Human Rights Foundation calls for Zaoui release and Greig resignation
The Human Rights Foundation has called for the SIS Inspector-General Laurie Greig to resign in the wake of today’s High
Court decision that removes him from conducting the review of Ahmed Zaoui’s National Security Risk Certificate.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, Peter Hosking, says that the High Court judgment calls into question the
Inspector-General’s ability to fulfil his role. “As the public’s watchdog over the SIS, the Inspector-General must
demonstrate complete independence from the SIS, fairness and a lack of bias”, says Peter Hosking.
“The High Court has criticised his independence, his impartiality and his apparent prejudice against refugees. The
Inspector-General was found to have viewed the SIS with undue favour, and had sprung to the defence of the SIS in the
media. Peter Hosking says that being too close to the SIS completely undermines the Inspector-General’s ability to have
the public confidence his role needs and has implications for any other cases he might have to deal with.
The Foundation considers that pending determination of his case, Mr Zaoui should be immediately released. Both the
Immigration and the Corrections departments have claimed not to have the power to release him, but this cannot be right,
said Peter Hosking. “The Crown has detained him; it must also be able to release him,” he said. The appointment of a new
IG to review Mr Zaoui’s national risk certificate will take yet more time, as will the determination of the Crown’s
appeal against the ruling that his human rights have to be taken into account. He has now been in custody for nearly 16
months without one shred of proof yet offered that he is any sort of security risk. On the contrary, everything revealed
so far reinforces the decision of the RSAA that he is a genuine refugee. “It is time to give him his freedom until his
case is resolved”, he says.
Not to be confused with the Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Foundation is an independent non-governmental
organisation promoting human rights through research-based education and advocacy.