Unethical acts from supposedly advanced countries -- Aġir mhux etiku fil-pajjiżi suppost avvanzati

 

Every so often, news surfaces about such and such a country showing just how little value is placed in ethics by leadership.  One of these regards East Timor, which in 2004 negotiated an agreement with Australia about their maritime border.  East Timor wants this agreement to be re-negotiated, as during the negotiations that had been held, Australia had spied on the Timorese side, so as to gain confidential infromation that had been provided to the Australian side to have the upper hand during negotiations.

 

The story, as reported by the Australian ABC program Lateline, goes that Australian spies under cover of aid that was being provided to this poor Asian country, had installed microphones in the government palace in Dili, the country's capital.  When the Timorese Prime Minister complained about this by his Australian counterpart, then Julia Gillard, about what had happened, she denied this and sent to Timor for discussions the person who allegedly had carried out the spying!1

 

This is a really shameful case.  It does not seems that the Australian activity is illegal in Australian law, as Australian intelligence agencies have the role of acting in the interests not only of national security and foreign relations, but also in the interests of national economic health.2  What's at stake is the ability to capitalise on a stretch of water, called Greater Sunrise, which contains petroleum resources worth an estimated $40 billion - a considerable sum in the Australian context, let alone the Timorese one.

 

Nevertheless, is this activity right?  Is it ok for those who are wealthy use their sophistication to take advantage of those who are weak?

 

You will probably tell me there is nothing new under the sun.  Does that make it right?

 

Is it acceptable for the one who unmasked this activity, who is being referred to as Witness X, have his passport removed so that he cannot personally give evidence on what happened at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Netherlands and have related evidence confiscated, in the (declared) interests of national security?3

 

Is it a good thing for Australia to argue that the PCA has no jurisdiction in this case, after having criticised China for making the same point on the case of the Pacific islands on which military bases are being built?  It can be noted that Australia abandoned this argument a few days ago, after it had been rejected by the PCA.

 

The point I make here is that in this case, Australia says it is acting strictly in its national interest, come what may.  It is pursuing this aim with all its might.  Where does fairness come in?  Do we approve acts such as this?

 

What example is being given to its citizens?  What message are we getting?

 

What are governments doing, in our name?  Do we approve?

 

It is this sense of governments not acting in the interests of the people that is leading some persons in the know of what is going on, normally by having access to this information or by being directly involved in some way, to feel a moral obligation to take action to uncover the lid of what is going on and blow the whistle.

 

In this Australian case and the Australian spying on the East Timorese government, Witness X is said to have been a director of the Australian secret service ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service), and was not comfortable with what was going on.

 

Another well known case is that of Edward Snowden, and American who used to work the the US secret service the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and with a contractor for the NSA (National Security Agency) which uncovered and extensive program of global surveillance by the American side of the internet and phone traffic, in collaboration with other governments, including Australian, British and Canadian.  This included spying even on leaders of friendly nations, such as Germany.4

 

I cannot not mention Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the Wikileaks organisation, whose mission is to publish material that had been censored or restricted which involves warfare, spying and corruption.  He had received, and Wikileaks had published, material from Bradley Manning, an analyst with the American army, on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which included a video where an American helicopter had shot on and killed a group of individuals that had been thought to be combatants, but were in fact Iraqi kids and journalists.5  Manning copped 35 years in prison for his role, and Assange has been hold inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London for 3 years with the fear of being caught by the United States.

 

As a principle, it is bad to publish material that places the lives of people who are doing positive work for their country.  This certainly was the result of part of the published material that had come out of Snowden and Manning.

 

Nevertheless it is good, very much so, that we, the citizens who have so many rights on paper but next to none in reality when kept in ignorance of what is really happening, get to know about the filth happening in our name, authorised by those we elect to govern us, and carried out by those paid by the taxes raised off our backs.

 

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Kull tant żmien, titfaċċa storja li turi kemm it-tali pajjiż juri kemm l-etika fit-tmexxija fil-fatt ma tiswiex ħabba.  Storja minn dawn tittratta t-Timor tal-Lvant, li fl-2004 nnegozjat ftehim mal-Awstralja fuq il-fruntiera marittima bejn iż-żewġ pajjiżi.  It-Timor tal-Lvant trid li dan il-ftehim jerġa jiġi nnegozjat, minħabba li waqt in-negozjati li kienu saru, l-Awstralja kienet spijat fuq in-naħa Timoriża, tant li ġabet informazzjoni kunfidenzjali li tgħaddiet lin-naħa Awstraljana biex ikollha vantaġġ waqt in-negozjati.

 

L-istorja, kif irrappurtata mill-programm tal-ABC Awstraljana Lateline, hi li spiji Awstraljani kienu qed jinħbew wara għajnuna li kienet qed tingħata lil dan il-pajjiż fqir Asjatiku, biex jistallaw mikrofoni fil-palazz tal-gvern f'Dili, il-kapitali tal-pajjiż.  Meta l-Prim Ministru Timoriż gerger ma dak Awstraljan, dakinhar Julia Gillard, fuq li kien ġara, din ċaħdet dan u bagħtet fit-Timor għad-diskussjonijiet lill-persuna li allegatament wettaq l-ispijar!1

Dan huwa każ verament tal-mistħija.  Ma jidhirx li l-aġir Awstraljan huwa illegali skont il-liġi Awstraljana, għax l-aġenziji ta' intelliġenza Awstraljana għandhom il-funzjoni li jaħdmu fl-interess mhux biss fil-qasam tas-sigurtà nazzjonali u r-relazzjonijiet barranin, imma wkoll fl-interess tas-saħħa ekonomika nazzjonali.2  Fin-nofs hemm l-isfruttar ta' medda fuq il-baħar, imsejħa Greater Sunrise, li għandha riżorsi ta' petroljum li huma stmati li jiswew $40 biljun - ammont konsiderevoli fil-kuntest Awstraljan, aħseb u ara fil-kuntest Timoriż.

 

Madankollu, dan l-aġir huwa sewwa?  Tajjeb li min hu għani juża s-sofistikazzjoni tiegħu biex jieħu vantaġġ minn min hu dgħajjef?

 

Probabbli tgħiduli li dan ilu jsir, xejn ġdid.  Dan jagħmlu sewwa?

 

Tajjeb li l-persuna li kixef dan l-aġir, li jiġi rriferut bħala x-Xhud X, jitteħidlu l-passaport biex ma jkunx jista' jmur personalment jagħti xhieda fuq dak li ġara mal-Qorti Permanenti tal-Arbitraġġ (Permanent Court of Arbitration - PCA) fl-Olanda u jitteħidlu evidenza fuq il-każ, fl-interess (dikjarat) tas-sigurtà nazzjonali?3

 

Tajjeb li l-Awstralja targumenta li l-PCA m'għandhiex ġurisdizzjoni fuq dan il-każ, wara li kienet ikkritikat liċ-Ċina li għamlet l-istess punt fuq il-każ tal-gżejjer fil-Paċifiku li qed tibni bażijiet militari fuqhom?  Ta' min jgħid li l-Awstrala abbandunat dan l-argument ftit ġranet ilu, wara li l-PCA rrifjutah.

 

Il-punt li nagħmel hawn huwa li f'dan il-każ, l-Awstralja tgħid li qed timxi fl-interess nazzjonali strett tagħha, akkost ta' kollox.  Qed tiġbed lejha b'kemm għandha saħħa.  Fejn hu l-fier?  Aħna napprovaw aġir bħal dan?

 

X'eżempju qed tagħti liċ-ċittadini tagħha?  X'messaġġ qed ittina?  

 

X'qed jagħmlu l-gvernijiet tagħna, f'isimna?  Aħna napprovaw?

 

Huwa dan is-sens ta' gvernijiet mhux jimxu fl-interess tal-poplu li qed iwassal lil ċerti persuni li jkunu jafu b'li jkun għaddej, normalment għax ikollhom aċċess għal din l-informazzjoni jew li jkunu direttament involuti b'xi mod, li jħossu li moralment għandhom jieħdu azzjoni biex jikxfu dak li qed isir u jsaffru s-suffara (whistleblower).

F'dan il-każ Awstraljan u l-ispijar Awstraljan fuq il-gvern tat-Timor tal-Lvant, ix-Xhud X jingħad li kien direttur tas-servizz sigriet Awstraljan ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service), li ma kienx komdu b'dak li kien għaddej.

 

Każ ċelebri ieħor huwa dak ta' Edward Snowden, Amerikan li kien jaħdem mas-servizzi sigrieti Amerikani CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) u ma kuntrattur tal-NSA (National Security Agency) li kixef programmi estensivi ta' sorveljanza globali min-naħa Amerikana tal-internet u t-telefonati, b'kollaborazzjoni ta' gvernijiet oħra, fosthom Awstraljani, Brittanniċi u Kanadiżi.  Dan kien jinkludi spijar anke fuq mexxejja ta' pajjiżi ħbieb, bħall-Ġermanja.4

 

Ma nistax ukoll ma nsemmix lil Julian Assange, Awstraljan li huwa l-fundatur tal-organizzazzjoni Wikileaks, li l-missjoni tagħha hi li tippubblika materjal li kien iċċensurat jew ristrett li jinvolvi gwerer, l-ispijar u l-korruzzjoni.  Dan kien irċieva, u l-Wikileaks ippubblika, materjal li kien irċieva minn Bradley Manning, analista tal-armata Amerikana, fuq il-gwerra fl-Iraq u l-Afganistan, li kien jinkludi vidjo fejn ħelikopter Amerikan spara fuq u qatel grupp ta' individwi li kienu nħasbu li huma ġellieda, imma li fil-fatt kienu tfal Iraqqini u ġurnalisti.5  Manning laqqat 35 sena l-ħabs għar-rwol tiegħu, u Assange ilu tliet snin f'kenn fl-ambaxxata tal-Ekwador f'Londra bil-biża li jiġi maqbud mill-Istati Uniti.

 

Bħala prinċipju, mhux tajjeb li jiġi ppubblikat materjal li jpoġġi f'periklu lil persuni li qed jagħmlu xogħol fejjiedi għal pajjiżhom.  Dan ċertament kien ir-riżultat ta' parti mill-materjal ippublikat li kien ħareġ mingħand Snowden u Manning.

 

Madankollu, huwa tajjeb, u ħafna wkoll, li aħna, iċ-ċittadini li għandna tant drittijiet fuq il-karta imma ftit li xejn fil-fatt meta ninżammu fl-injoranza ta' dak li verament għaddej, insiru nafu bil-ħmieġ li qed jitwettaq f'isimna, awtorizzat minn dawk li ntellgħu biex jiggvernawna, u mwettaq minn dawk li jitħallsu mit-taxxi li jittieħdu mill-għaraq ta' ġbinna.

 

1http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/east-timor-greater-sunrise-spy-scandal/6969830, retrieved 28/9/2016

2Intelligence Services Act 2001, Section 11, as amended; Australian Government

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-03/asio-raided-lawyer-representing-east-timor-in-spying-case/5132486, retrieved 29/9/2016

4http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964, retrieved 29/9/2016

5https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html, retrieved 29/9/2016

1http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/east-timor-greater-sunrise-spy-scandal/6969830, retrieved 28/9/2016

2Intelligence Services Act 2001, Section 11, as amended; Australian Government

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-03/asio-raided-lawyer-representing-east-timor-in-spying-case/5132486, retrieved 29/9/2016

4http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964, retrieved 29/9/2016

5https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html, retrieved 29/9/2016