Australian Catholic council calls for release of Guantanamo detainee

Published: 2006-03-30

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- A 30 year-old Australian captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001 and held in detention in Guantanamo Bay should be afforded "real justice" outside the U.S. military's legal system, said the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council. The chairman of the council, Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, urged the Australian government to ensure that detainee David Hicks receives "a proper trial before a nonmilitary court" or gets returned to Australia. "This situation has gone on for far too long," the bishop said. Bishop Saunders urged the Australian government to follow the lead of Commonwealth countries such as Britain and Canada, who have secured the release of their own nationals from detention at Guantanamo Bay. "Concerns about conditions at Guantanamo, the indefinite detention and the deficiencies of military trials should be a basis for action on behalf of Mr. Hicks," said Bishop Saunders. Hicks, a former Australian soldier, was captured with Taliban combatants when U.S. troops overran their positions in Afghanistan in 2001.

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