Abbot expands powers of Australia’s counterterrorism forces

Sydney,Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, has expanded the powers of Australia’s counterterrorism forces and banned travel to designated “terror hot spots” such as northern Syria, but explicitly ruled that agents cannot use torture.
As police stepped up patrols in the wake of an Islamic State-linkedplot to conduct filmed beheadings in Sydney, Mr Abbott told parliament that Australians must accept that the balance between freedom and security is shifting because of the “darkening” security situation.
“Regrettably, for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift,” Mr Abbott said.
“[This] may be a small price to pay for saving lives and for maintaining the social fabric of an open, free and multicultural nation.”
Security agencies have expressed concern about the growing links between Australians and jihadists in Iraq and Syria, with 60 Australians believed to have travelled to fight with Islamist groups and a further 100 actively supporting the groups from Australia.
The new laws ban travel to places linked to terrorist activity but allow exemptions for “innocuous” reasons; such exemptions could apply to journalists and aid workers. The places are yet to be publicly listed but Raqqa in north-east Syria – the Islamic State stronghold – has been given as an example.
“The only safe place for those who have been brutalised and militarised by fighting with terrorists is inside a maximum-security prison,” Mr Abbott said.
The new laws also make it easier for security forces to obtain search warrants and conduct ongoing surveillance of convicted terror suspects.
The government said the inclusion of an explicit ban on torture was unnecessary but it did so to avoid criticism of the laws which could prove to be a “distraction”. Australia’s domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said it had never practised torture and supported the ban.
The opposition has indicated support for the measures but flagged concerns about the curb on travel, which Muslim groups say could lead to Muslims being targeted for holidays or visits to see family in the Middle East.
Security and patrols have been expanded across the nation following last week’s counterterrorism operation, the largest in the nation’s history. At least fifteen people were detained during operations to thwart the beheading plot.
Access to Parliament House in Canberra has been restricted for the sitting week this week following the interception of “chatter” among terrorist groups about a possible attack.
Mr Abbott said he would continue to refuse to use the Islamic State’s name, instead calling them a “death cult”.
“I refuse to call a terrorist movement Islamic State because to do so demeans Islam and mocks the duties that a legitimate state bears to its citizens,” he said.
“It can hardly be Islamic to kill without compunction, Shia, Yazidi, Turks, Christians and Sunni who don’t share this death cult’s view of the world. Nothing can justify the beheadings, crucifixions, mass executions, ethnic cleansing, rape and sexual slavery that have taken place in every captured town and city.”