Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has officially launched his campaign as an independent for the New South Wales state seat of Auburn in Sydney's west.

Mr Habib says his campaign is about human rights.

Mr Habib says he has been asked by members of the community to stand in the election.

The transfer of Mr Habib from Pakistan to Egypt by US authorities in 2001 was unlawful.

The release of Mamdouh Habib does not absolve the Government from explaining its citizens long detention.

The citizens of Australia and other democracies enjoy the liberty they do because of the inherited wisdom of centuries that the rule of law must govern the relationship between the state and individual.

Citizenship is supposed to carry with it several inviolable rights that protect the individual against excesses by a powerful state. Australians Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks are two such individuals who have been denied these rights with the disgraceful acquiescence of their Government. Mr Habib was released from US military detention after more than three years, without facing any charges, shows how arbitrary this exercise of state power has been.

Mr Habib has been the subject of egregious violations of legal principles, some of which date back to the Magna Carta, the great charter of English liberty. The US and Australian governments had colluded to deny the Mr Habib's rights to habeas corpus, trampled over the presumption of innocence without laying charges against him, denied him the prospect of a fair trial and failed to ensure his protection from ill-treatment and torture, which he suffered.

Related:

Hicks: Canberra Convergence

Thanks to supporters in Canberra an add will be appearing in the Canberra media Thursday 1/2 & Saturday 3/2. Looking forward to see you all.

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/138271.php

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