AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2008
FED: No heads will roll despite Haneef bungles at highest level
By Doug Conway, Senior Correspondent
SYDNEY, Dec 23 AAP - No heads will roll over the bungled Haneef affair despite a judicial
inquiry which identified mistakes at the highest levels of government and policing.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said no action would be taken against Australian
Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty or the heads of any other agencies including
ASIO, the Queensland Police and the public prosecutor's office.
However, the AFP will be made to answer directly to parliament through a joint committee
announced in a separate review of national security legislation.
A report by retired NSW Supreme Court judge John Clarke found Indian-born doctor Mohamed
Haneef was wrongly charged and detained for a month in Brisbane last year over suspected
links to terrorist acts in the UK.
It also found the cancellation of his visa and his deportation should have been deferred.
"Significant errors were made at multiple levels," Mr McClelland said in Sydney on Tuesday.
"Mistakes were made from officer level to the highest level.
"At the end of the day, political leaders and agency heads must accept responsibility
for errors that occurred on their watch.
"But we (the Rudd government) have full confidence in all agency heads."
Dr Haneef said the report showed he was "totally innocent" of all allegations against
him, but said it was not in his nature to bear a grudge.
Speaking by phone from the United Arab Emirates, where he now works, he said his reputation
had been damaged, and an apology from the government and AFP would be "very handy".
But Mr McClelland said that issue should be addressed to members of the former Howard
government who were in power at the time.
He said it was "no secret" Dr Haneef's lawyers intended to pursue compensation, and
the government would await any approach.
The attorney-general said errors of judgment were made in the botched $8 million police
investigation, inadequate procedures were followed and there was a lack of direction from
the leadership of several agencies at the time.
Asked whether the public could maintain confidence in its security authorities without
change at the top, Mr McClelland said the inquiry was not established as a "witch hunt".
The Clarke report was critical of former immigration minister Kevin Andrews, though
it found no evidence of conspiracy or improper purpose.
It described as "mystifying" the timing of his cancellation of Dr Haneef's visa immediately
after he was granted bail on July 16 last year on a charge of recklessly supporting a
terrorist organisation.
The charge was later withdrawn for lack of evidence.
The report also said Mr Andrews "did not reflect deeply" on the detail of AFP information
in a "rambling" brief he had been given, nor did he analyse the conflict between that
and ASIO information.
Mr Andrews said the inquiry was a waste of $4 million despite it vindicating him.
"For the past 18 months, Dr Haneef's lawyers and some other commentators have suggested
that in cancelling the temporary work visa of Dr Haneef I had acted improperly as part
of a government conspiracy to detain him," Mr Andrews said in a statement.
"These suggestions have been categorically rejected by the Clarke inquiry.
"The Australian people expected me to act (regarding Dr Haneef). I had the courage to do so."
The AFP accepted the findings, but said its actions were undertaken in good faith.
The inquiry had found no evidence of corruption or politicisation of the AFP, or of
any mistreatment of Dr Haneef by federal police.
The AFP said it was now working more closely with partner agencies and sharing information
in a better way.
Mr Clarke found no evidence Dr Haneef had any foreknowledge of failed car bomb attacks
in London and Glasgow in June 2007 which resulted in the death of his second cousin, Kafeel
Ahmed, and led to a 32-year jail term this week for Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah.
But, he said, the investigation was coloured by the perception Dr Haneef was fleeing
Australia when he tried to fly to Bangalore, India, on July 2 to seek support from his
family.
AFP Commander Ramzi Jabbour had become suspicious about Dr Haneef and "lost objectivity",
Mr Clarke said.
Though a dedicated and capable officer, he was "unable to see that the evidence he
regarded as highly incriminating in fact amounted to very little".
The only thing Dr Haneef was known to have done was to give a mobile phone SIM card
registered in his name to a cousin 12 months before the UK terrorist attacks.
AAP dc/evt/jlw/cdh
KEYWORD: HANEEF WRAP
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