Friday 25 April 2008
Anzac Day
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Dear reader, I have created a zip file of my website "David Hicks 912 Campaign" and make it available for download and sharing. David_Hicks_912_Campaign_ full_website.zip File size: approx 3.8MB This is an historical 'document' and as such, some external links may no longer work. Cheers, Chris freedavidhicks AT iinet.net.au 
Download the audio version, this letter read by my myself:
David_Hicks_a_Fair_Go_Anzac_Day_2008.wav File size: approx 1.5MB AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA cc Federal Members of Parliament House, Canberra cc Media cc International cc Other Friday 25 April 2008 Re: David Hicks - American concentration camp survivor. Dear Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Today is Anzac Day. For over five years, David Hicks was tortured by the Bush administration at the American concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay. Tortured with the full knowledge and consent of the then Australian Howard Government. With growing public concerns and a looming federal election, the Howard Government sought a political solution. A plea bargain. David Hicks would be released from imprisonment in exchange for a guilty plea. With no trial weighing evidence to find him guilty or innocent, David Hicks accepted the exchange - release from imprisonment for a guilty plea. Not permitted to speak with the media till after the federal election. Not to be released from prison till after the federal election. In late 2007 the people of Australia voted. From Perth in the west to Sydney in the east, from Darwin in the north to Hobart in the south, the Howard Government was resoundingly thrown out of office. Yet the greatest humiliation of all was yet to come. John Winston Howard, the then Australian Prime Minister, was also thrown out of the Australian Parliament - Parliament House, Canberra. From Australian Prime Minister one day, to Australia's most humiliated citizen the next. Poetic justice indeed for one so stained. Today is Anzac Day. Anzac Day, a day to commemorate Australian and New Zealand military forces, Anzac, the Anzacs. Anzac Day, a day to remember the first Anzacs, during World War 1, 1915 at Gallipoli in Turkey. Anzac Day, a day to honor the fighting spirit, Anzac Spirit, heroically fighting against the odds. Today is Anzac Day. If I were to participate in drafting a Bill of Rights for Australia, I would begin with the following notation: "Article 1 - Every Australian shall be entitled to a fair go." When I consider David Hicks, I understand that he has not been given a fair go. Pleading guilty to end years of torture may reflect John Winston Howard's idea of what "a fair go" is, but such is not my idea of "a fair go". In short, I call on the Australian Rudd Government, and in particular Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to give David Hicks a fair go. For David Hicks to receive a fair go, the following needs to be weighted appropriately and acted upon accordingly. 1. The guilty plea by David Hicks needs to be set aside. 2. A competent, properly constituted and constructed court needs to be established to judge the matter of David Hicks guilt or innocence. 3. David Hicks must be given a right to answer his accusers without the threat of being tortured if he doesn't cooperate with them. 4. A thorough investigation into the systematic violations of David Hicks human rights for over five years. If for whatever reason the above is not realized, then the following becomes applicable. 5. David Hicks to receive a pardon in the name of a fair go - to protect all Australians. To simply allow David Hicks to be hounded for the rest of his natural life with the label "terrorist", when he never got a fair trial, is a national obscenity. A Howard Government legacy that needs to be put right. Put right by decent Australian politicans in Canberra. Put right by you Kevin, you and your Government I voted for. Wisdom and decency must prevail. At times it isn't easy to do the right thing, but it must nevertheless be done. Justice has not been done in the case of David Hicks. Justice has not been seen to be done in the case of David Hicks. This isn't just about David Hicks. It is about every Australian and the right to a fair go. If David Hicks is not given a fair go then he has merely exchanged over five years of torture, for torment for the term of his natural life. This is unacceptable to me. Injustice is unacceptable. Today is Anzac Day. The Anzac spirit ... as an Australian, David Hicks has an Australian right to a fair go. Yours most sincerely, Chris von Deutschburg IHS Melbourne, Australia 
NB: Email from Kevin Rudd to myself dated 08.12.2006
Hi Chris, Kevin has asked me to convey the following message from him to add to your site:
"It is a national obscenity that David Hicks has remained in Guantanamo Bay for five years without a trial and furthermore, when it comes to the prospect of him obtaining the most rudimentary forms of justice, he�s not going to get those under a US military tribunal. Guantanamo Bay should be shut, and David Hicks should be given access to a fair trial, because he�s not going to get one under the current arrangements. It is a disgrace � an absolute human rights disgrace � that this individual, who is an Australian citizen, should be treated in this fashion. He should be given proper recourse to a fair trial."
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