Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has heckled Federal Attorney-General George Brandis at an awards ceremony in Sydney.
The drama over shadowed a number of announcements made by Senator Brandis, including releasing all children in detention on Christmas Island.
"Hey, my name is David Hicks," he shouted, as Senator Brandis wrapped up his address at a Human Rights Awards function on Wednesday.
"I was tortured for five-and-a-half years in Guantanamo Bay in the full knowledge of your party. What do you have to say?"
As Senator Brandis walked off the stage at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Mr Hicks told reporters he was a "coward" for not answering his question.
"He's run away," he said.
"It's too late - he's gone."
Mr Hicks was at the event with his lawyer, Stephen Kenny.
Mr Kenny said his client was angry Senator Brandis was talking about human rights.
"I think David was surprised to find Minister Brandis there, talking about human rights, when he was a member of the Howard government who had so completely ignored David's human rights," Mr Kenny said.
"The Australian Government should be held to account how they allowed David Hicks to be treated."
US Senate report shines light on Guantanamo torture
The incident came after the release of a US Senate report about CIA interrogations post 9/11, which described the methods used as badly managed and information gathered as unreliable.
The report said the CIA had tried to justify its use of torture by giving examples of what it called "thwarted" terrorist plots but that the representations were inaccurate and contradicted by the CIA's own records.
Mr Hicks spent time in the US military prison Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan in 2001.
He eventually pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism in March 2007, but has since recanted his confession, saying he only pleaded guilty under duress.
He was later transferred to an Adelaide jail in April 2007 where he served nine more months before his release.
Mr Hicks admitted he trained in paramilitary camps in Afghanistan with the Taliban, which others said were affiliated with Al Qaeda.
His lawyers have argued that Hicks said he never knew the camps were affiliated with Al Qaeda.
Mr Kenny said the "US report on torture confirms everything we know about what happened to David".
"People have been saying that David really wasn't tortured but along with hundreds of other people he certainly was."
He said Mr Hicks believed Senator Brandis signed the control order when he was released from prison in Australia.
Mr Hicks is seeking to overturn his conviction in the US Court of Military Commission Appeals.
No comments:
Post a Comment