CHARGE THEM OR RELEASE THEM!! Two Australian citizens Mr. Hicks and Mr. Habib are United States prisoners at Camp X in Cuba. Hicks was arrested in Afghanistan and Habib was arrested in Pakistan. Both men are held as ?hostile combatantsı by the United States military, outside the jurisdiction of the United States Courts as well as the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war. Over 300 prisoners from many countries are held indefinitely at Camp X by the United States military. If Hicks and Habib have committed crimes, they should be charged with these crimes. If they havenıt they should be released and should be returned to their families in Australia. After the Second World War, prisoners of war who were not charged with crimes that fell outside the conventions of war, were released and sent home. Those that were charged with crimes were dealt with before military courts or special courts that were set up to deal with the charges. Whatıs especially galling about the current situation, is the Federal governmentıs inability and unwillingness to offer the normal diplomatic assistance that is offered to Australians who find themselves in difficulty overseas. The Australian government has gone out of its way to ignore the plight of Hicks and Habib, both Australian citizens with families in Adelaide and Melbourne. The German government made representations to the United States government and had its citizens released from Camp X. Why canıt the Australian government do the same? Hicksı and Habibıs continued detention is directly linked to the Australian governmentıs refusal to offer assistance to them because it disagrees with their political philosophy. Hicksı and Habibıs continued detention and the way their case has been handled by the Australian government has important ramifications for all Australians who go overseas, whose political opinions donıt match the opinions of the government of the day. The Australian government should protect the interests of all its citizens, not just those with similar political viewpoints. The precedent that has been set by the Australian governmentıs inaction over the fate of Hicks and Habib, has important ramifications for all Australians who travel overseas.