>From the Sydney Independent Media Centre SHOOT TO KILL: Crippling Democracy by sharon citizen 10:47pm Wed Aug 23 '00 n-a Recent leaked documents outline military strategies to deal with civilians. SHOOT TO KILL: Crippling Democracy In Australia, the Senate is set to pass legislation giving the government of the day the power to deploy the Defence Forces against its own citizens. The Defence Legislation Amendment (Aid to Civilian Authorities) Bill 2000 will give authority to Defence Forces to use "reasonable and necessary" force to suppress civilian dissent. The prime-minister and the opposition have been quick to say that the Bill is designed to counter terrorism and that the Defence Forces will not be called to restrain Australians. However, they currently refuse to state that in the Legislation. Sadly, we must acknowledge that in the twenty first century, democracy is indeed an illusion. When the views and actions of the people become a threat to politicians, then another word describes the state we live under: dictatorship. A small part of a military report related to aiding civilian authorities has been leaked to the internet. These pages describe some of the techniques the Defence Forces will use to combat what it describes as "the crowd" or "the mob". The section contains procedures on the use of force and describes that the intentions of the military commander to use force must be communicated to the crowd. "First Warning: Disperse immediately or we will use force. Second Warning: Disperse immediately or we will open fire". Another part of the report describes shooting at the crowd. "...initially, only selected individuals should be nominated to fire upon selected agitators in the crowd. The agitators will be nominated by the representative of the civil authority". One of the problems of the Bill, according to some commentators, is that it does not clearly define under what circumstances the Defence Forces can be deployed. However, a section from the military report suggests that the Defence Force may be involved in operations to counter "riots; mass demonstrations; industrial, political and social disturbances; terrorism; the nature of panic; and the techniques used by skilful agitators". The people from various community groups organising protests during the Olympic Games in Sydney and the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne this September could be easily defined as "skilful agitators" and the Defence Force could be called to 'de-mobilize' the attempts made citizens who wish to carry out their democratic right to protest. In countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Burma, there is clear evidence that their military regularly make use of intimidation, torture and violence against its own people to ensure that the state power maintains its control. Sadly, the Australian Government has and wishes to further economic relations with these countries and no doubt privately shares their views on civil disobedience. The signs that a movement against the transnational corporations and governments which blindly embrace their recommendations are becoming more and more obvious. Community groups are becoming empowered with information, mass protests are being organised around the world and even some concerned politicians are writing articles in newspapers which suggest that our democracy is in crisis. During the past year, we have seen in the UK and the USA, massive protests by ordinary people primarily against corporate power and but also against unjust government authority. These protests must send shockwaves through those who wish to maintain their power base. In recent protests in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, extreme brutality has been inflicted by the authority against protestors and so-called protest organisers have been imprisoned with bail in certain cases being set as high as US$1 million. We should not accept the Government's explanation that the only reason they are amending the Defence Legislation is to enable the military to intervene if a terrorist attack occurs during the Olympic Games in Sydney in mid September. We have a basic human right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. However, the threat of using military force against the people will further marginalise those who are outspoken against the government and its friends. This legislation will not only cripple democracy, but will be a clear sign that we do indeed live in a dictatorship where those in power are untouchable politicians and unaccountable corporations. Reference to Military Report: http://members.xoom.com/nomil/ -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." 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