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Letter to Editor: Senator Hill and Interrogations |
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Saturday, 19 February 2005 |
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Dear editor,
Senator Hill (SMH, Feb 16) claims, quite correctly, that the
distinction between an "interview" and "interrogation" is that
interrogation involves duress.
An example of duress might be: if someone was incarcerated for one
week merely on the basis that they might "know something"; being
subjected to 24 hours of questioning; being told that their refusal to
answer a single question could see them imprisoned for five years; or
even mentioning that the interrogation took place could also earn them
five years in prison.
In the last three years, the Howard government has pushed through a confusing array of 20 bills giving all these powers -- and more -- to ASIO. By ASIO's own admission, at least three people have been interrogated in this manner in the last year.
Shouldn't all Australians have the same rights that we are told Iraqi prisoners have?
Unpublished letter to the Sydney Morning Herald on 17 February 2004.
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