Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Coonan. I ask: what response has the minister to my letter requesting a visit to David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay when I am in the United States in the coming week? I wrote to the American government two months ago about this. The ambassador wrote back to say that the clearing house was the Australian Embassy in Washington. I then wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and I ask what his response is. What efforts has he made to ensure that I will be able, as an Australian senator, to visit Guantanamo Bay? Is it true that some dozens of United States senators have been to that facility?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bob Brown for his query. Since he raised this with me just prior to question time I did follow it up as quickly as I could to get a copy of Senator Brown’s letter, which I now have. I have asked the department to follow up with the United States on Senator Brown’s request to facilitate a visit, and I will continue to do that and get back to Senator Brown. But, quite clearly, should Senator Brown be able to visit Guantanamo, he would no doubt wish to meet, speak with or at least have some information concerning Mr Hicks. It would be, I think, helpful if I just place on record the current information that I have about Mr Hicks and about that issue.

The United States has consistently said that Guantanamo Bay detainees are being treated in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva convention. Australian officials have made and continue to make regular visits to Guantanamo Bay to assess Mr Hicks’s welfare. The most recent visit, by our consul general in Washington, was on 27 September, and no evidence of abuse or maltreatment has been found. The consul general has confirmed that Mr Hicks is being held in the general block area of a newly completed facility in a single occupancy cell but not in solitary confinement.

The conditions in Guantanamo Bay are equivalent, on my advice, to a maximum security facility in the United States. Cells in the general block area have a window providing natural light, a sink and toilet facilities. Mr Hicks has daily exercise in a group area. He is able to communicate with detainees and receives mail from his family including letters, magazines, books and postcards. At the insistence of the Australian government, for Senator Brown’s information, there have been two thorough investigations into allegations of abuse involving Australian detainees at Guantanamo. The most recent report, by the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, was independent and, on my advice, exhaustive. It addressed all allegations of physical abuse that had been raised previously by Mr Hicks. The report concluded there was no evidence to substantiate those allegations.

In terms of my general response to Senator Brown’s request, issues involving broader Guantanamo Bay policy, including who visits, are of course a matter for the United States government. The Australian government has very much focused its efforts on Australian nationals detained in Guantanamo Bay—in particular, their welfare. So, in response to Senator Brown’s question, I will continue to follow up with the department at least the request to the United States to facilitate a visit.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for her considered reply and for working to pave the way for a visit by me to Guantanamo Bay. In light of the fact that some dozens of US senators have been to Guantanamo Bay, does the minister know of any reason why a senator from the Australian parliament should not visit our national in that prison?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown for the supplementary question. I simply repeat that issues involving broader Guantanamo Bay policy, including who visits, are a matter for the United States government, but I will ask the department to press for an answer.