Scott Parkin
Encyclopedia
Scott Parkin
Scott Parkin (b. 1969, Garland, Texas
is a peace, environmental and global justice organizer, community college history
instructor, and a founding member of the Houston Global Awareness Collective. He has been a vocal critic of the American invasion of Iraq
, and of corporations such as Exxonmobil and Halliburton
. Since 2006, he has worked as an organizer for the Rainforest Action Network
, organizing campaigns against Bank of America
, Citibank
, TXU
and Wells Fargo Bank.
in 2005, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
(ASIO) contacted him to request an interview, which he declined after being advised that it was not compulsory. Shortly after, he was assessed by ASIO to represent a threat to national security
, leading to the cancellation of his visa
and his detention by Australian Federal Police and immigration officials on September 10, 2005.
Parkin was kept in solitary confinement
in a Victorian
prison until he was removed on the September 15. He was not charged with any offence or provided with any explanation for his treatment beyond the advice that a "competent authority" considered him a threat to Australia's national security.
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles
, Parkin was told that he was expected to pay -A$
11,700 to the Australian government for the cost of his detention, the flight back to the US for himself and two Australian government escorts and their accommodation in Los Angeles for four nights (September 15-September 19).
While in Australia, Parkin participated in an anti-war
protest outside the Sydney headquarters of then-Halliburton subsidiary KBR
on August 31, and was also reported to have attended the 2005 Forbes Global CEO Conference
protest. On the day of his detention, he was due to give a workshop entitled: "Bringing Down The Pillars - People power strategies against war and capitalism".
After Parkin's removal, The Australian
reported that sources alleged he may have intended to advocate techniques such as throwing marbles underneath police horses. Parkin said he would never encourage such behaviour and a subsequent report issued on December 6 (see below) by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
said that these claims were "not a reliable guide to the ASIO assessment".
Despite the lack of details being provided by ASIO, it has been suggested that Scott Parkin may have been deported to test the Australian public's reaction to anti-terror laws being introduced around the same time as the deportation, a claim that has been denied by Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock
.
On October 31, 2005, Director-General of Security Paul O'Sullivan
gave evidence before a Senate Estimates Committee that Parkin was not involved in any violent activity in Australia. O'Sullivan also told the Committee that the adverse security assessment was related to Parkin's "behaviour subsequent to his arrival in Australia".
On 6 December 2005, the Attorney-General released the public version of a classified report a report by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell, detailing his investigation into the circumstances of Parkin's deportation. The public version of the report concluded that the adverse security assessment was made in accordance with legislative requirements. The report dismissed media allegations that Parkin had advocated "rolling marbles under the hooves of police horses", but did not detail any other specific allegations against Parkin. Carnell wrote:
In January 2006, Newsweek
reported that the Pentagon
's Counterintelligence Field Activity
(CIFA) agency had monitored and filed a report on a June 2004 protest organised by Parkin's group, Houston Global Awareness Collective. According to Newsweek, CIFA filed a report on the protest in its database after 10 members of Parkin's group distributed peanut butter
sandwiches to employees at Halliburton's Houston headquarters, in protest at allegations that Halliburton overcharged for military food contracts in Iraq.
On May 22, 2007, Parkin's supporters released a report, Where the bloody hell are you?, which included 26 statutory declaration
s detailing Parkin's political activities in Australia prior to the adverse security assessment. On the same day, legal counsel for ASIO head Paul O'Sullivan told the Federal Court that ASIO did not rely solely on information relating to Parkin's activities in Australia. The following day, O'Sullivan refused to answer questions before a Senate committee about the accuracy of his previous evidence that Parkin's security assessment was related to his activities in Australia.
refugees, Mohammed Sagar
and Muhammad Faisal
, who received adverse security assessments from ASIO and were held in immigration detention for over five years. The case may test the power of the Attorney General, under the National Security Information Act, to prevent particular evidence from being heard in an open court.
Parkin’s barrister is Julian Burnside
, QC
. In an interview on Radio National
, Burnside said it may be difficult to appeal the adverse security assessment, and showed concern for the degradation of due process
and transparency
:
On November 3, 2006, the Federal Court ruled that lawyers for Parkin and ASIO confer on the release of documents detailing the allegations against Parkin.
On November 3, 2006 the ABC
reported that Parkin, Sagar and Faisal won "the right to know why ASIO gave them adverse security assessments".
On November 28, 2006 ASIO was granted leave to appeal this decision after lawyers for the security agency argued that providing a list of documents relevant to the Parkin, Sagar and Faisel case would cause "irreparable harm" to Australia's national security. On May 22, 2007, the full bench of the Federal Court revoked ASIO's leave to appeal and ordered the matters be heard by the primary judge.
On November 2, 2007, Sundberg ordered discovery
of documents related to the case, including Parkin's adverse security assessment, a classified ASIO "determination" setting out the criteria applied by ASIO in making the security assessment and records of ASIO's advice to the Minister for Immigration which led to the cancellation of Parkin's visa
ASIO's appeal of the order was heard by the full bench of the Federal Court in Melbourne on 28 February 2008. On July 18, 2008, Justices Jessup, North and Ryan rejected the appeal and ordered ASIO to produce the list of documents.
Ms Gooley said that counsel for ASIO acknowledged that the adverse security assessment may have been made because of people who Parkin associated with, even if Parkin was not aware of the implications of the associations at the time. Gooley noted that the Haneef
case showed the dangers of using an "association" as the basis for decision making.
The case went before the court on 26 June 2009. The court will determine whether Parkin can see the Adverse Security Assessment and supporting documents.
On 30 September 2009, the Federal Court ruled that ASIO did not need to produce the supporting documents.
Scott Parkin (b. 1969, Garland, Texas
Garland, Texas
-Climate:* The average warmest month is July.* The highest recorded temperature was in 2000.* On average, the coolest month is January.* The lowest recorded temperature was in 1989.* The maximum average precipitation occurs in May....
is a peace, environmental and global justice organizer, community college history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
instructor, and a founding member of the Houston Global Awareness Collective. He has been a vocal critic of the American invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, and of corporations such as Exxonmobil and Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
. Since 2006, he has worked as an organizer for the Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
, organizing campaigns against Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
, Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
, TXU
TXU
Energy Future Holdings Corporation is an electric utility company headquartered in Energy Plaza in Downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The company was known as TXU until its $45 billion leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Texas Pacific Group and Goldman Sachs...
and Wells Fargo Bank.
Detention and removal by Australian government
While Parkin was visiting AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 2005, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
(ASIO) contacted him to request an interview, which he declined after being advised that it was not compulsory. Shortly after, he was assessed by ASIO to represent a threat to national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, leading to the cancellation of his visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
and his detention by Australian Federal Police and immigration officials on September 10, 2005.
Parkin was kept in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
in a Victorian
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
prison until he was removed on the September 15. He was not charged with any offence or provided with any explanation for his treatment beyond the advice that a "competent authority" considered him a threat to Australia's national security.
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Parkin was told that he was expected to pay -A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
11,700 to the Australian government for the cost of his detention, the flight back to the US for himself and two Australian government escorts and their accommodation in Los Angeles for four nights (September 15-September 19).
While in Australia, Parkin participated in an anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
protest outside the Sydney headquarters of then-Halliburton subsidiary KBR
KBR
KBR can stand for:* KBR - American engineering and construction company* Key-based routing* Royal Library of Belgium* The ISO 639 linguistic identifier code for the Ethiopian language Kaffa ....
on August 31, and was also reported to have attended the 2005 Forbes Global CEO Conference
2005 Forbes Global CEO Conference
The 2005 Forbes Global CEO Conference was held from 30 August to 1 September 2005, at the Sydney Opera House, in Sydney, Australia.The Forbes website described the conference attendees as "senior figures from the world's leading companies and institutions will discuss the best ways to nurture and...
protest. On the day of his detention, he was due to give a workshop entitled: "Bringing Down The Pillars - People power strategies against war and capitalism".
After Parkin's removal, The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
reported that sources alleged he may have intended to advocate techniques such as throwing marbles underneath police horses. Parkin said he would never encourage such behaviour and a subsequent report issued on December 6 (see below) by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia)
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is an independent statutory office holder in the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for reviewing the activities of the six agencies which collectively comprise the Australian Intelligence Community...
said that these claims were "not a reliable guide to the ASIO assessment".
Despite the lack of details being provided by ASIO, it has been suggested that Scott Parkin may have been deported to test the Australian public's reaction to anti-terror laws being introduced around the same time as the deportation, a claim that has been denied by Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...
.
On October 31, 2005, Director-General of Security Paul O'Sullivan
Paul O'Sullivan
Paul Thomas O'Sullivan, AO is Australia's High Commissioner to New Zealand and former Director-General of Security. Prior to his appointment to head ASIO in July 2005, O'Sullivan was former Prime Minister John Howard's senior foreign affairs advisor.O'Sullivan attended Marcellin College, Randwick,...
gave evidence before a Senate Estimates Committee that Parkin was not involved in any violent activity in Australia. O'Sullivan also told the Committee that the adverse security assessment was related to Parkin's "behaviour subsequent to his arrival in Australia".
On 6 December 2005, the Attorney-General released the public version of a classified report a report by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell, detailing his investigation into the circumstances of Parkin's deportation. The public version of the report concluded that the adverse security assessment was made in accordance with legislative requirements. The report dismissed media allegations that Parkin had advocated "rolling marbles under the hooves of police horses", but did not detail any other specific allegations against Parkin. Carnell wrote:
- While the precepts of natural justice would point to providing Mr Parkin with the details of the security assessment and allowing him to respond and suggest ways in which the evidence and considerations might be tested, security considerations ... would appear to reasonably preclude this.
In January 2006, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
reported that the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
's Counterintelligence Field Activity
Counterintelligence Field Activity
Counterintelligence Field Activity was a United States Department of Defense agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense on February 19, 2002...
(CIFA) agency had monitored and filed a report on a June 2004 protest organised by Parkin's group, Houston Global Awareness Collective. According to Newsweek, CIFA filed a report on the protest in its database after 10 members of Parkin's group distributed peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
sandwiches to employees at Halliburton's Houston headquarters, in protest at allegations that Halliburton overcharged for military food contracts in Iraq.
On May 22, 2007, Parkin's supporters released a report, Where the bloody hell are you?, which included 26 statutory declaration
Statutory declaration
A statutory declaration is a legal document defined under the law of certain Commonwealth nations. It is similar to a statement made under oath, however, it is not sworn....
s detailing Parkin's political activities in Australia prior to the adverse security assessment. On the same day, legal counsel for ASIO head Paul O'Sullivan told the Federal Court that ASIO did not rely solely on information relating to Parkin's activities in Australia. The following day, O'Sullivan refused to answer questions before a Senate committee about the accuracy of his previous evidence that Parkin's security assessment was related to his activities in Australia.
Federal court challenge
In December 2005, lawyers acting for Parkin lodged a Federal Court challenge seeking to quash the adverse security assessment. Parkin's lawyers are also acting for two IraqiIraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
refugees, Mohammed Sagar
Mohammed Sagar
Mohammed Sagar is an Iraqi Shi'a Muslim refugee who was detained on Manus Island and Nauru between 2001 and 2006. Sagar became the last of approximately 1,300 refugees from the Middle East to be detained on Nauru under the Australian Government's "Pacific Solution" after an adverse security...
and Muhammad Faisal
Muhammad Faisal
Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi refugee who was detained on the island of Nauru between 2001 and 2006 under the Australian Government's "pacific solution"...
, who received adverse security assessments from ASIO and were held in immigration detention for over five years. The case may test the power of the Attorney General, under the National Security Information Act, to prevent particular evidence from being heard in an open court.
Parkin’s barrister is Julian Burnside
Julian Burnside
Julian William Kennedy Burnside AO QC is an Australian barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author. He is known for his staunch opposition to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers, and has provided legal counsel in a wide array of high-profile cases...
, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. In an interview on Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
, Burnside said it may be difficult to appeal the adverse security assessment, and showed concern for the degradation of due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
and transparency
Transparency (humanities)
Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed...
:
On November 3, 2006, the Federal Court ruled that lawyers for Parkin and ASIO confer on the release of documents detailing the allegations against Parkin.
On November 3, 2006 the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
reported that Parkin, Sagar and Faisal won "the right to know why ASIO gave them adverse security assessments".
On November 28, 2006 ASIO was granted leave to appeal this decision after lawyers for the security agency argued that providing a list of documents relevant to the Parkin, Sagar and Faisel case would cause "irreparable harm" to Australia's national security. On May 22, 2007, the full bench of the Federal Court revoked ASIO's leave to appeal and ordered the matters be heard by the primary judge.
On November 2, 2007, Sundberg ordered discovery
Discovery (law)
In U.S.law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the opposing party by means of discovery devices including requests for answers to interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for...
of documents related to the case, including Parkin's adverse security assessment, a classified ASIO "determination" setting out the criteria applied by ASIO in making the security assessment and records of ASIO's advice to the Minister for Immigration which led to the cancellation of Parkin's visa
ASIO's appeal of the order was heard by the full bench of the Federal Court in Melbourne on 28 February 2008. On July 18, 2008, Justices Jessup, North and Ryan rejected the appeal and ordered ASIO to produce the list of documents.
Ms Gooley said that counsel for ASIO acknowledged that the adverse security assessment may have been made because of people who Parkin associated with, even if Parkin was not aware of the implications of the associations at the time. Gooley noted that the Haneef
Mohamed Haneef
Muhamed Haneef is an Indian doctor who was wrongly accused of aiding terrorists, and left Australia upon cancellation of his visa amid great political controversy....
case showed the dangers of using an "association" as the basis for decision making.
The case went before the court on 26 June 2009. The court will determine whether Parkin can see the Adverse Security Assessment and supporting documents.
On 30 September 2009, the Federal Court ruled that ASIO did not need to produce the supporting documents.