Attack on New Zealand Democracy
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With regards the New Zealand Government’s
latest attack on democracy and our free press:
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● BACKGROUND:
• Torture in Afghanistan:
Is the New Zealand Government complicit in the torture of human beings in Afghanistan? — evidence suggests they are, and, if they are, is New Zealand’s Prime Minister a liar? (selection of references and articles on my Wall at Google-Plus)
◦ https://plus.google.com/103082035540353697573/posts/BgXxgfm25Ef
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And the original story which started it all . . .
• ‘Eyes Wide Shut – The Government’s Guilty Secrets in Afghanistan’ ~ Jon Stephenson
“The New Zealand Defence Force is proud of its record in Afghanistan. It has received widespread praise for its reconstruction work in Bamiyan province. Its SAS troopers are admired for their skills and bravery. But right from its first deployment in 2001, and continuing today, the SAS has been forced to become complicit in human rights abuses. They don’t choose to, and it’s fair to assume they don’t like it. In Canada and Denmark, the exact same thing has led to legal action — and that could happen here too. This is a story our political and military leaders — including Governor-General designate Jerry Mateparae — don’t want told.”
◦ http://www.scribd.com/doc/137677725/Eyes-Wide-Shut-The-Government-s-Guilty-Secrets-in-Afghanistan
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● ATTACK ON FREE PRESS:
The breaking story is here . . .
• ‘Journalist Jon Stephenson accuses NZDF of spying on him’ ~ Nicky Hager | Fairfax Media
July 28, 2013 — “The New Zealand military received help from US spy agencies to monitor the phone calls of Kiwi journalist Jon Stephenson and his associates while he was in Afghanistan reporting on the war. Stephenson has described the revelation as a serious violation of his privacy, and the intrusion into New Zealand media freedom has been slammed as an abuse of human rights. The spying came at a time when the New Zealand Defence Force was unhappy at Stephenson’s reporting of its handling of Afghan prisoners and was trying to find out who was giving him confidential information. The monitoring occurred in the second half of last year when Stephenson was working as Kabul correspondent for the US McClatchy news service and for various New Zealand news organisations.”
◦ http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8972743/US-spy-agencies-eavesdrop-on-Kiwi
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Related commentary . . .
• ‘On the Defence Force’s paranoia about journalism’ ~ Gordon Campbell
July 29th, 2013 — “If the thousands of people who marched on the weekend against the GCSB Bill wanted further justification for their concerns, the Defence Force has just provided it with bells on. The mindset that treats journalists as being threats to security on a par with foreign hostiles, activist groups, criminal hackers and dishonest staff is an
excellent illustration of why the surveillance powers bestowed by the Bill are so dangerous. A Defence Force that treats the normal querying of the status quo by the Fourth Estate as being essentially treasonous in nature, has gone off the reservation, and is out of control. Give it the power to do so, and such an organisation will readily use the surveillance powers in the GCSB Bill to substantiate its persecution complex.”
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• ‘Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian’s fault’ ~ Andrew Geddis | PUNDIT
July 28, 2013 — “Here’s how it works. We are a democracy. In a democracy, “undermining the morale, loyalty or reliability of the citizenry” is never – never – a reason for trying stop that citizenry from finding out what you are up to. If the Defence Force believes it can’t stand naked in front of those citizens and justify its actions, then it those actions are by definition wrong. Because you only possess those guns, helicopters, ships and LAVs that we spend millions and millions of dollars on, let alone have the right to use them to kill people in far off lands, in our name. And if you can’t convince me and the people like me that you are using them in ways that I and others are cool with, then you don’t have a right to them at all.”
◦ http://pundit.co.nz/content/morale-was-deteriorating-and-it-was-all-yossarians-fault
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• ‘NZDF, Jon Stephenson and Freedom of the Press’ ~ John Minto
July 31, 2013 — “No wonder Stephenson is hated by the NZDF and no wonder they see investigative journalists as the enemy. No wonder they threatened him and used US intelligence to spy on him and get his phone records. Stephenson’s reporting has allowed us to hold the NZDF to basic standards of decency and humanity we should expect from our troops and commanders in war but by which the NZDF leadership has repeatedly failed.”
◦ http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/07/31/nzdf-jon-stephenson-and-freedom-of-the-press/
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• ‘NZDF are liars and media manipulators’ ~ Martyn Bradbury
July 30, 2013 — “I have zero problem in concluding that the NZDF did in fact spy on Jon Stephenson and that they are still spying on him . . .”
◦ http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/07/30/nzdf-are-liars-and-media-manipulators/
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• ‘Was the Prime Minister’s Office aware of the NZDF spying on a NZ journalist?’ ~ Daily Blog
July 29, 2013 — “Having the NZDF identify and target critical journalists is a breach of every social contract a civilized democracy should enshrine, if the PMs Office had any involvement in that decision making process, it must be exposed.”
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A useful round-up . . .
• ‘Democracy under attack, again’ ~ Bryce Edwards | New Zealand Herald
July 29, 2013 — “Multiple spying scandals and sagas show that New Zealand is suffering from a democratic deficit.”
◦ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10904950
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RELATED BLOG:
● New Zealand’s Democracy Under Attack
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Patrick's Notes 