RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: OZschwitz slave pen: ag-gag laws are yet another in the long line of initiatives that criminalise public protest and whistleblowing  Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:32 pm | |
| What is worse, committing a crime or recording someone else committing that crime? Should disclosing abuse perpetrated against children be illegal?
It's hard to believe but these are not rhetorical questions. Almost imperceptibly, we have arrived at a point in our history where gathering and distributing evidence of illegal activity is itself considered a criminal act.
Last year, I gave a public lecture on what many would regard as a niche problem but which I believe is an issue of utmost public urgency- the so-called ag-gag laws, which criminalise taking photos or videos of animal abuse on factory farms. These laws have already passed in parts of the United States and Europe, and are being heavily pushed in Australia (most recently by West Australian Liberal Senator Chris Brack).
Protest against 'ag-gag' laws in Iowa.
Protest against 'ag-gag' laws in Iowa. Photo: Mercy For Animals
In an ominous sign of things to come, animal rights activist Chris Delforce, producer of the documentary Lucent, an expose into the cruel practices in the pig farming industry, recently had his home raided by police searching for farm footage. His phone and computer equipment were confiscated.
Advertisement
I know what many people reading this may now be thinking. Animal rights activists are a nuisance so who cares, right? Well, we all should.
But first, what exactly are ag-gag laws? What they are not, is laws protecting farms from trespassers; such laws are already in effect. Rather, ag-gag are specific laws that make it a separate and punishable offence to visually document animal abuse occurring in agricultural businesses.
So why are more and more government adopting this legislation? Simply put, ag-gag laws are yet another in the long line of initiatives that criminalise public protest and whistleblowing. As I warned in my talk, the reason everyone, not just animal rights activists, should be concerned about ag-gag laws is because there is nothing to stop similar laws being used against other members of the public.
Sure enough, last week the Australian government introduced the truly draconian Border Force Act, making it illegal for workers, including medical staff, to disclose information about abuse taking place in detention centres. This includes abuses committed against children.
In a brave demonstration of civic duty, more than 40 staff working in detention centres on the mainland, and on Nauru and Manus Island, wrote an open letter to the government declaring their intent to defy the law.
As for Delforce, if he is indeed prosecuted for his footage, he won't be the first to be punished for filming someone else's crime. The video that made WikiLeaks and Julian Assange household names -Collateral Murder- showed US soldiers deliberately gunning down journalists and other civilians in Iraq, and led to only one conviction, that of the soldier who leaked the footage- Chelsea Manning.
Likewise, the footage of the death of Eric Garner, who was placed in a chokehold by New York police officers, also resulted in only one arrest- the young man who shot the incident on his phone. Although, Ramsey Orta was arrested 'for allegedly passing a gun to a 17-year-old girl,' he and his attorneys maintain the charges were trumped up in order to punish him for his damning footage.
Sadly, laws aimed curtailing public dissent are now coming thick and fast. Last year we saw the introduction of two: Victoria's Summary Offences and Sentencing Amendment Law and Tasmania's Workplace (Protection From Protesters) Law.
Both of these 'anti-protest' laws are aimed at making it difficult to engage in public protest. The Victorian law expands 'move-on' powers, removing the exemption for political protests. Police can issue move-on orders to "protesters who are blocking access to buildings, obstructing people or traffic, or who are expected to turn violent", effectively disbanding a legal protest.
Unsurprisingly, critics of the law regard it as a thinly veiled attack on what remains of Victoria's trade unions, for whom public protest remains a key form of activism. Even Victoria's then-Attorney-General Robert Clark conceded the laws limit "an individual's right to move freely within…and may…limit the rights to freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly and freedom of association."
Meanwhile, in Tasmania, protesters could face years of jail time, and members of the public could be fined for 'inciting protests'. As if protesting itself is already a crime.
Triggered by worksite forestry protests, the law was expanded to other workplaces – including animal agriculture. Despite opposition from legal experts, including the Law Society of Tasmania, Tasmanian resources minister Paul Harris claimed "This will send the clear message that Tasmanians have a right to earn a living, whether that be in forestry, mining or any other industry, without having extremist protesters come on to their workplaces."
Notice the use of the word 'extremist', which is, of course, a common term used to discredit animal rights activists. Indeed, the FBI lists animal rights activists or 'eco-terrorists' as the number one domestic terrorism threat.
The simple act of protest -once regarded as a cornerstone of democracy- is now disparaged by certain politicians and sections of the media as counter to what 'reasonable' or 'moderate' people do. Remember the Herald Sun front page that covered a protest against the forced closure of Aboriginal communities with the headline, 'Selfish Rabble Shut City'?
What ag-gag laws have in common with anti-protest laws is this: they all demonise those who protest big business, defaming as 'terrorists' and 'extremists' anyone who dares to publicly protest or challenge them. The Border Force Act goes even further, as it seeks to conceal abuse committed with the full knowledge of the government.
It is imperative that we all see the connections between ag-gag laws, the Border Force Act and the anti-protest laws. When the goal is to discredit protest and whistleblowing in all its forms, then ultimately no one is safe from these overreaching and undemocratic laws.
http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/when-filming-a-crime-is-worse-than-the-crime-itself-20150705-gi2hx1 |
|
