savethesheikh.com

an update by Father Dave

It seems that the Australian Government has suddenly decided that they have more information about our deported friend, Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, that they wish to share – at least with the United Nations!

More than two years has elapsed since the deportation-with-trial of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei. Before the deportation took place, a complaint was lodged by Mansour and his family with the United Nation Human Right Committee (UNHRC), claiming that the Australian government had breached various international Human Right Conventions to which it was signatory in the way it had treated Mansour.

Various communications took at that time place between the UNHRC, the Australian government, and the legal representatives of Sheikh Mansour and his family. The case was then left with the UNHRC who informed us that it would take them 18 months to 2 years to return a decision.

With that time period now having almost fully elapsed, a ruling from the UNHRC may have been imminent except that on June 6th 2012, the Australian government wrote again to the UNHRC, claiming that it “will be lodging additional submissions in response to counsel’s comments.”

What is the Australian government up to? The correspondence gives no indication as to the nature of these ‘additional submissions’, nor does it offer any time-frame  within which it intends to lodge such submissions, nor does it provide any justification as to why such submissions should be accepted at this late stage.

It is possible that this fresh initiative on the part of the government is an indication that they are finally taking Sheikh Mansour’s case seriously. It seems far more likely to me though that this move is simply designed to stall the process and let the next government deal with the embarrassment pursuant to Australia’s flagrant violation of Sheikh Mansour’s fundamental human rights!

The legal team representing Sheikh Mansour have written to the UNHRC, objecting to the request for late submissions and asking that his case be given immediate consideration.

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: