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This 10-minute video was put together at around the time Sheikh Mansour was forced to leave Australia for Iran in 2010, and it beautifully illustrates the central role the man played in the spiritual community that he helped to create. The affection displayed for Mansour in the video is indicative of the love the whole community had for him, and what is even more remarkable is that even after five years of absence that love and esteem has not diminished!

The high-point of the video for me is the recording of Mansour trying to practice the old chorus “We shall overcome”, which we had planned to sing at the protest rally in Canberra. I tried to teach it to him repeatedly but he could never grasp the tune, eventually creating his own special Sheikh Mansour version (which I now prefer to the original).

Father Dave

Ali Leghaei – Sheikh Mansour’s son – has started a petition, asking the Australian Minister for Immigration to accede to the directions of the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) by reassessing his father’s case.

Click here or the pic to sign the petition now.

an update by Father Dave

It seems that the Australian Government has suddenly decided that they have more information about our deported friend, Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, that they wish to share – at least with the United Nations!

More than two years has elapsed since the deportation-with-trial of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei. Before the deportation took place, a complaint was lodged by Mansour and his family with the United Nation Human Right Committee (UNHRC), claiming that the Australian government had breached various international Human Right Conventions to which it was signatory in the way it had treated Mansour.

Various communications took at that time place between the UNHRC, the Australian government, and the legal representatives of Sheikh Mansour and his family. The case was then left with the UNHRC who informed us that it would take them 18 months to 2 years to return a decision.

With that time period now having almost fully elapsed, a ruling from the UNHRC may have been imminent except that on June 6th 2012, the Australian government wrote again to the UNHRC, claiming that it “will be lodging additional submissions in response to counsel’s comments.”

What is the Australian government up to? The correspondence gives no indication as to the nature of these ‘additional submissions’, nor does it offer any time-frame  within which it intends to lodge such submissions, nor does it provide any justification as to why such submissions should be accepted at this late stage.

It is possible that this fresh initiative on the part of the government is an indication that they are finally taking Sheikh Mansour’s case seriously. It seems far more likely to me though that this move is simply designed to stall the process and let the next government deal with the embarrassment pursuant to Australia’s flagrant violation of Sheikh Mansour’s fundamental human rights!

The legal team representing Sheikh Mansour have written to the UNHRC, objecting to the request for late submissions and asking that his case be given immediate consideration.

With the 2010 Australian Federal Election only days away, we seem to have a choice between a bad candidate and a worse candidate. You may be asking, “What’s the point of voting?”

Here’s a way in which you can make your vote count for something, regardless of who you vote for and regardless of which candidate wins. Write the words, “Justice for Sheikh Mansour” across the top of your ballot.

Writing on your ballot paper will NOT invalidate your vote unless you either write across the ballot boxes or add your name.  Avoid these mistakes and you can validly vote for whoever you like while still making a stand for justice.  The scrutineers will read your statement and report back.

Full instructions are on the campaign poster, which you see thumbnailed above-left.  Click here or the pic to open the full-size poster.  Then print off multiple copies and stick them up all over the place. Alternatively, if you’d like a smaller A5 flyer to give out to all your friends, you can grab it here.

Please get behind this campaign and make your vote count for something!

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