Australian Labor government endorses further punitive measures against David Hicks

The Australian citizen, who was held illegally by the US military for six years before being repatriated to a South Australian prison in May this year, is due to be released on December 29. Hicks is reported to be suffering serious mental health problems, including agoraphobia and panic attacks produced by the years of physical and psychological abuse, including prolonged periods of solitary confinement, that he endured at the hands of the US military.

The deeply anti-democratic control order, which will undoubtedly intensify the mental disorientation of the 32-year-old father of two, was sought by the AFP and imposed on December 21, after a brief hearing before a federal magistrate.

Under its terms Hicks must live at an address approved by the AFP, where he must remain from the hours of midnight to 6 a.m. He must report to police at least three times a week for the next 12 months, and will be finger-printed on each occasion.

Hicks, whose passport has been cancelled, cannot make contact with any individual or group proscribed by the AFP and his telephone, email and internet communications will be regulated by that body. He is restricted to using an AFP-issued mobile phone and SIM card, and any future email account or internet provider must also be approved. He is banned from using a payphone or any satellite communication device or possessing or having any access to explosives and weapons or even any written information about them.

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