Society president George Arulanantham said that many Tamils regularly send money to Sri Lanka. "There is concern in the community," he said, "that if we are going to send money through any organization, the organization may fall under the category as a terrorist organization."

Tamils are an oppressed national minority in Sri Lanka and the government has brutally repressed their demands for independence. The regime has fought a seesaw war against the LTTE since the 1980s, and more than 60,000 people have died in the conflict.

Among the provisions of the government's Terrorism (Bombings and Financing) Bill, knowingly raising money for terrorist attacks will be a crime punishable by 14 years' jail. "Recklessly" providing money to an organization that turns out to have terrorist links could earn a seven-year term. Prior to the bill becoming law, the government has introduced regulations to enable it to immediately use the bill's sweeping new powers.

At this stage, the government has not listed all the organizations that will be outlawed, although Washington has put the Tamil Tigers on a banned list. Arulanantham called for the Tamil Tigers not to be categorized as terrorists. "We think there is a difference between terrorists and freedom fighters. We feel [the Tamil Tigers] are freedom fighters," he told the New Zealand Herald.

The United Sri Lanka Association, which opposes Tamil self-determination, has called on the government to act against suspected LTTE members. The Herald reported that "security agencies are investigating allegations that the Sri Lankan separatist movement, the Tamil Tigers, has links in New Zealand."  
 
Prying into workers' lives
One indication that the concerns by the Tamil community over repressive government actions are not unique was a sensationalized Herald story about another "investigation," this time of an airline employee that a headline claimed was the stepson of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Complete with a large front-page photo, the paper featured an article stating that police security checks on airline employees in September came across an Air New Zealand engineer whose mother was supposedly a former wife of Hussein. Despite quoting government sources that the alert turned up nothing to investigate, and statements by the employee that the entire story was based on rumor, the paper's editors used the opportunity to call for employers and spy agencies to have the right to pry into workers' private lives.

"There was a time when the security sweep which uncovered a man believed to be a stepson of Saddam Hussein working at Air New Zealand would have offended idealized perceptions of a free and open society," the paper editorialized. "The September 11 terrorist assaults on the United States have changed all that. Now, as never before, the need for vigilance dictates a compromise between principle and national security imperatives....

"Indeed, all those who apply for work in vulnerable industries should be in no doubt that they will be subject to strict vetting, sometimes by security agencies," the editorial continued. "Civil libertarians may rail against what they consider intrusive questioning of applicants for particularly sensitive jobs. There may be queries, for example, about drinking or sexual habits. But that is because such habit can make people vulnerable."

Despite these moves, the government was forced to back down on a libel law aimed at restricting free speech and freedom of the press. The proposed law would have made it a criminal offense to publish or broadcast in the month before an election an untrue statement that defamed a parliamentary candidate and was intended to influence votes. If convicted, the publisher or journalist would have faced a fine of up to $5,000 or three months in jail.

Sharp divisions were expressed in ruling-class circles on the bill, with the major opposition parties in parliament and 15 news organizations speaking out against it.

The law would have reintroduced the offense of criminal libel, an anti-working-class law dropped in 1992. Criminal libel exposes people and publications to prosecution by the state, rather than by individuals who claim to have been defamed.

The capitalist government used the law as a weapon against workers' rights in 1951 during a major union battle on the waterfront. Watersiders' union leader Jock Barnes was convicted of criminal libel and jailed for comments he made about a cop.

More recently, current Labour Party prime minister Helen Clark used the criminal libel laws in 1991 against the doctor who is chairman of the General Practitioners' Society, for comments he made about her in a pre-election leaflet.

In another development, Wellington moved ahead with its offer to supply special forces troops for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. The deployment was approved by a five-minister subcommittee, dubbed the "war cabinet," which has been delegated the authority of the entire cabinet. Prime Minister Clark has also offered troops to be part of the imperialist occupation force in Afghanistan, as well as an aircraft to ferry "humanitarian aid."

The military deployments have deepened rifts in the Alliance, the junior party in the governing coalition. One faction of the party continues to stand opposed to the party's support for the deployment of troops, although the divisions have yet to lead to a split in the party.  
 
 
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