Terrorism Suppression Act needs reviewing before amendments proceed

Auckland – October 24 - Greenpeace says amendments to the Terrorism Suppression Act, which are currently before Parliament, should be halted while a review of the Act itself is carried out, in the wake of last week's disturbing police raids.

"The use of the Act in the raids and the heavy handed manner in which searches were conducted and arrests made, reinforce concerns raised during public submissions on both the Act and the proposed amendments to it," says Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid.

These concerns - also raised by other groups and some parliamentarians in 2002, included the potential for the Act to be used domestically to limit the freedoms of peaceful people
engaging in legitimate political protest activities.

"The concerns that the Terrorism Suppression Act and its proposed amendments could blur the line between legitimate activism and terrorism have been borne out by the events of last week. The Police used the Act to cast a very wide net with the raids, questioning and arrests of a broad range of activists," said Ms McDiarmid.

"Our Crimes and Firearms Acts are robust enough to deal with any offences those arrested might have committed, without resorting to the use of the terrorism legislation and without unfairly labelling all those arrested, searched or who just happened to live in the area."

The amendments to the Act currently before the House would only increase the risk of the legislation being wrongly applied, said Ms McDiarmid.

"The definition of terrorism under the Act is already so broad and ambiguous that it poses a real threat to the civil liberties of all New Zealanders. The amendments will compound this problem."

The amendments contain a proposal to allow secret evidence, meaning anyone arrested under the Act could have evidence used against them without ever seeing it. "This is a breach of a fundamental principle of justice that all New Zealanders should be concerned about," said Ms McDiarmid.

"The Police owe New Zealand, the activist community and the community of Ruatoki an explanation as to why it needed to use the Act in the first place. Most of us remain in the dark about what offences those arrested are alleged to have committed and when details do emerge there will be public scrutiny of whether the nature of the police surveillance, searches, arrests and charges were warranted and legal in every case. "Given the current public unrest and lack of detail it would be irresponsible for lawmakers to proceed with tough amendments without first reviewing the current Act and how it's being used.

"Greenpeace, along with a great deal of the activist community, strongly supports the right for anyone to stand up for what they believe in, but in no way condones the use of violence in any form."

ENDS

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