Free David Hicks

Five Years in Hell

David Hicks has been a US prisoner since 9 December 2001, mostly in the US-run detention camp of Guantanamo Bay – for the crime of being foolish enough to take up arms for the established government of Afghanistan. He has been viciously assaulted, held in solitary confinement for long periods and generally subjected to five years of torture. He has also been repeatedly defamed by the Australian Government, with allegations they know are untrue. If he ever faces trial, it will be in a kangaroo court where the verdict is predetermined.

Guantanamo Bay

Hicks is not the only prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, nor is his treatment materially different from those of the other detainees. 775 detainees altogether have been held prisoner and 435 are still there. The camp is a hell-hole, where torture is rampant and (despite denials) is official policy. US President George Bush established it in an attempt to hold prisoners in its War “on” Terror out of the reach of a court of law. Due to some US Supreme Court decisions, Bush has not been entirely successful in this ambition. It hasn’t done the prisoners a lot of good, though, since the resulting changes have been cosmetic.

War “on” Terror

The War “on” Terror being waged by the US, British, Australian and other governments is completely fraudulent. Far from being directed at ending terrorism, it is a political project to impose a reign of terror on all possible sources of opposition. In the name of security, the Howard government is abolishing the right to silence, detaining people without trial, conducting secret interrogations, and imposing an unprecedented level of police surveillance, all on the basis of a definition of “terrorism” so wide that it encompasses many non-violent means of political dissent.

Capitalism

The War “on” Terror is not just aimed at Muslims, though that wouldn’t justify it if it was. It is aimed at all democratic rights in society and, ultimately, against the only social force capable of challenging the unjust social order – the working class. From Guantanamo Bay to Barwon Prison, it is the rights of all of us under threat. We must firmly reject anti-Islamic fear-mongering by the Government and the capitalist media and defend David Hicks and all other victims of the War “on” Terror.

END THE WAR “ON” TERROR