Done By Law

Done By Law on Survival Day

- Done by Law on Survival Day -

Here at Done by Law as part of 3CRs special Survival day broadcast we’re
trying something a bit new – we’re going to broadcast a reading of Maria
Giannacopoulos’ 2006 essay - Terror Australis: White Sovereignty and the
Violence of Law as published in the Borderlands e-journal.

The central contention of this essay, is that Australian law is a regime
born of, and sustained through racial violence. The paper rejects the
notion that there is an absolute separation between the workings of
Australian law and the workings of white sovereignty. Maria uses the
federal anti-terrorism laws, and the Tampa ruling, to bring together two
distinct instances of Australian law in order to show the inextricability
of law and racial violence.

you can find the original Giannacopoulos essay at the borderlands e-journal:

DBL: Political violence and the law in the Philippines: 12 January 2009

On 23 November 2009, 57 people were massacred near the town of Ampatutan in the province of Maguindanao in the Philippines. A convoy of vehicles was carrying civilians, journalists and lawyers, who were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu was challenging mayor in the forthcoming Maguindanao election. The convoy was stopped, the people abducted and later murdered. It was reported that witnesses and people in the cars on either side of the convoy were also massacred.

Andal Ampatuan, Jr and a number of others have been arrested for the massacre.  His father and several other clan members have been charged with rebellion. On 5 January 2010, Andal Ampatuan, Jr pleaded not guilty. The Ampatuan clan are known for being loyal supporters of President Gloria Arroyo. Since the election of President Gloria Arroyo in 2001, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have reported on the rise of serious human rights abuses in the Philippines. President Arroyo is charged with having created a culture of impunity for those committing politically motivated violence – which includes hundreds of extra-judicial killings and thousands of individual documented human rights violations.

Tonight we are joined by Neri Colmenares, Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – who lost colleagues in the massacre.  He will be discussing political violence and the law in the Philippines -  including an interesting proposition as to how Australian lawyers can actively help human rights in the Philippines.