On 19 October 1960 the United States banned exports to Cuba. The embargo had nothing to do with advancing democracy (the Fidelistas had recently overthrown the Batista dictatorship). It was all to do with the Castro government having the cheek to nationalize some US firms that had dominated the Cuban economy.
The Guardian coverage of the CIA report presents a table of 47 countries that it says “facilitated CIA torture”, which includes Britain, Australia and Canada. New Zealand is not mentioned, but we mightn’t easily get off the hook.
Once again National and Labour have succumbed to the “law and order” brigade enabling the passage of a Bill imprisoning people for crimes they might commit in the future.
There simply is no need to pass this legislation, let alone to rush it.
What is the risk? Experts like Richard Jackson of Otago University say the evidence shows that that it is extremely rare for returning jihadis to commit terrorist acts in their home country. It is wrong to create law, which offends our human rights, just to cover some very unlikely or exceptional future event.
Wouldn’t you think a Countering Terrorist Fighters Bill would actually mention “terrorist fighters” in its text? The Bill, as released yesterday, does not. It’s simply another generalised counter-terrorism exercise giving extra surveillance powers to the Security Intelligence Service and enabling the Minister of Internal Affairs to cancel passports for a longer period.
Treating someone like Smith as the devil incarnate might serve a purpose for the political right, who want to divert attention from the causes of crime. But it doesn’t help us rehabilitate prisoners, which in the long run is the best way to keep our community safe.
The Prime Minister claims there is a growing threat from New Zealanders attracted to Islamic State and he wants to increase state powers to watch such people and take away their passports. I believe there is a better way to discourage would-be jihadists than the state enacting measures that erode the civil liberties of all New Zealanders.
Before deciding on a military contribution to Iraq, our Prime Minister should explain who he would be supporting, or be allied with. Let’s look at who would be on his side.