[asia-apec 1021] State Surveillance of Maori - APEC Link - GATT Watchdog

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18/02/99

State Security Surveillance of Maori Outrageous - APEC Link - GATT Watchdog

GATT Watchdog organiser and SIS home invasion victim Aziz Choudry says he is
outraged but unsurprised at the apparent SIS interest in people working for
Maori sovereignty. This follows revelations that both Ngati Pikiao lawyer
Annette Sykes and the office of the Maori Legal Service have been under
surveillance by persons as yet unidentified - but suspected to be the SIS.

"State surveillance and harassment will be stepped up in the lead-up to the
APEC Leaders Summit in September," he said.   

"Regardless of reassurances to the contrary, the expanded powers sought for
the SIS will have a "chilling" effect on the rights of tangata whenua and
non-Maori to lawful advocacy, dissent and protest, and to discuss important
issues like decolonisation, globalisation, and alternative economic and
political models and systems.  It seems that those of us who promote such
debates are seen to threaten "New Zealand's economic well-being and
international well-being" as set out in the 1996 NZ Security Intelligence
Service Amendment Act's definition of "security".  Or maybe it's just plain
subversive to debate alternatives, to educate and inform the public and work
for justice in Aotearoa. Or both."

GATT Watchdog today released a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
presentation: "The Terrorist Threat To APEC" showing that CSIS, the SIS's
counterpart in Canada, considered "native issues" to be of great concern prior
to APEC 1997.  

The document, classified "secret", was released during an ongoing inquiry into
complaints of police brutality and political interference by the Canadian
Prime Minister's Office in the security clampdown around the November 1997
APEC Leaders Summit.

An excerpt reads:
"From a Canadian domestic extremism perspective, the potential for violence
associated with environmental and native issues, along with groups opposed to
APEC itself, pose a potential threat of confrontations with security
authorities.

"[Deletion], long standing native issues in British Columbia such as gaming,
self-government, land claims, fishing rights and resource control over claimed
lands, along with a collection of ad-hoc groups opposed to APEC pose a
potential security challenge." (Abstract - CSIS Presentation To ICSI -
1997 10 29 - The Terrorist Threat To APEC")

"In reality, the violence and threats came from the Canadian security forces
themselves, who peppersprayed and arrested dozens of non-violent protesters,
as well as investigating and surveilling a wide range of organisations, native
and non-native," said Mr Choudry, who participated in meetings opposed to APEC
during the Vancouver Summit.  

"But according to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police "After Action Debriefing
Report" on APEC 97, New Zealand security observers present in Vancouver at the
time were "literally awestruck" and "impressed" by the security operations." 

"And National and Labour cheerleaders for increasing SIS powers keep referring
to Canada and its national security procedures in an attempt to back up their
arguments. New Zealand governments have a longstanding love affair with
Canadian statute and procedure in relation to "national security" issues", he
said.
 
"In 1989 CSIS conducted the so-called "Native Extremism Investigation" which
involved the surveillance and harassment of many people involved in indigenous
rights struggles across Canada."  

"This operation was particularly controversial and embarrassing because of its
focus, its incompetence, the methods used, and the ridiculous assumptions made
that "foreign influences" were behind Indigenous Peoples' struggles for
justice."
 
"Whether or not the SIS is behind the surveillance of Annette Sykes and the
Maori Legal Service, I am sure that a similarly imaginatively-named SIS
operation is being conducted here on advocates of Maori sovereignty and
decolonisation.  After all, especially now the Cold War's over, the SIS needs
to devise supposed threats to justify its budget and its very existence"

For further comment, contact Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog, ph (03) 3662803