The victim of an illegal Security Intelligence Service breakin, whose legal case has sparked two amendments to the Security Intelligence Service Act is throughly unimpressed by the latest version of the SIS Amendment (no 2) Bill expected to be debated and passed in Parliament this week.
“Having read the latest version of the bill, it’s clear the SIS has not been reined in by any of the recent legislative amendments. Quite the opposite - these law changes are designed to expand, not limit, the powers of the SIS. Try as she might to reassure people that critics of APEC will not be subject to SIS snooping, Jenny Shipley cannot hide the fact that both amendment bills have been rushed through explicitly in order to legitimate further SIS break-ins before September’s Leaders Summit. And it was the Prime Minister herself, and various National, Labour, and ACT MPs who first linked the perceived need to legalise SIS break-ins to APEC in parliamentary debates and in the media, not me, GATT Watchdog, the APEC Monitoring Group or our allies. When the APEC circus ends, the law will remain – with the SIS above the law,” said Aziz Choudry.
“The tweaking of the definition of “security” to distinguish between perceived “domestic” and “foreign” or “foreign-influenced” threats does nothing to tighten up the controversial “economic and international wellbeing” wording which many organisations have roundly condemned”.
Mr Choudry is unimpressed by a “sweetener” amendment to the reporting requirements of the SIS suggested in the bill which is expected to be debated and get its third reading in Parliament this week.
“This revised bill does not address concerns about the SIS’s role in surveilling people and organisations engaged in lawful political activities. Along with its companion amendment, it is a further affront to basic civil and political rights and another step down the road of criminalising dissent”, he said.