Swan Island protesters claim they were hooded and stripped at ASIS base; Critics say 'dumb' to trespass in heightened security climate

Updated

The Defence Force has initiated an inquiry into claims by a group of anti-war protesters that they were hooded, stripped and dragged on a Victorian island used as a military intelligence base.

Swan Island, 90 minutes from Melbourne, is used for training by the Australian Secret Intelligence Agency (ASIS), the overseas arm of the country's spy network.

It is not open to the public without Defence or ASIS approval.

Early last Thursday, eight protesters from the Swan Island Peace Convergence made it on the island where they split into two groups of four.

When four of the men took photos of themselves holding anti-war banners, they were apprehended by a group of plain-clothes Defence personnel believed to be from the crack commando unit, the SAS.

"We heard a car come screaming around the corner and two plain-clothed men jumped out and rushed towards us," protester Greg Rolles told 7.30.

"This man charging at me was one of the scariest things I have seen. For about the last 15, 20 metres I had my hands in the air saying, 'I'm a non-violent protester and I won't be resisting'.

"That didn't stop him from tackling me as hard as he could and throwing me into the ground."

Mr Rolles still has the marks around his wrists he says are from the cable ties his captor used to handcuff him.

"He then went on to put a hessian sack over my head, and after that was on I heard one of the two men say, 'Welcome to the bag, motherf*****s'," he said.

"I do remember saying at this point, 'This is torture', and he said, 'I don't give a f***'. At that point he rolled me over on to my stomach and pulled down my pants and my underwear.

"He kept asking: 'How many of you are there?'

"I was still in shock and at this point he picked me up by my handcuffed wrists and dragged me along the ground.

"So I had my genitalia exposed I had my chest exposed and I was being dragged over five to 10 metres over to a pile of woodchips."

Fellow protester Sam Quinlan said he had his trousers ripped from ankle to waist.

"I was on the ground with a hessian bag over my head and hands cable-tied behind my back, and soon enough I hear him start to cut, I hear a ripping sound, and long story short, basically from bottom to top with a knife," Mr Quinlan said.

"He said, 'The reason I'm stripping you is to make sure you're not a terrorist and you haven't got any weapons on you', to which I said, 'yeah, look you definitely won't find any weapons. I am not a terrorist'."

Victoria Police were 'guardian angels'

A third protester, Tim Webb, told the program that during the whole process, the captors were shouting at the protesters.

"With questions like, 'Do you know the seriousness of what you've done? Did you know that you've endangered the families of the SAS and anybody who works here? The women, the children, you've put them in danger'," Mr Webb said.

The men said they were relieved when Victoria Police turned up.

"The Victoria Police were quite professional and quite good," Mr Rolles said.

"In a way, I'd say they were like my guardian angels.

"They'd saved me from what could've gone on quite a lot longer and what was quite a horrific event."

This is the third year the Swan Island Peace Convergence, a non-violent Christian group set up to protest against Australia's involvement in overseas conflicts, has made it onto Swan Island.

But in previous years, the protesters were arrested by police for trespass and given a slap over the wrist by a magistrate.

Trespassing on military base a 'dumb idea'

As special forces join the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Australia's terror alert is raised to high, the security of Swan Island has become even more sensitive.

"It's a dumb idea to trespass on a government facility at any time, but it's particularly dumb at the moment because of the terrorist alert," Neil James from the Australian Defence Association said.

"I can certainly think of circumstances, and most Australians probably can too, that at this time of increased alert, it might have been necessary to search people for vandalism tools and weapons and necessary to blindfold them in a sensitive facility."

I'm not sure that I would classify this as torture but I think at the very least it is degrading treatment to have a hood placed on your head, to be dragged along the ground, to have your pants taken off, to be threatened with all sorts of things. Professor Sarah Joseph

The Defence Act allows military security personnel, like those stationed at Swan Island, to detain a person who trespasses on Defence land and to use reasonable force.

But Section 72G says those officials must not subject the person to unreasonable or unnecessary indignity.

Professor Sarah Joseph, director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights at Melbourne's Monash University, said the treatment as described by the protesters was a breach of international law.

"There is a prohibition on torture, inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment," Professor Joseph told 7.30.

"That is an absolute prohibition. There are no exceptions allowed to that.

"I'm not sure that I would classify this as torture, but I think at the very least it is degrading treatment to have a hood placed on your head, to be dragged along the ground, to have your pants taken off, to be threatened with all sorts of things. That is at the very least degrading."

The protesters are determined to try to get onto Swan Island next year and are considering their legal options.

"I did not think that this was the kind of thing that took place in Australia, and I shudder to think of what is happening in other places around the world," Mr Rolles said.

In a statement, the Department of Defence confirmed four protesters had been detained on Swan Island but would not discuss the details.

It said the security of Defence bases remained "a high priority".

"Defence is initiating an inquiry into the allegations to which you refer and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further," the statement said.

Topics: defence-and-national-security, defence-forces, security-intelligence, activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, queenscliff-3225, vic, australia

First posted