savethesheikh.com

It’s been more than a year since Sheikh Mansour Leghaei was forced to depart Austarlia as an alleged security risk, having never been told what it was that he was supposed to have done wrong! Mansour lives quietly with his family but his friends in Australia have by no means given up on his return.

Complaints over Mansour’s treatment by the Australian government were made to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) early in  2010, but we still await a final ruling.  The Austarlian government did eventually make a response to questions posed by the UNHRC. Sheikh Mansour’s team in Australia subsequently responded to the Australian government’s response. The case is before the UNHRC and we await a final ruling with a great degree of confidence.

In the meantime questions continue to be raised about the role of ASIO in Australia. They seem to be accountable to no one – pursuing people for reasons that often prove to be completely erroneous, and making assessments of people that can destroy people’s lives but which they never have to prove.

The following 7.30 Report segement was put together by Greg Miskelly:

The October 21st deadline has past and the Australian government has not responded to the United Nations Human Rights Committee regarding their treatment of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei.

Scott Ludlum of The Greens has questions pending in Parliament, calling on the government to account for its actions.  Meanwhile Associate Professor Ben Saul has addressed members of the legal fraternity on this issue and has published a paper that gives a comprehensive examination of the legal dimensions of the case, entitled “The Kafka-esque Case of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei: The Denial of the International Human Right to a Fair Hearing in National Security Assessments and Migration Proceedings in Australia”

You can pick up a PDF version of Ben Saul’s paper here.

On Saturday June 26th we had a formal farewell at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre.  More than 1000 people crammed in – people of all faiths and cultures from across the region. On Sunday morning Mansour joined us at Holy Trinity Church to farewell his many supporters there.  That evening, despite Sheikh’s attempts to dissuade us from coming to the airport, more than 300 of us showed up to make our final farewells.

It was an emotional time.  Indeed, I find it hard to watch the video coverage below without the tears welling up again.

The story was also covered briefly on Ten News. You can see that here.

The fight does not end here. The Australian Government has until Ocotber 21st to respond to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and explain why they charged, judged and executed Sheikh Mansour without ever telling him what he’d done wrong.

If you have any ideas as to how we can put pressure on the Australian government to respond to the United Nations, submit them to the Fighting Fathers Forum (nb. you’ll need to use VIP code ‘NO HOMERS’ to register).

Christian leaders from around the world continue to voice their support for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei as the Australian government continues to ignore the United Nations demand to hold off on his deportation.

Dr Tony Campolo, President of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education and a world-renowned speaker and author, recently voiced his concern over the Sheikh’s case (see his comment here).  And now Father Kevin Dance, who represents the Passionist Community (of the Catholic Church) to the United Nations has written to the Australian Prime Minster in the letter reprinted below.

These men join other prominent Christian leaders world-wide, including Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Bishop Riah of Jerusalem, in appealing for justice for Sheikh Mansour.

From the representative of the Passionist Community to the United Nations

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House Canberra
ACT 2600

June 9, 2010

Dear Mr. Prime Minister

Re: Request to prevent the deportation of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei in accordance with the communication of the United Nations Human Rights Committee of 21 April, 2010.

I write this letter in support of the petition that Sheikh Mansour Leghaei not be deported  from Australia until the United Nations Human Rights Committee has completed its investigation of the matter.

I presently represent the worldwide Passionist community at the United Nations. Here I am involved in much interfaith cooperation in the service of peace.  Prior to this assignment, I was Parish Priest of St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in Marrickville which is adjacent to Earlwood where the Imam Husain Islamic Centre is located.

I do not know Dr. Leghaei personally, but I have confidence in the sound judgement of many within the interfaith community, including my successor Father John Pearce, who know him as a man of peace. He is committed to promoting harmony in his own community and within the wider community of Sydney.  Surely, in our multicultural society of Australia, we need people of the caliber and with the leadership that this man has shown.

He has lived at peace in Australia with his family for more than 15 years.  His application for Permanent Residence in Australia has been denied, but he has never been given a chance to clear his name as the allegations made against him by ASIO have never been made known to him. This is a denial of natural justice and of his civil and political rights.

I ask you to intervene and call for a stay in executing the deportation order on Dr. Leghaei until the Human Rights Committee makes its report. This is not a sign of weakness but, rather, a statement of the basic decency and respect for human rights that does and should represent the best that is Australian.

Yours sincerely,

Father Kevin Dance, C.P.
REPRESENTING THE PASSIONIST FAMILY AT THE UNITED NATION

The following is an open letter from the supporters of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The Hon. Kevin Rudd, MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Australian Parliament
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2600

June 3, 2010

Dear Prime Minister

Re: Request to prevent the deportation of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei in accordance with the communication of the United Nations Human Rights Committee of 21 April, 2010.

We are supporters of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, a moderate Iranian cleric who leads the 1500-member Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood and is the elected head of the local Interfaith Committee.

As you will be aware, Dr Leghaei and his family have lived peacefully in Australia for 16 years. His application for Permanent Residency in Australia has been denied due to two Adverse Security Assessments issued by ASIO in 1997 and 2004.

A leading proponent of interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in Sydney, Dr Leghaei strenuously denies he has ever been a threat to Australia’s national security.

Contrary to the right to a fair hearing enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Australia is a signatory, Dr Leghaei has never been informed of the nature of the allegations against him, either by ASIO or in any of the court proceedings he has brought to challenge ASIO’s assertion. In one of these hearings, a judge of the Federal Court of Australia observed that Dr Leghaei’s right to procedural fairness had been reduced to ‘nothingness’.

Australia’s failure to guarantee a fair trial is at odds with much of the liberal democratic world: in Britain and Europe, for example, human rights law requires that a person always be told the substance of the allegations. The denial of a fair hearing is also foreign to our ancient common law tradition, which requires that a person can challenge the evidence against them in an adversarial process.

Where a person is unable to see or test the evidence, it cannot be determined whether they are actually a risk to national security or not. Deporting Dr Leghaei in such circumstances would be internationally unlawful.

On April 21, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a request, under rule 92 of its rules of procedure, that the Australian Government not deport Dr Leghaei and his accompanying dependents to Iran while their case is under consideration by the committee.

However in contravention of this request, the Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans, announced on May 17 that Dr Leghaei would not be granted a visa and that he was expected to make preparations to leave the country by June 28.

This breach of Dr Leghaei’s human rights has provoked concern among the international human rights community. Support for his case has now been received from, amongst others: Bishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town; Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Bishop of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon; Máiread Corrigan-Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Dr Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysian political scientist; Professor Hans Köchler, President of the International Progress Organization; Dr Norman Finkelstein, American political scientist, and Bishop George Browning, retired Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

Dr Leghaei and his family have also received thousands of letters of support from members of the Anglican, Catholic, Indigenous and Muslim communities. His removal from Australia will result in the closure of the Centre and deprive 1500 Muslims of a leadership which preaches tolerance and peace.

Today more than 1,000 concerned Australians from different community backgrounds have travelled to Canberra to deliver this letter to you.

We applaud your Government’s stated commitment to human rights and global governance. At a time when it is more important than ever to build bridges between people of different faiths, we call on you to ensure that the principles of human rights and the right to a fair trial are upheld in this individual case.

Therefore we respectfully request that you provide an assurance to Dr Leghaei that he will not be removed from Australia until the UN Human Rights Committee has finally determined his case on its merits.