savethesheikh.com

As Greens Candidate for Grayndler Sam Byrne travelled to Canberra to join the rally in support of Sheikh Mansour, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam submitted these questions in Parliament to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, asking him why no details of an ASIO assessment have ever been provided to the Sheikh:

1. Did the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (the committee) write to the Australian Government on 21 April 2010 requesting that Sheikh Mansour Leghaei not be deported until it had considered his case.
2. Has the Government responded formally to the letter from the Chief of the UN human rights treaty division who wrote on behalf of the committee.
3. Has Sheikh Mansour Leghaei or his legal representatives been provided with a summary or an indication of the elements of the evidence the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has collected against him.
4. In this regard, how does the Government understand Australia’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, taking into account the committee’s General Comment No. 33, paragraph 19 (CCPR/C/GC/33, dated 5 November 2009).
5. Has the Government noted instances where the committee has expressed its indignation and found that the state has committed a grave breach of its obligations under the Optional Protocol, such as the committee’s Report of the human rights committee (UN General Assembly Official Record, 49th Sess., Supp. No. 40, UN Doc. A/49/40, vol. 1 (1994), para. 411) and Piandiong v. The Philippines (Communication No. 869/1999, para. 7.4).
6. Will the Government provide an assurance to Sheikh Mansour Leghaei that he will not be removed from Australia until the committee has finally determined his case on the merits, as required by the committee’s interim measures request of 21 April 2010.
7. Did the current Attorney General write two letters of support for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei describing him as ‘an asset to the Muslim community in particular and the Australian community at large’.

Senator Scott Ludlum

Sydney, May 17: Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans’ decision to deport Sheikh Mansour Leghaei is in direct contravention of the UN’s wishes, who sent in a formal request to the Australian Government last month.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva issued a request on April 21 asking the Australian Government not to deport Dr Leghaei and his accompanying dependants while it is considering his case.

Dr Leghaei’s legal team sent a petition to the UN Committee last month claiming the Government’s treatment of his case contravened the his human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Australia is a party. Under the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, individuals in Australia may lodge complaints with the UN Committee if all domestic remedies have been exhausted.

Under Rule 92 of the UN Committee’s Rules of Procedure, a complainant may request urgent “interim measures” to prevent deportation where “irreparable harm” would occur if the deportation proceeded. Such measures remain in place until the complaint is finally determined, which usually takes about one year.

“Dr Leghaei was denied his human right to a procedurally fair hearing in the issue of an adverse security assessment by ASIO and in the decision to deport him which relied upon that assessment,” said Associate Professor Ben Saul, Co-Director of Sydney University’s Sydney Centre for International Law and one of the barristers who prepared the petition.

“Like numerous others who have been subject to adverse security assessments by ASIO, Dr Leghaei has never been told the basis of the allegations against him.

“Our strong case will have ramifications for others in Dr Leghaei’s situation both in Australia and internationally, where a person is unable to see or challenge any of the evidence against them.”

Dr Leghaei and his family, who have lived peacefully in Australia for 16 years, have never been granted permanent residency due to adverse security assessments issued against the Sheikh by ASIO several years ago.

In March Dr Leghaei appealed to the Minister to exercise his ministerial powers and allow him to remain in the country. On May 17 Senator Evans granted visas to Dr Leghaei’s wife and son but denied a visa to the Sheikh. He has been given six weeks to leave the country.

Australia is being accused of violating Articles 2, 13, 14, 23, 24 and 26 of the ICCPR .

His petition details that:

• Dr Leghaei has been denied a fair hearing in ASIO’s issue of an adverse security assessment, in the Department of Immigration’s decision to rely upon that assessment to refuse him a visa, and in all proceedings before the Migration Review Tribunal and Federal Court of Australia;
• He has been discriminated against because was denied procedural fairness because he was not an Australian citizen or permanent resident;
• The deportation cannot be justified because, in the absence of proof he is a genuine threat to national security, it would split his family and deprive his 14 year old daughter, an Australian citizen, of both her parents.

Media Contacts
Helen Signy 0425 202 654 email
Ben Saul 02 9351 0354, email
Father Dave Smith 02 9569 1255, email