[Proctor]

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2787396a10,00.html
Ombudsman to look at treatment of Zaoui
19 January 2004

The ombudsman is investigating the Corrections Department's handling of Algerian asylum seeker Ahmed Zaoui and is to look into the Customs and Immigration departments' treatment of him.

Progressive MP Matt Robson said ombudsman Anand Satyanand would look into how Mr Zaoui was treated by the various departments.

"I'm hoping the findings of the ombudsman, if they show his (Mr Zaoui's) rights have been severely breached by these departments, that will lead to a conclusion by the Government that he should not even be being held in prison," Mr Robson said.

"And that he should get the maximum rights in terms of natural justice and be able to defend himself out of prison."

Mr Zaoui, 43, has spent more than a year in New Zealand prisons, after arriving in New Zealand on a false passport and being detained by authorities on suspicion of terrorist links.

Police and the Immigration Service suspected he was a terrorist and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) issued a certificate saying he was a "threat to national security".

But the independent Refugee Status Appeals Authority ruled in August that he was a genuine refugee, not a terrorist.

Last month in the High Court at Auckland, Justice Williams said Mr Zaoui was entitled to a summary of the secret information the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) claims to have on the former Algerian politician.

Mr Robson also wants investigations into the treatment of Mr Zaoui by police and SIS but they do not come under ombudsman jurisdiction. Instead, he has referred the case to the Police Complaints Authority and is considering writing to the Prime Minister's Office regarding the SIS.

"It's really whether or not these departments have acted properly in relation to an asylum seeker. I have suggested to the ombudsman that prima facie there is evidence that they have acted improperly."

He said how Mr Zaoui was questioned when he arrived in New Zealand, which resulted in him being labelled a terrorist, was of concern as was the decision to keep him in prison.

"It seems to me the intent was to have him bundled out of the country as quickly as possible."

Mr Robson hopes the ombudsman investigations will also result in changes to ensure asylum seekers are better treated in future.

"There needs to be a review of the security legislation that has allowed this to happen."

He said by being accused of terrorism Mr Zaoui was stripped of his rights and this needed to be prevented in future.

"That's No 1 - to make sure natural justice applies no matter what the allegation, whether its terrorism or shoplifting, the same standards should apply."

"Secondly government departments should not set out to predetermine that somebody will be declared a terrorist but should set out to make sure the facts are established."

This issue has been in the news intermittently for the last year. Zaoui was on the verge of winning the election in Algeria and creating an Islamic state when he was deposed by the army, who now run the country. Some of Zaoui's supporters have since waged a terrorist and guerilla war against them, but Zaoui has not.

When he arrived in New Zealand from Malaysia, he immediately went to the police to turn himself in, saying he was requesting politcal asylum.

New Zealand has a policy of not evicting someone to a country where they are on death row, so if his application should be turned down, he would need to be sent somewhere else; probably Malaysia. However, Malaysia would probably send him straight back to Algeria.

He has been refused asylum in several European countries.

It is feared that if he is allowed to remain in New Zealand we could be seen as a safe haven for terrorists to flee to.

When the Mnistry of Immigration approving his application for refugee status, the SIS declared him a security threat, and he has since been held without charge. Until recently, this was in the maximum security Paremoremo prison. Holding someone without charge is illegal under the UN definition of human rights.

[unbalanced zealot]

This is interesting. Don't know much about it ... but
will keep an eye on the thread & the regular news
to see how it pans out.

[CasX]

It's a difficult case to follow because I missed just about all news for about 3 weeks, but from what I gather he's been treated very badly and there are many discrepancies in the way the case has been handled. I doubt he's a threat, but of course this has to be checked. However, it's taking too long and he's been treated the wrong way in the meantime.

Some things the SIS say are a joke. My dad apparently holds 'national security secrets' or something like that. What a crock.

[Proctor]

Here's the latest:

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2788618a6160,00.html
Clark rejects claim that government trying to break Zaoui
20 January 2004

Prime Minister Helen Clark today rejected a claim that the Government was indulging in a psychological battle with Algerian asylum seeker Ahmed Zaoui.

Mr Zaoui has been held in prison without charge since his arrival in New Zealand more than 13 months ago, even though he has won refugee status.

Auckland University political scientist Paul Buchanan said the Government was following the lead of the United States and others in holding terrorism suspects without charge indefinitely "until they psychologically break".

However, Miss Clark said the suggestion was "quite ridiculous".

"I think it's quite important to note that the Government is really, in many ways, not in the loop on this," she told Newstalk ZB.

She said the process had involved the head of the Security Intelligence Service, an independent statutory officer, issuing a security risk certificate over Mr Zaoui.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Laurie Greig, another independent statutory officer, was now reviewing the certificate.

"It is a prolonged business," Miss Clark said.

"This is the first time a case has ever come up under this provision of the law...so both the statutory authorities and the defence are feeling their way."

Miss Clark declined to comment about whether Justice Greig, a retired High Court judge, should remove himself, or be removed, from the case because of comments in a Listener interview late last year.

In the interview, Justice Greig said that, if it was up to him, Mr Zaoui would be "outski" on the next plane.

Mr Zaoui's lawyers will file a challenge in the High Court this week to have Justice Greig stand aside.

"Clearly the defence lawyers are using all legal remedies at their disposal and that is their right on behalf of their client," Miss Clark said

"They intend to challenge him in court and that's where the matter stands at the moment."

Mr Buchanan, a former US intelligence agent, said Justice Greig's comments had given an appearance of prejudice or impropriety and he should stand down.

But he wasn't surprised he was staying on, because "everyone on the government side in this case has basically engaged in delaying and stalling tactics, and this just seems to be to be another one." #para Mr Buchanan said the Government had "taken a page from the North American book, written in Guantanamo", the US military base in Cuba.

"That is to hold, particularly Muslim men, for indefinite periods of time without charge until they psychologically break," he said.

Britain and France had also done the same thing.

In Mr Zaoui's case, "my impression is that this is a deliberate policy to get this man to weaken to the point that he will say, ?Look, I give up, I want to go home. Home can be any place my family is at this point, but I'll give up the case'."