It’s just been confirmed that David Hicks, an Australian who has been held for nearly the last four years in Guantanamo bay, has been granted UK Citizenship.
David Hicks Granted UK Citizenship
From the above link:
I think this is great news.
As for this being in the Pit, I thought it might just degenerate into those who think he still should be locked away indefinitely coming in here and saying what a stupid development this is.
To those people, fuck you.
When I’m given cause to feel bile rising over the latest imbecile conduct of the US military, I remind myself “Major Michael Mori” and equilibrium and calm are restored.
The icing on this cake will be if the UK demands Hicks be treated equally to its other former inmates of the prison. The High Court judgment suggested that should be expected and that Hicks should be (re)patriated to the UK.
The Federal government’s position still seems to be that they support his detention and “trial” because he couldn’t be charged with any offence under Australian law. I dunno, this still sounds like a joke to me.
My wife is a member of the Victorian Bar, and she speaks very highly of Mori’s visit here. The recent Four Corners doco on Hicks suggested that other US military lawyers were as impressive.
Torturing detainees aside, my disgust doesn’t really lie at the feet of the US Military. It lies at the feet of both the Howard and Bush Governments for pushing and allowing for these human rights abuses to happen.
I’m so glad he was granted citizenship. I hope the UK can do the same for him as they did for their own citizens who ended up in Guantanamo Bay. I’m disgusted by the attitude the Howard government has had towards this case (and towards the other guy who was released earlier this year, blanking on his name though). Just goes to show that Howard’s supposed moral standards go out the window if they’d make Our Mate Bush look bad.
I don’t have any opinion on the innocence or otherwise of David Hicks, since I’m not familiar with the facts of his specific case. But a fair trial is the way to determine his future - anything less makes a pathetic mockery of any statement Howard makes about our troops being in Iraq to help them acheive democracy.
I think the key word here is could.
He hasn’t yet and if the British Government appeal and win, may not.