US rejects Hicks sex abuse claimsRichard BakerSydney Morning Herald Oct. 28, 2006 |
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THE US has refused to investigate allegations David Hicks was sexually abused while in American custody, documents reveal. And the Australian Government has not sought to have its officials independently investigate the sexual abuse claims or other allegations of mistreatment raised by Mr Hicks, his family and his lawyers. A diplomatic cable marked "secret/sensitive" shows the Australian Government last November asked the US to respond to allegations made by Mr Hicks's father, Terry, that his son had been given injections by American soldiers and anally penetrated with various objects soon after being captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in 2001. A transcript of the ABC's Four Corners program, on which the allegations were aired last October, was passed to the Pentagon by the Australian embassy in Washington, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade cable, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act after being declassified. "We have passed a copy of the Four Corners transcript containing new allegations that Mr Hicks had been mistreated to US officials and sought comment," the cable to Canberra advised. "Their reaction was that the United States had fully investigated alleged abuses against Mr Hicks and had found no evidence to support the allegations. The Pentagon would immediately investigate any credible new information, but based on the Four Corners transcript it did not appear there was such information." Documents show the Pentagon responded to the sexual abuse claims by saying: "The Australian Government has had longstanding and free access to Mr Hicks, during which time the new allegations in the Four Corners report have never been raised." Mr Hicks's military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, accused the Australian Government of failing to conduct its own investigation despite having information as far back as May 2003 that Mr Hicks had been mistreated. Mr Hicks, 31, has spent nearly five years in jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said Mr Hicks had never raised the sexual abuse allegations with Australian officials who had regularly visited him at Guantanamo. Nor had he raised them with US authorities. |