BY RUTH GRAY
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - Some 150 people marched here
February 9 to protest the Security Intelligence Service (SIS)
amendment bill now before Parliament. The SIS is the
government's domestic spy organization. The purpose of this
bill is to give SIS agents the "power to enter places, and, in
appropriate cases, to install a device in a place or remove
material from a place." It also retrospectively legalizes
break-ins that have already occurred, excluding those for
which legal action has been taken.
There has been one such case before the courts, Choudry v. Attorney General. In December last year the Court of Appeal ruled that the SIS acted illegally when it broke into the house of political activist Aziz Choudry without his consent or knowledge.
The Court of Appeal also refused to accept a certificate from Prime Minister Jennifer Shipley that claimed 70 SIS documents wanted by Choudry's lawyers must remain secret because to release them would supposedly be prejudicial to the security and defense of New Zealand. Shipley claimed the government is planning to appeal the court's decision.
The ruling National Party's response to the Court of Appeal ruling was swift. Within a week they introduced the SIS amendment bill into Parliament. It passed its first reading with a 107-to-13 majority vote, supported by the Labour Party and the right-wing ACT party. The bill is now before a special parliamentary committee made up of National and Labour Party members of parliament.
Shipley argued, "It is vital that the SIS is able to carry out its functions properly in gathering intelligence on security threats to New Zealand. In some rare instances, this may require covert entry to private property, which the amendment to the legislation will allow."
Former SIS Director Lin Smith said in a February 10 submission to the committee, "The post-cold war period, in particular because of the emphasis on the use of terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy, has been characterized by increased and more diverse threats to national security, here and elsewhere."
On July 13, 1996, two SIS agents broke into the Christchurch home of Aziz Choudry, a spokesperson for the anti- free trade group GATT Watchdog. At the time, Choudry was participating in a conference organized by his group to oppose the upcoming meeting of trade ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum (APEC) in Christchurch.
The break-in was discovered by university lecturer David Small, who stumbled on the SIS agents in Choudry's house and noted down their license number as they escaped. Five days later, Christchurch police found a fake bomb with an anti-APEC slogan written on it outside the Christchurch City Council offices. Following this, Choudry and Small had their houses searched by police, who said they were looking for bomb making equipment. Nothing was found.
Two weeks before SIS agents broke into Choudry's house, the government had passed legislation broadening the definition of security to include "the ensuring of NZ's international well-being or economic well-being."
Choudry is suing the SIS for NZ$300,000 (US$162,000) for breach of his rights under the Human Rights Act and trespass. Quoted in the February 17 issue of the Christchurch Press, he described the government's proposed legislation as "outrageous. This is nothing to do with terrorism. I think basically what the government has done is declare war on lawful dissenters."
Speaking at the Christchurch rally and march, Small called for a review of the Secret Intelligence Service. "Individual civil liberties are being removed and the powers of the state strengthened," he declared. Rally participants then marched to the Christchurch offices of the SIS, where there were several more speeches.
Smaller protests were also held in Auckland and Wellington.
Ruth Gray is a member of the Engineers Union.