. He has recently played down concerns that Australia’s involvement abroad could increase the risk of attack at home.

For more information; please see: 

NBC News — Raids Foil Alleged Beheading Plot in Support of ISIS — 18 September 2014

CBS News — Australian in Australia: We Thwarted Grisly ISIS Plot — 18 September 2014

Fox News — Australia Raids Foil Reported ISIS Beheading Plots — 18 September 2014

The Guardian — Terrorism Raids: ISIS Urging Followers to Behead Australians’, Says PM

By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Suva, Fiji

In late August 45 Fijian soldiers acting as U.N. peacekeepers, were kidnapped by Syrian rebels on the border between Syrian and Israel known as the “Area of Separation”. The “Area of Separation” refers to a 70- Kilometer strip between the border of Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights region, which has been policed by U.N. peacekeepers since 1974. The kidnapping militants said the reason for the action was because they believed the U.N. peacekeepers were supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar- al Assad and ignoring the plight of the Syrian people.

Military officials in Fiji released, immediately after the incident that they were in negotiations with the Syrian Militants.  The Fijian military then released to the press, earlier this week that they had secured the released of their soldiers from the Syrians, who have been identified as the Nursa Front, without any demands or conditions. They then immediately tried to retract their statements, but the reason for this is still unknown. The U.N. never reported any such progress with the negations for the release of the Fijian solders. The Associated Press reported that it would be unlikely that the U.N. gave permission for Fiji to release that their soldiers would be coming home, as the U.N. usually doesn’t release information on hostage matters until it is completely resolved.

After Fiji prematurely released their statements the Syrian militants posted a video of the captured soldiers on their Twitter and YouTube accounts of the soldiers saying they were being treated well and expected to be released soon. The Fijian government then reported again that the Syrians had dropped all demands and conditions and that the soldiers were to be released. This time the statements were not premature,  after the videos were posted the Fijian soldiers were released on the Syrian side of the border. The soldiers were made to walk through the border crossing to the Israeli controlled territory. They were reported to be in good condition and were sent to receive medical treatment in Israel before being able to return home to Fiji. Fiji’s presidential candidate Frank Bainimarama called the Fijian soldiers heroes, to be able to keep their cool under such extreme circumstances. He further stated that it was the discipline of his troops that kept any militants and any U.N. forces from being killed throughout the incident. Many nations have now pulled out their military contingents from U.N. peacekeeping operations in the Golan Heights out of concern that the war in Syria will spill over the border.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press — Fiji May Have Jumped the Gun on Fate of its UN Troops — 10 September 2014

Al Jazeera — Syria Rebels Free UN Peacekeepers — 11 September 2014

ABC News — UN: 45 Fijian Peacekeepers Freed in Syria — 11 September 2014

Reuters — U.N., Fiji Say No Word on Location of Peacekeepers Abducted in Golan Heights — 31 August 2014