Timetable
Speakers
Islamic Council of Victoria, Melbourne
Australian National University
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and
National Race Discrimination Commissioner, Australia
Counter Terrorism Command, United Kingdom
Victoria Police
University of Victoria, Canada
Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria
Graduate King's College, Bahrain
Monash University, Melbourne
Monash University, Melbourne
Washington, DC
Monash University, Melbourne
The Age, Melbourne
ABC, Australia
Monash University, Melbourne
Victoria Police, Australia
Monash University, Melbourne
Preliminary Program
The Conference has four themes: Policing, Community, Legislation/Policy and Media.
The Conference will draw delegates from a range of stakeholders including practitioners, academics, lawyers, policy makers, managers etc.
Preliminary Program for Monday, 15 October 2007
Opening
9:00am - 9:10am: Introduction and Welcome: Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe APM & Professor Gary Bouma, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President (Acting), Monash University
9:10am - 9:25am: The Honourable Bob Cameron MP, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and the Victorian Minister for Corrections
9:25am - 9:30am: Launch Monash/Police Research Project: Sir James Gobbo AC CVO, Chairman, Australian Multicultural Foundation, Australia
Chair: Commander Dennis Henry, Victoria Police, Australia
Counter Terrorism Policing in a Multicultural Society
9:30am - 10:00am: Counter-Terrorism Policing
Associate Professor Sharon Pickering, Monash University, Australia
10:00am - 10:30am: Keeping the Genie in the Bottle
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe APM, Victoria Police, Australia
10:30am - 10:45am: Questions and discussion
Chair: Dr Hass Dellal
10:45am - 11:15am: Morning Tea
11:15am - 11:45am: Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke CVO OBE QPM LLb, Counter Terrorism Command, UK
11:45am - 12:15pm: The Making Of Militant Mujahedeen In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia
Ms. Hadyah Mohammed Fathalla, King's College, London
12:15pm - 12:30pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Commander Dennis Henry, Victoria Police, Australia
12:30pm - 1:30pm: Lunch
Media and Terrorism
1:30pm - 2:00pm: Dr Pete Lentini, Monash University, Australia
2:00pm - 2:30pm: Ms Sally Neighbour, Journalist and author, ABC, Australia
2:30pm - 2:45pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Associate Professor David Wright-Neville, Monash University, Australia
2:45pm - 3:15pm: Afternoon Tea
3:15pm - 3:45pm: Terrorism, Counterterrorism And The Media
Professor Ronald Crelinsten, University of Victoria, Canada
3:45pm - 4:15pm: Challenges for the media in the field of terrorism
Mr Nick McKenzie, Journalist, The Age, Melbourne, Australia
4:15pm - 4:30pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Dr Peter Lentini, Monash University, Australia
7:00pm: Conference Dinner
Preliminary Program for Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Community Policing and Social Cohesion
9:00am - 9:30am: Countering Terrorist Recruitment Through Community Policing
Associate Professor David Wright-Neville, Monash University, Australia
9:30am - 10:00am: Mr Waleed Aly, Islamic Council of Victoria, Australia
10:00am - 10:15am: Questions and discussion
Chair: Associate Professor Jude McCulloch, Monash University, Australia
10:15am - 10:45am: Morning Break
10:45am - 11:15am: Successfully Fighting the Rise of Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism
Mr Al-Husein N. Madhany, Executive Editor of Islamica Magazine, USA
11:15am - 11:45am: Unlocking Doors Project
Mr Tom Calma, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia
11:45am - 12:15pm: Maintaining Social Cohesion In A Climate Of Fear
Mr Jeremy Jones AM, Director of International Affairs and of Community Affairs, AIJAC
12:15pm - 12:30pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Dr Hussein Tahiri, Victoria Police, Australia
12:30pm - 1:30pm: Lunch
A Legislation/Policy Response to Counter Terrorism
1:30pm - 2:00pm: Policing To Prevent Terrorism
Associate Professor Jude McCulloch, Monash University, Australia
2:00pm - 2:30pm: Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, Victoria Police, Australia
2:30pm - 2:45pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Associate Professor Sharon Pickering, Monash University, Australia
2:45pm - 3:15pm: Afternoon Tea
3:15pm - 3:45pm: The Use of Military Force Against Hijacked Aircraft: Recent Developments in Australia and Europe
Professor Simon Bronitt - Australian National University, Australia
3:45pm - 4:15pm: The Framework For Victorian Counter-Terrorism Policy And Legislation
Mr Mark Duckworth, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria
4:15pm - 4:30pm: Questions and discussion
Chair: Senior Sergeant Warren Ladgrove, Victoria Police, Australia
Ways Ahead for Counter-Terrorism Policing and Culturally Diverse Societies
4:30pm - 4:45pm: Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe APM, Victoria Police, Australia
4:45pm - 5:00pm: Associate Professor Sharon Pickering, Monash University, Australia
4:40pm - 5:00pm: Concluding remarks and closure
Chair: Commander Dennis Henry, Victoria Police, Australia
Professor Simon Bronitt
Simon Bronitt is Professor on ANU College of Law. He is Director of the National Europe Centre, Research School of Humanities,ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences.
Professor Simon Bronitt joined the ANU College of Law in 1991, previously having held a research position at the Law Commission (UK). Since 2003 he has concurrently held the Directorship of the National Europe Centre in the Research School of Humanities, which is an interdisciplinary and comparative research centre.
His teaching and research interests span Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence and Human Rights. Key publications include Bronitt and McSherry, Principles of Criminal Law (2nd ed, Law Book Co, 2005) and Bottomley and Bronitt, Law in Context (3rd ed, Federation Press, 2006). Current research projects include an Australian Research Council funded comparative study of counter terrorism laws. Since 2006 he has been Convenor of the graduate courses in Military Discipline Law conducted at the ANU.
Mr Tom Calma
Mr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and worked in the public sector for over 30 years. Until his appointment on 12 July 2004 as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and national Race Discrimination Commissioner, Mr Calma managed the Community Development and Education Branch at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) where he worked with remote Indigenous communities to implement community-based and driven empowerment and participation programs. In 2003, he was Senior Adviser of Indigenous Affairs to the Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and from 1995 to 2002 he was a senior diplomat in India and Vietnam.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke
Peter Clarke was born in 1955 and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1977 after graduating in Law from Bristol University. In the early part of his career he worked at a number of locations in London in both uniform and detective roles, including periods on murder enquiries and in international drugs intelligence.
There followed postings in strategic planning, as operations head in a central London division, and as Staff Officer to the Commissioner. In 1994 he became the Commander of Brixton Division in South London and was in post during an outbreak of serious public disorder. In 1997 he assumed command of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department, with responsibility for the protection and security of the Royal Family and their residences, the diplomatic community in London and the Houses of Parliament. In June 2000 he became the Deputy Director of Personnel for the Metropolitan Police, and in June 2002 was appointed as Head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch at New Scotland Yard and National Co-ordinator for Terrorist Investigations.
He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2002, was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 2001 and awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2003. Mr Clarke was awarded the OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours list.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius leads the Ethical Standards Department and the Licensing Services Division of the Victoria Police. He joined Victoria Police in 2003, to head its Legal Services Department. Luke is an advocate for effective policing powers which are grounded in human rights and enhance social cohesion.
Luke also served as a Federal Agent for 14 years with the Australian Federal Police, with roles in Drug Operations, Legal Policy and East Timor, concluding his service as their Director, People Strategies.
Luke holds an Honours Degree in law, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and is admitted to practice in the ACT Supreme Court.
Professor Ronald Crelinsten
Ronald Crelinsten has been studying the problem of combating terrorism in liberal democracies for over thirty years. He is on the editorial board of the academic journal, Terrorism and Political Violence, and on the international advisory board of the electronic journal, International Journal of Conflict and Violence. His research interests and publications include topics such as the relationship between insurgent and state violence, terrorist career paths, intelligence and counterterrorism, crisis management, media and terrorism, torture, policy-making and global governance. He received academic degrees in genetics, biopsychology and criminology. He is currently working on a book on counterterrorism for Polity Press.
Mr Mark Duckworth
Mark Duckworth is the Executive Director, Governance, Security and Intergovernmental Relations in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria. He has been a member of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee since it was established in 2002.
His role also includes the provision of advice to the Premier and Secretary of the Department on intergovernmental relations and Victoria’s relations with other countries, public sector governance and reform. Mark previously served as a principal policy adviser on intergovernmental relations in The Cabinet Office of the State of New South Wales from 1995-2001. He worked at the University of Sydney Law School from 1993-95 and the Law Reform Commission of Victoria from 1989 to 1992.
He has an MA in history and an LLB from the University of Melbourne and is admitted as a solicitor in Australia and England.
In the 2007 Australia Day Honours he was awarded the Public Service Medal for his work in establishing the National Counter Terrorism Committee.
Miss Hadyah Fathalla
Miss Hadyah Fathalla, born and raised in her native Bahrain where she completed her schooling, obtained a bachelors degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of North Texas in 2001. Following her return to Bahrain, Hadyah served as the political specialist in the US Embassy for four years. She left to London in 2005 to pursue higher studies at the King’s College War Studies Department and completed her dissertation in the topic of Mujahedeen recruitment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hadyah continues to research the topic while managing a US State Department reform project in Bahrain.
Mr Jeremy Jones
Mr Jeremy Jones AM is Director of International Affairs and of Community Affairs, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the Immediate Past President and Honorary Life Member of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Co-Chair of the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims & Jews, a member of the Advisory Board of the Griffith University Multi-Faith Centre, a Member of the Global Forum on Antisemitism, a Participant in the Jewish People's Policy Planning Institute and a member of the General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.He has written and lectured extensively, in Australia and internationally, on extremist political movements, for more than 25 years. He has also been at the forefront of developing interfaith and inter-community dialogue, having been a founding member of groups such as Faith Communities for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the Jewish Community/Uniting Church National Dialogue, the Australian Catholic Bishops/Jewish Community "Annual Conversations", the Anglican Jewish Australian Dialogue and Community Alert Against Racist Violence. He is a regular participant in events such as the Australian Islamic Cultural Centre's "Peace and Harmony" conference, the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair held each year in Sydney and international Jewish/Muslim dialogue.In 2004, he was awarded a Federation of Ethnic Communities' Council of Australia's Medal for contribution to Multiculturalism and in 2005, he was made a member of the Order of Australia.
Al-Husein N. Madhany
Al-Husein is widely respected throughout both Sunni and Shia Muslim communities for his insight and experience in institution and relationship building. He uses his network to actively promote Muslim social entrepreneurship, Muslim civic engagement, and the professionalization of Muslim religious leaders and their institutions. Al-Husein holds graduate degrees from Harvard, Georgetown and the University of Chicago, where he is writing his doctoral dissertation on medieval Islamic theology and sectarianism. When he is not teaching Arabic at the University, al-Husein works as the Executive Director and Executive Editor of Islamica Magazine (http://www.IslamicaMagazine.com), a full-color, glossy, international quarterly.
Associate Professor Jude McCulloch
Associate Professor Jude McCulloch the Head of Criminology at Monash University. Prior to working in universities Dr Jude McCulloch worked as a lawyer for 16 years. Her practices as a lawyer involved providing legal services to disadvantaged members of the community, running test cases, involvement in law reform, and developing legal policy at all levels.
Associate Professor McCulloch has degrees in Law, Commerce and Criminology. She has researched and published on topics including, police shootings, crime and the media, women and policing, family violence, policing dissent, paramilitary policing, counter-terrorism, globalization and the ‘war on terror’. She has written for the Age newspaper, The Canberra Times, Arena Magazine, Overland Magazine, Dissent, The Alternative Law Journal, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, Critical Criminology, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, The Australian Feminist Law Journal, The British Journal of Criminology, Just Policy and Borderlands e Journal. Melbourne University press published her book, Blue Army: Paramilitary Policing in Australia in 2001. Her recent work focuses on (in)security politics and the ‘war on terror’. She is currently part of a four person research team investigating Community Policing and Culturally Diverse Communities as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage grant with the Victoria Police. She is also leading a team of researchers funded through the Australian Research Council Discovery grant program investigating legislation and measures relating to the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism.
Nick Mckenzie
Nick Mckenzie is an investigative reporter with The Age newspaper. Prior to joining The Age, he worked for the ABC, in a range of programs. His reporting has included a number of notable stories on terrorist issues in Australia, including revealing in 2003 some of the first links between Al Qaeda network in Europe and Australian figures. In 2005, Nick secured the only media interview with the man currently accused of heading alleged home-grown terror cells in Melbourne and Sydney. Nick also worked with 4-Corners on its story about Melbourne man Joseph Terrence Thomas, the subject of the nation's first control order. Nick has been called to give evidence in two upcoming terror prosecutions. Nick is interested in the difficulty and challenges faced by the media in reporting on terrorism related issues.
Associate Professor Sharon Pickering
Sharon Pickering has degrees from the University of Melbourne, the University of Southampton and Monash University. She has held fellowships at Oxford University and the University of Westminster.
Sharon was based in Belfast for three years where she undertook doctoral research on political activism and policing in Northern Ireland and she has researched extensively human rights and criminalisation in South East Asia, as well as borders and transnational crime. She currently leads the Monash/Victoria Police research project on Counter-Terrorism Policing and Culturally Diverse Communities and convenes the annual meetings of the Prato Collective on Transnational Crime.
Sharon Pickering’s books include Women, Policing and Resistance in Northern Ireland/ (2002), Critical Chatter: women and human rights in South East Asia/ (2003), Global Issues and Justice/ (2004), Refugees and State Crime (2005), Borders, Mobility and Technologies of Control (2006) and Counter-Terrorism Policing (forthcoming 2008).
Sharon serves on numerous editorial boards and works with government and non government organisations on a range of research related projects.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe has been a member of the Victoria Police Force for 39 years and has gained a wide range of experience in general policing, criminal investigation, operations support, ethical standards and corporate governance.
After a varied career in senior management including management of general and specialist policing areas as well as the Ethical Standards Department,
in July 2005, Mr Walshe took up the role of Assistant Commissioner in charge of the newly formed Counter Terrorism Coordination & Emergency Management Department and was formally appointed to that position in December 2005.
In this role he was the appointed Victoria Police representative on the National Counter Terrorist Committee as well as sitting on the Capability Steering Group of that Committee. In 2006 he benchmarked the Victoria Police CT preparedness against the London Metropolitan Police
On 2 July 2006, Mr Walshe was appointed to the position of Deputy Commissioner and undertook the FBI/Australian Federal Police Leadership in Counter Terrorism (LINCT) program in 2006.
He has recently returned from the FBI Academy in Quantico VA where he attended the LINCT Reconvention Program.
Associate Professor David Wright-Neville
Associate Professor Wright-Neville is with the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University where his research focuses on the political psychology of violence, ethnic and religious terrorism in multicultural societies, and on counter-terrorism policies and practices. Before returning to academe he worked as a senior terrorism analyst in the Australian intelligence community. A highly sought after commentator on terrorism-related issues in the Australian and international media, Dr. Wright-Neville is also consulted regularly by various Australian federal and state government agencies, but also by international organisations and civil society groups. He has recently completed a period as a Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. Dr. Wright-Neville is widely published in the area of terrorism studies, and his next publication will be the Dictionary of Global Terrorism (Polity) due for release in mid-2008.
The Making Of Militant Mujahedeen In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia
Miss Hadyah Fathalla, Graduate King's College, Bahrain
ABSTRACT
This piece of research is a study into the nature of militant mujahedeen in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Following a brief introduction and the stating of the problem, theoretical models on terrorist recruitment were reviewed in the existing literature. Existing literature was examined within the following theoretical models proposed by the researcher: Psychopathological, Sociopolitical/Demographic, Anti-imperialism/Foreign Aggression, and Ideological/Religious. Having established the theoretical aspects of terrorist recruitment, implications in relation to Saudi militant mujahedeen were investigated.
The two main periodicals issued by Al Qa'idah in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques (the Saudi offshoot of Al Qa'idah) were surveyed to deduce the main reasons Saudi males chose to engage in militant jihad. The motivations mentioned in the periodicals were outlined and placed on a chart to highlight their prominence and priority. Supporting Al Qa'idah communiqués, including the video Bader Al Riyadh were also scrutinized to distinguish recurring themes and motivations, useful background information on the mujadeheen, and intimations on the process of recruitment. Some background information was examined to detect possible profiles or character trends while case studies of five Saudi males were also included to provide depth and detail on motivations, characteristics and process of recruitment.
Based on the findings of the analysis of Al Qa'idah's communiqués, the background information, the case studies the conclusions and recommendations of the study were proposed.
Terrorism, Counterterrorism And The Media
Professor Ronald Crelinsten, Senior Research Associate (non-resident)Centre for Global Studies University of Victoria, Canada
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the nature of terrorism, counterterrorism (CT), the media and the environment in which these three interact. Four themes will be explored that link these four subjects. First, terrorism is a form of political communication that victimizes certain people, the targets of threat and violence, in order to generate messages to other people. Tactics and targets are chosen according to whom is addressed and what message is intended. Second, like terrorism, much of CT is an attempt to communicate different messages to different audiences. The models chosen, such as criminal justice or war, depend on whom is addressed and what message is intended. Some models are better suited to certain audiences than others, such as potential recruits vs. the terrorists themselves. Third, most media coverage in time of terrorist crisis tends to sway public opinion against the terrorist through the somewhat ironic means of increasing public anxiety and identification with the terrorist's victims through sensationalization, dramatization and personalization. Media coverage of terrorism constructs realities that tend to favour official versions of events. Fourth, the environment in which terrorists, counterterrorists and the media interact is characterized by multiple centres of power and an explosion of information, misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories that are available to a multiplicity of actors ranging from state actors to the private sector to an emerging global civil society. The Internet and the World Wide Web, with its e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, virtual communities and websites that promote and circulate a staggering array of viewpoints and causes play a central role in this complex environment. As a result, the role of the media has become much more complex, as promoter of official views, critic of the status quo, defender of the public's right to know, agenda-setter for political discourse, public opinion and policy-making, mediator in international crises, medium for alternative viewpoints, and conduit between government and citizen, and between different states.
The policy implications of all this will be explored, especially as they pertain to prevention, terrorist recruitment and radicalization processes, terrorist crisis management and recovery from terrorist attack.
Countering Terrorist Recruitment Through Community Policing
Associate Professor David Wright-Neville, Global Terrorism Research Centre
ABSTRACT
This paper will address an important but poorly understood paradox that currently threatens to undermine counter-terrorism policing in many Western countries. This paradox is encapsulated in data which shows that despite a dramatic expansion in legal powers and an unprecedented surge in financial and other material resources directed towards boosting counter-terrorism capacities, the risk of terrorist violence is continuing to grow. While the reasons for the spread of terrorist networks is a complex phenomenon which eludes simple answers, a better understanding of the political psychology of terrorist violence and a greater willingness to incorporate this research into counter-terrorism policing practice offers significant promise for better managing this threat. In particular, the paper will highlight how terrorist recruiters have developed techniques for exploiting low levels of social capital and correspondingly low levels of self-esteem and feelings of powerlessness - especially among young males - as a way of attracting fresh waves of volunteers for their cause. As part of this strategy they have been especially adept at manipulating the negative experiences of individuals who have experienced the strengthened hand of the state. Against this background the paper will conclude by emphasising the importance of community-based programs involving police and other agencies as a way of building a reservoir of social capital and thereby limiting the recruitment potential of terrorist groups. Such programs need to be sustained over long periods of time and directed at audiences which cross generational, religious, and gender divides. They also need to reflect greater levels of cultural, historical and political literacy among police officers and other government officials.
Policing To Prevent Terrorism
Opportunities and challenges in the contemporary policy and legislative environment
Associate Professor Jude McCulloch
ABSTRACT
Counter terrorism policy and legislation is primarily targeted at prevention.
Because terrorism is understood to present a unique threat in terms of mass casualties, counter terrorism legislation involves a significant shift in the extent to which the criminal law attempts to anticipate risks. Legislation aimed at preventing terrorism represents a number of challenges to community cohesion that risk increasing support for terrorism. The paper sets out the contemporary policy and legislative approaches to preventing terrorism and the impacts these may have on Victoria Police, particularly its commitment to community-policing. It also sets out the ways that community-policing principles can be integrated into national security to enhance counter-terrorism efforts by minimizing and reducing negative impacts on community cohesion.
Counter-Terrorism Policing
Associate Professor Sharon Pickering, Monash University, Melbourne
ABSTRACT
This paper is primarily concerned with how counter-terrorism policing has been experienced by police at a number of levels—from busy metropolitan stations to Specialist Units. It is concerned with the experiences and perceptions of Victoria Police members operating in the current security environment specifically in relation to their core community-policing functions and servicing a multicultural Victoria. It is concerned with how community policing and counter- terrorism policing can be better integrated for achieving social cohesion and community safety. To this end it first considers research findings in relation to community policing and then in relation to counter-terrorism policing and the security environment. Secondly, it offers conclusions for an integrated community-policing and counter-terrorism model that includes: philosophy; partnership and dialogue; communication and integration; training; and leadership and support.
The Framework For Victorian Counter-Terrorism Policy And Legislation
Mr Mark Duckworth, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria
ABSTRACT
The Victorian Government’s wide-ranging counter-terrorism strategy includes:
- Legislative reforms to strengthen police powers to deal with terrorist actively.
- Continually improving our counter-terrorism capabilities and arrangements.
- Taking a long-term approach to addressing what may cause terrorism in our community.
- Upholding the freedoms and democratic principles that define our nation.
- Promoting equality, fairness and respect while rejecting hatred, intolerance and violence.
Since 2002, the Victorian Government has committed more than $250 million for initiatives to counter terrorism and extreme events. As well as providing relevant agencies with new tools to combat terrorism and its consequences, the Government has played a leading role in developing counter-terrorism arrangements at a national level. This has been an outstanding example of Australia’s co-operative federalism.
Victoria has also introduced its own counter-terrorism legislation to complement and strengthen existing State and Federal laws. Victoria has at all times been mindful of the need to balance the need for effective law enforcement designed to protect the community and the rights of individuals.
The Government has introduced five pieces of legislation, including the referral of power to the Commonwealth for terrorism offences; additional police powers to combat terrorism; implementing the COAG agreement of preventative detention orders and a framework to improve protection of critical infrastructure.
Maintaining effective counter-terrorism capabilities and legislation will continue to be vitally important. However, these operational and law enforcement tools are only part of the Government’s broad strategy for a safe and secure community.
The Victorian community as a whole has an excellent record in building partnerships with multicultural and faith communities. The Governments strongly promotes measures that encourage community harmony and understanding.
The Use Of Military Force Against Hijacked Aircraft
The Use of Military Force Against Hijacked Aircraft: Recent Developments in Australia and Europe
Professor Simon Bronitt, Australian National University
ABSTRACT
This presentation will review legislation enacted in Australia and Germany which authorises the military to use lethal force in hijack situations. The availability of these preventative powers (beyond self-defence) raise important questions of legal policy, particularly where the force is applied to innocent civilians. The effectiveness of the powers and safeguards inserted into Defence Act 1903 (Cth) Part IIIAAA will be examined. The paper concludes by exploring some of the human rights issues raised by this type of legislation, including the rights to life and human dignity which underlay a recent (and successful) constitutional challenge to the the German Aviation Security law.
Unlocking Doors Project
Mr Tom Calma, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia
ABSTRACT
This presentation will look at the importance of addressing human rights in counter terrorism policy and outlines the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissions (HREOC) past and present work to help counteract intolerance and discrimination against Arabic and Muslim Australians.
Responding to the effect of international and local events such as the September 11 World Trade Centre attacks, the Bali bombings and the Cronulla riots, HREOC has undertaken projects to explore the role of law enforcement agencies in policing incidents of racial hatred, and how police and communities can work together to improve the effectiveness of current strategies. This presentation will outline the process and recommendations of the Unlocking Doors project and introduce new work
being undertaken by the commission with the Community Policing and Partnership Program (CPPP)
Maintaining Social Cohesion In A Climate Of Fear
Mr Jeremy Jones, Director of International Affairs and of Community Affairs, AIJAC
ABSTRACT
Violent political extremists, including those who purport to be motivated by religious beliefs, present a number of genuine threats which can not be ignored. They threaten the physical safety, and even the lives, of specific targets and also any individuals who are treated as either inconsequential or more cynically as 'useful' victims. They also threaten social cohesion, particularly when they invoke religious or national imagery in their support and identify specific religious, ethnic or national groups as intended targets. This paper will consider the challenges in protecting the community from terrorism and extremist violence while promoting multiculturalism, positive community relations and the freedoms which underpin our democracy"