Yesterday we brought you the story of Garry and Wendy, the Australian couple hiding just metres from the gunmen who took the late John Ridsdel away to his grisly fate.
I received a really great note overnight and I'd like to share a little of it with you.
G'day Michael.
The couple you are referring to in your article "Australian couple hid from terrorists as the Canadian man beheaded this week was taken hostage" is my wife Wendy and myself.
We have been avid readers and followers of your blog and I have commented on a number of your pieces.
In fact whilst in Krabi Thailand in 2012 we even made contact with Ralph and Ruby through your website and hosted them on-board for lunch.
More than 3 pages full of comments in fact - really terrific stuff like this note after the lunch with Ralph and Ruby:
Ralph, Wendy and I are just rounding the bottom of the Melaka Strait on our way to the East Coast and the Philippines. I hope before we leave Malaysia we again get the opportunity to host you and your beautiful wife Ruby onboard Spirit of Sobraon. Your doing a great thing and we appreciate your sacrifice, now and in the past. As a former serving brother, although at sea, you are doing us all proud. Maintain the rage. To Ruby thankyou so much for your patience and support. Australia owes a dept to you. I look forward to the time that you guys can sit in peace at home knowing this is all behind you. Fair winds to you both, Garry and Wendy
This from more than two years ago about Gillard/Wilson
The fact that the singular question of legal privilege on a couple of boxes of documents is likely to take more than twelve months to resolve doesn't bode well for a speedy resolution of this case given that most of the big issues are orders of magnitude more complex and grave than the one presently at hand ... It's difficult, as a lay person, to fathom how our legal system could possibly be so twisted and inefficient ... Isn't there a saying about justice delayed being justice denied?
Garry even contributed a complete article in August 2013
Many of you have asked why Garry and Wendy's yacht was in that part of the world. Here's Garry:
Sailing a yacht around the world, especially traveling East via the Northern Pacific is not an easy task due to monsoon seasons and weather. We were not intending to visit this marina, however a engine problem whilst we were on our way north meant that we needed to seek shelter from the weather and effect repairs. Oceanview Marina is the only marina in the Philippines that has quality Marine Maintenance Facilities. We didn't make the decision lightly and based it on advise that it was a safe destination more than 500 NM north of any Terrorist problems. In fact we were much more concerned about transiting from Borneo through to Palawan. We arrived just 3 days before the attack. The problem is you can't guess where the Terrorists will attack next. This is the problem in Australia. Davao area was in fact voted one of the safest areas in the Philippines because the local Mayor Rody Duterte hard line on lawlessness. (Hopefully the next Philippines President) Trust me if I knew what I now Know now do you think I would have stopped there. The issue is that we take calculated risks being adventurers. We were not there because we wanted to be. Islamic Terrorist have closed off the easy trade winds route around the world that most cruising boats would take. ie. the Suez Canal. The bottle neck of boats in Thailand is huge. We had chosen to sail to Alaska via Japan and needed to transit through the Philippines. It should have been easy if not for greed and an ideology that doesn't sit well with Western Society.
I would like to acknowledge John Ridsdle's life. He has paid the supreme sacrifice coming to the aid of a fellow sailors cry for help. If not for his quick actions Kaz and Steve would certainly been taken and Wendy and I would have been next. The brutality is difficult to comprehend. To be starved and bound for 7 months in the Jungle would be bad enough let alone living with the threat of execution. John was also suffering symptoms of TB.
Garry
Going through Garry's comments it's so typical of him to put the other person first and to focus on the welfare of others - as he did in his comment above about the late John Ridsdel.
The Marina put this small tribute to the hostages together - it's particularly moving to see it now that we know John won't be coming back.
Garry wrote about his experiences in The Philippines on his boat's log a few days before the tragic news the Islamists had slaughtered John. He has some very strong messages for our government - I hope they're listening.
So our adventure in the Philippines had come to an end. It was time to look forward to new experiences and adventures in Taiwan.
Our original intention when we entered the Philippines in 2015 was to transit the Western Coasts and then continue on to Taiwan that year. The engine breakdown in El Nido in May changed those plans and we stayed for almost 12 months.
We visited every major Island group except Negros and many other lesser Islands. We saw amazing scenery and met wonderful friendly people. If not for the attack at Oceanview we would have left wanting more.
Unfortunately the attack at Oceanview Marina in September has left a lasting scar in our minds and changed us forever. You read about Terrorism, you just never expect it to arrive on your door.
Lots of people have Monday Morning Quarterbacked the attack in yachting forums, pot lucks and cruisers gatherings, suggesting what could or should have been done.
I believe, however, little could have actually been done any differently on the night of the attack.
We were all taken by complete surprise. None of us that night really understood what was happening until well after the event. In fact most of us initially believed it was merely a domestic dispute.
The grubs that perpetuated this attack were a disorganised rabble. Apart from the leaders, few of them were older than 20. Few displayed any real military training. It was only that they had automatic weapons and the element of surprise that put them in complete control and gave them a huge advantage. They were full of machismo whilst in control at the end of a gun, that howevefell apart when they made the mistake of trying to escape the wrong way along the dock and when they had any resistance.
As part of my Military career I was trained as a lecturer in the applications of the Laws of War and the Geneva Conventions. When Henry Dunant wrote his book "The Memory of Solfirino" in 1862 and then went on to inspire world leaders at the time to set up the Geneva Conventions and Red Cross he had no idea that human kind could sink to even worse depravity than what he had experienced on the battlefields of Solferino.
Modern terrorist tactics were not thought of then.
Unfortunately we in civilised societies still hold the principles of the conventions and are being hamstrung by them. Unless we confront this brutality with equal and superior brutality the rise in these atrocities will only become greater.
It is time for the well meaning socialist feel good policies and advocates of the world to get out of the way of our Governments and allow the problem to be dealt with efficiently and effectively.
Our four fellow cruisers have now been held, bound and captive for more than seven months in the stinking jungles of Jolo Island by these scum. As I write this I can't help fear for their lives as the dead line of the 25th of April looms and I contemplate just how fortunate Wendy and I are to now be in the safety of Taiwan.
The inaction to rescue them is mind numbing. In truth this whole saga, like most terrorism, is about greed, money and power and not about Religious ideology. The leaders use the cloak of radical Islam as a disguise to recruit young uneducated impressionable disciples to their cause.
The Police and Military who worked with us on the initial investigation and the brave young Philippine soldiers who have lost their lives in skirmishes in the islands since have their hearts in the right place.
I don't have the same sense for those at a more senior level, and I get the feeling that at some level someone in authority is involved and complicit.
A well trained Special Forces Team should have had no difficulty locating and extracting our friends from these thugs. Whilst we have no idea of what is happening through the negotiations it is obvious that no foreign team from any of the Countries involved has been allowed to do what they do best.
We hope and pray that Rob, Tess, Kjarten and John will be released soon and that justice served on those who perpetuate these crimes, and that they are not sacrificed as pawns for the greed and corruption of a few selfish individuals who have little compassion for the lives of others.
Please spare a thought and prayer for all involved. We look forward to their safe return.
I am so proud that we have attracted people of the calibre, character and wisdom that Garry has so generously shared with us on our site over the years. Thank you Garry and Wendy!
To the family of the late John Ridsdel we offer our condolences and sympathy on the loss of John.
John Ridsdel was a Canadian businessman from Calgary, Alberta, who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines on September 21, 2015, and beheaded by group members on 25 April 2016. He was 68 years old.
He initially worked as a producer and reporter at CBC Calgary and at the Calgary Herald, before he joined Petro-Canadain Alberta, a company he represented in Pakistan, Myanmar and Algeria. At the time of the kidnapping, he was working for the mining company TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc.,[2] a subsidiary of Canada's TVI Pacific, where he was also a consultant.
On 17 April we published a story about this misleading and deceptive CFMEU ad with the title
More misleading bulltish from the CFMEU
If a commercial entity subject to the Trade Practices Act made statements like those in this ad they'd be liable for a charge of misleading and deceptive conduct.
People who are asked to testify at the ABCC aren't charged with a crime. Whatever they say to the ABCC can't be used against them. There's a long held legal principle that if co-ercive powers (like a summons or subpoena) are used to elicit evidence, then that evidence can only be used in the forum and for the purpose that it was issued.
There are heaps of times we have a legal obligation to answer questions - registering your car, getting government payments, professional registrations and the like. If you're in paid employment you have to answer your boss's reasonable questions.
This crap from the CFMEU is crap and they know it's crap. Even the ABC's Fact Checking unit couldn't paper over it!
The claim
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has launched a high profile campaign opposing the reintroduction of the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
It is running an advertisement on television and online, depicting an "ice dealer" and a "worker" being interrogated in a darkened room.
It claims "If Malcolm Turnbull gets his way, a worker will have less rights than an ice dealer", pointing to the "right to remain silent" and the "right to a lawyer of your choice".
The Labor Opposition has subsequently repeated this claim.
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Brendan O'Connor said on April 18, 2016 "ordinary workers in the construction industry... will have less legal rights than a criminal suspected of dealing the drug ice".
The verdict
The CFMEU's claim is nonsense.
The union is conflating two very different concepts.
Questioning of an ice dealer is a step in the criminal justice process, and answers to the questionsmay lead to a conviction and jail sentence for that person.
A person examined by the ABCC is providing information as a witness to a civil investigation. They are given at least 14 days notice and have their expenses paid. Nothing they say can be used against them in subsequent proceedings.
A building worker suspected of committing a criminal offence has the same rights when interviewed by the police as an ice dealer would have.
It is also not a case of Malcolm Turnbull 'getting his way': there are many examples in existing laws of people being forced to hand over documents and answer questions, including under the workplace laws brought in by the Rudd-Gillard Government.
An ice dealer giving evidence to the Australian Crime Commission is also forced to answer questions.
People examined by the ABCC are entitled to representation by a lawyer of their choice, but there is a possibility that they will have to choose someone different if it is found that their first choice might prejudice the ability of the ABCC to carry out its investigation.
Investigations under the ABCC
The ABCC's powers to obtain information are set out in Chapter 7 of the ABCC bill.
Section 60 notes that the ABCC "may require a person to give information, produce documents or answer questions relating to an investigation of a suspected contravention of [building laws] by a building industry participant."
The Commissioner needs to give the person an "examination notice" at least 14 days in advance.
A person who attends an examination is entitled to be paid for their reasonable expenses in attending.
Separately, if an authorised officer of the ABCC lawfully enters premises, they can require a person who has custody or access to a record or document to produce it to the authorised officer.
Right to silence
The person who receives an ABCC examination notice has to comply with it and commits a criminal offence if they do not do so (section 62).
Section 102 of the Bill makes clear that a person is not excused from compliance with the notice merely because doing so may incriminate them or make them liable to someone else.
The CFMEU compares this to the common law principle that entitles a person to refuse to answer questions or produce documents if doing so would incriminate that person.
What is the ABCC?
ABCC: the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Established in 2005.
Role was "to monitor and promote appropriate standards of conduct throughout the building and construction industry".
Powers included to investigate and prosecute breaches of workplace laws such as unlawful industrial action, underpayments and sham contracting.
2012 — under Julia Gillard, the ABCC was replaced by a body known as Fair Work Building and Construction.
The bill was rejected by the Senate on August 17, 2015 and again on April 18, 2016.
A spokeswoman for the union tells Fact Check that "A person accused of the criminal offence of supplying prohibited substances such as the drug ice, would be entitled to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions either in the course of a police investigation or in any subsequent criminal trial."
As expected, the Government rejects the CFMEU's comparison. A spokesman for Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash tells Fact Check:
"Suggestions that construction workers have less rights than ice dealers is absurd. The ice dealer is suspected of doing the wrong thing — the victim of CFMEU thuggery who was too afraid to be seen to come forward and speak out voluntarily is not suspected of any wrongdoing."
Putting aside the political rhetoric, experts consulted by Fact Check do say that the CFMEU is conflating two different concepts.
Professor Andrew Goldsmith of Flinders University Law School tells Fact Check:
"The comparison is flawed because it equates two different processes with distinct purposes. ABCC examinations are used to gather information from witnesses in relation to construction workplace activities whereas an interview with a criminal suspect is concerned with collecting evidence for criminal prosecution."
"[The ABCC] has never had any role in investigating breaches of the criminal law. It deals with possible industrial law contraventions, which are and always have been civil, not criminal matters."
Labor's Brendan O'Connor also recently noted that "the ABCC has no power to investigate breaches of criminal law or corruption".
Information provided to the ABCC by a witness cannot be used against them in other proceedings (section 102 of the Bill), nor will they face civil or criminal liability as a result of complying with a notice (section 103).
By contrast, statements made by a suspected criminal during an interview with police can be used as evidence in a criminal trial.
Assistant Professor Joel Butler of Bond University Law School tells Fact Check:
"The difference is significant: even if a person giving evidence to the ABCC admits that they committed some wrongdoing, that 'confession', as far as the law is concerned, never happened. The person's 'right to silence' is therefore preserved."
The existence of the ABCC does not change the procedures that exist if a worker is accused of crime, for instance assault on a building site, where the right to silence continues to be in place.
Professor Goldsmith says "A construction worker who is accused of committing a workplace-related crime will have the same rights when interviewed by police and when in court as an accused ice dealer would have".
I have a good mate who works in security and intelligence. He lives in Asia and is regarded as one of the top professionals in the field, contracting to governments and large corporations. I contacted him yesterday for some specific advice for someone who's sailing in our region (after the Islamist beheading in the Philippines) -this direct quote from that advice is chilling -
...the biggest mistake is to think our Government has the intent to launch a recovery operation.
This man would know. He comes from that background. Forget about the capability, forget about the feasibility - the biggest mistake an Australian could make is to think our government has the intent to rescue Australians from the hands of hostage takers overseas.
This is an extract from his advice to our sailing friend prepared yesterday:
This region is now becoming a focal point for ISIS, they are uniting other terror networks to come under the one flag and leadership of ISIS and the risk is becoming higher.
How people travel to holiday destinations, where they stay and crisis planning is now an essential part of planning a family holiday, it’s the world we live in now.
The simple advice I can offer is really do your research on areas you are planning to travel to, and never trust local threat assessments/Government advice unless confirmed by a security professional non Government related.
As you and I can relate to, Governments in Asia are totally corrupt, and have alternate agendas to benefit from terrorist organisations operating throughout their areas of responsibility. Not saying all military and/or law enforcement organisations are, but there is enough of this going on to create uncertainties’.
My advice is to use known trustworthy resources within countries where you intend to travel, and take advice from those networks.
PS - here are a few of the flags associated with Islam and Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia. Notice anything about the religion of peace?
And Donald Trump has more bad news for the Clintons - talking up this book:
GOP frontrunner Donald Trump tells Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM with host Stephen K. Bannon that Bill and Hillary Clinton have a net worth of more than $100 million dollars, referencing Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer’s book, Clinton Cash.
“To get to the numbers, they made speeches, they got paid a fortune for the speeches,” Trump said of the countries and companies that paid for the Clintons to speak, pointing to “the way they got treated in government.”
In Clinton Cash, Schweizer investigates the Clintons’ paid speeches and foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation, arguing that several of the donations came in from groups bidding for government contracts during Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State.
“I think we’ll whip out that book because that book will become very pertinent. I’m surprised it hasn’t been used by Sanders,” Trump added, saying Clinton Cash was well-written and factual.
Shorten and the arch-strategists at Labor know that their greatest asset in going back to an emissions trading scheme (carbon tax) is this man - I doubt they'd have contemplated it up against Tony Abbott.
This is an issue that Labor will exploit to the hilt up to the election - Turnbull is so easily wedged.
And the do-nothing, search for a cause Labor Government in Queensland shows Labor's true colours on the issue. To the true believers there are only two things you need to know about climate change - it's worse than we thought and we need to do more.
A few weeks ago we brought you the story of New York city's gender innovation.
Transgender individuals will get to choose whether to use male or female bathrooms and locker rooms in city facilities under an executive order signed Monday by Mayor de Blasio.
The city’s estimated 25,000 transgender residents can freely use the facility “that most closely aligns with their gender identity or expression without being required to show identification, medical documentation, or any other form of proof or verification of gender,” the order says.
ENDS
Magnificent work from the Project Veritas team in the United States. New York is not the only state with crazy policies - North Carolina is the Veritas target in this story in which an undercover reporter admitted to Jill Moffitt, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Title IX Administrator at the University of North Carolina that he was a sexual predator - you won't believe her response.
Blind Eye to Report of Sexual Deviancy in Girl’s Bathroom
Female Undercover Journalist Illustrates the Same Can Happen when Gender Roles Are Reversed
North Carolina Bathroom Gender Laws Are Not Being Enforced
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Could gender neutral bathrooms be used to provide the ultimate cover for sexual exploitation? Going straight to the heart of the current bathroom controversy, Project Veritas went undercover in North Carolina to find out and is releasing their findings in this new video.
Perhaps the most egregious of the hidden camera interviews was with Jill Moffitt, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Title IX Administrator at the University of North Carolina – Asheville. When our male undercover journalist told Moffitt that he enjoys taking snapchats of females in the women’s bathroom, the following conversation transpired:
MALE JOURNALIST: There has been some snapchats but they self-destruct.
UNC ADMINISTRATOR: Well they don’t really self-destruct.
MALE JOURNALIST: I hope they self-destruct.
ADMINISTRATOR: You’re taking snap chats of women? You’re alerting me to what we call “sexual exploitation.” Don’t tell me anything more… Don’t tell me anything more… When people take…don’t say anything just listen.
U.S. Title IX provides that no “person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
This has led to the widespread adoption of sexual discrimination policies at colleges and universities. Employees with supervisory or administrative duties are deemed “responsible employees” under UNC policy. Accordingly, they are “required by the University to immediately share all details about a report of Prohibited Conduct (including the known details of the incident (e.g., date, time, location), the names of the parties involved, a brief description of the incident and if the incident has been previously reported) with the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office, Title IX Compliance Coordinator, or a member of the Response Team in person, by telephone, electronically, or by email.”
“If a report of prohibited conduct discloses a serious and immediate threat to the campus community, UNC Department of Public Safety will issue a timely notification to protect the health or safety of the community,” the policy adds.
Under North Carolina state law, it is illegal pursuant to NC Gen. Stat. § 14-202 to “secretly peep into [ ] room occupied by another.” This includes using any “device to create a photographic image of another person in that room for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person shall be guilty of a Class I felony.”
Project Veritas’ female journalist assigned to this story stated that she enjoys going to the men’s room for purposes of sexual excitement. Deborah Miles, Director of the Center of Diversity Education at UNC – Asheville seemed to encourage this behavior.
FEMALE JOURNALIST: I mean, I think it’s…in this sick way, kind of…exciting.
DIVERSITY DIRECTOR: [laughs] Yeah, because you’re not “supposed to do it.”
JOURNALIST: You’re not supposed to do it, and, I mean, there’s guys in there! I like guys!
FOLLOWING IN REVERSE ORDER THE SPEAKERS AT TONIGHT'S CAMPAING LAUNCH FOR THE ALA
ALA Senate candidate for Victoria Daniel Jones, 30 something young dad and business executive with a major multinational. Our current politically correct narrative is leading us towards cultural suicide. We have restricted our own ability to talk about basic human rights in order to appease a very small minority.
"There is no place for tolerance of the intolerant".
Mr Jones spoke with passion about Australian industry - and his disdain for people who stick their hands out to take wealth they had no part in creating. He spoke about industry policy and "trading ourselves out of a future' with various international trade agreements.
We should not allow an ideology that promotes discrimination against women, intolerance and separatism - let alone make allowances to accommodate it.
Kirralie spoke about media coverage - where she is routinely referred to as an "extremist" and the tag doesn't refer to jumping out of aeroplanes or canyoning. Kirralie agrees that she is extremely committed to the great way of life we enjoy and extremely committed to stopping those who'd change it. Extremism is the motivation for a 16 year old to plan a terror attack on ANZAC Day, the way of life that Muhammad led, the Hadiths and the Quran.
"We will put Australia and Australians first - we will put people before the environment".
Kirralie Smith - ALA Candidate NSW - it doesn't matter who let them in, the important thing is what are we going to do about it?
Major Bernard Gaynor - Queensland Senate Candidate and decorated Iraq/Afghanistan veteran. Political correctness is costing us millions, appeasing minorities is costing us more. This ANZAC Day a 16 year old was charged with terror offences - he was a part of the multi-million dollar deradicalisation program and is proof of its futility.
Our ANZACs could name and describe their enemy. In 1914 our ANZACs were at war with the Islamic Caliphate (Ottoman) - today we cannot even name our enemy nor criticise their ideology.
John Bolton - ALA Candidate for South Australia. "Islam is bad. Australian culture is better than Islamic culture".
Deb explained that ALA regularly has its ads knocked back - notoriously from one of the major newspaper groups because ALA ads "don't fit the brand image" of the newspaper company. She explained that advertising standards prohibit the ALA from using the words Islam or Muslim in any critical sense. Note however that Islam has no problem in getting space for this sort of stuff.
Debbie Robinson's home has been regularly visited by police - not for her security, but because of her association with the Q-Society - Debbie explained that the Q-Society http://www.qsociety.org.au is considered an extremist organisation.
Debbie Robinson doesn't advocate violence - but we have to push back against Islamic violence. We face a clear and present danger and the Islamic bullies apparently understand only one language.
Debbie Robinson - President and Senate Candidate for Western Australia - membership quadrupled since October 2015
Angry Anderson - MC launching ALA event, "We must be as passionate about our freedoms as those who would attack us are passionate about their own cause".
I am delighted to pass on this message from the Australian Liberty Alliance with the details of its campaign launch tonight!
If you can watch Youtube videos on your device, you can join us tonight. The transmission will start at 7:15pmMelbourne time. We have a great line-up of presenters:
Angry Anderson will be our MC for the evening
Debbie Robinson - our national president and Senate candidate for Western Australia
John Bolton - Senate candidate for South Australia
Bernard Gaynor - Senate candidate for Queensland
Kirralie Smith – Senate candidate for New South Wales
Daniel Jones – Senate candidate for Victoria
Questions and Answers with all candidates and board members
Finish ca 9:30pm
It is critical that members and supporters now get behind our 2016 campaign teams and candidates. With a double dissolution election on the cards, we have an exceptional chance to succeed. ALA will introduce more candidates over the next weeks.
We will have a fantastic evening with great speakers, a superb venue in the heart of Melbourne and ALA will launch only once for the 2016 campaign in Victoria. So don’t miss out and share this experience with family and friends.
Stand With Us!
Ralf Schumann
Party Secretary
To find out how you can join or support ALA and your candidates, please visit the links on our websitewww.vote1ala.org
Earlier this week Islamists carried out their threat to behead a man taken hostage on 21 September 2015 in The Philippines. We now know that two Australians came within metres of being taken that night.
Australian man Gary Goldsworthy says he and his partner were asleep on their yacht at the Holiday Ocean View Resort on Samal Island on Monday when they were awoken by what they initially believed to be a domestic dispute.
"Initially we thought it was some sort of domestic dispute, we weren't expecting this sort of attack," he told SBS World News. "We had been led to believe that this was quite a safe area."Looking through a port hole they saw men take two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian resort manager, and a Filipino women away at gunpoint.
Mr Goldworthy said he and others who knew the people who were taken are desperate to find them.
"Our biggest concern now is for our fellow yachstmen, who have been taken. Obviously, it has been two days and we haven't heard anything."
A man walks inside the compound of Holiday Ocean View Samal Resort, on Samal Island in southern Philippines
Philippines army Captain Alberto Caber said there were about 30 foreign tourists at the resort at the time of the raid.
Mr Goldworthy said it was pure luck that saw him and his partner avoid the same fate.
"We were lucky. Possibly one of the reasons we weren't targeted was because the boat was new in the marina," he said.
"I'm assuming that whoeever did the attack would have had to plan it. Our boat was new in the marina, and we had been away all weekend."
Here is CCTV of the gunmen that night, 21 September 2015.
Australian man Gary Goldsworthy spoke about his close escape with SBS on 22 September last year.
It lists the world's hot-spots where you're most likely to face the threat of being taken hostage:
We assess that the threat of kidnapping is highest in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Malaysia (eastern Sabah), large parts of North Africa and West Africa, the southern Philippines, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. See under 'Particular areas of concern' below.
Countries where the threat of kidnapping is also prevalent include Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey.
But the words Islam, Islamic or Muslim do not appear on the Australia Government's threat lists at all. It's not that the Australian Government is shy about mentioning specific terrorist groups - just as long as they're not Muslim. Colombia's FARC and the National Liberation Army get singled out. Australia pretends Islamic terror doesn't exist - and if we're confronted with it, we seem to be at pains to say it has nothing to do with Islam.
Well if the Australian Government won't do it, we will.
Here's what Muhammad told his followers about hostages, ransoms and killings.
Abu Sayyaf is another jihad group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Kidnapping infidels and releasing them for ransom or enslaving them, as well as killing them if that option is deemed most advantageous for the Muslims, is fully sanctioned in Islamic law: “As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance), trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192.
The Australian Government's ability to provide consular assistance to Australian citizens may be severely limited in locations where we recommend against all travel and in places where the security situation is particularly dangerous or access is limited.
Should an Australian be kidnapped, the Australian Government will work closely with the government of the country in which the kidnapping has taken place, as well as other governments, to ensure that all appropriate action to resolve the situation is pursued actively. We will provide information to families on what they can expect and provide them with clear and up-to-date information on developments in the case to help them make informed decisions.
The Australian Government does not make payments or concessions to kidnappers. The Australian Government considers that paying a ransom increases the risk of further kidnappings, including of other Australians. Ransom payments to kidnappers, many of whom are associated with proscribed terrorist groups, are also known to have funded subsequent terrorist attacks.
Where to get help
You can obtain consular assistance from the nearest Australian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate. In a consular emergency if you are unable to contact an Australian diplomatic mission, you can contact the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 or 1300 555 135 within Australia.
More information
Information on mitigating the risk of kidnapping is in the advice for Australian business travellers. ASIO's Business Liaison Unitprovides credible, intelligence-based information on matters affecting the security of Australian business, including those based in offshore locations.
Australian companies seeking further information about the Australian Government's kidnapping policy should contact [email protected].
I think the no ransom policy is right. But I'd hope the Australian Government has background plans involving our special forces and a date with death for Islamists who take Australians.
For many years Islamist pirates have targeted large commercial shipping off the horn of Africa.
Riyadh // A Myanmar woman beheaded in a Saudi street this week for killing her husband’s young daughter is seen screaming her innocence in a video posted on the internet.
Saudi authorities have arrested someone for filming the incident, said local newspaper websites, including Okaz and Al Riyadh, in reports accompanied by still shots from the recording.
They did not say what the arrest was for.
The official Saudi Press Agency said last Monday that Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim was executed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca for killing her husband’s six-year-old daughter.
“Investigations led to her trial which proved she was guilty,” the interior ministry said, quoted by SPA.
The child, also “Burmese”, died from a beating and from being raped with a broomstick, it said.
“I did not kill. There is no God but God. I did not kill,” cries the woman, covered in black, apparently kneeling on the pavement circled by police officers in the video on LiveLeak.
“Haram. Haram. Haram. Haram. I did not kill ... I do not forgive you ... This is an injustice,” she screams in the video, which was posted online on Saturday.
The executioner, dressed in a white robe, forces her to lie down on the ground, near a pedestrian crossing. Mountains are seen in the distance.
“I did not,” she continues before a final scream as the executioner’s curved sword severs her head, in a traditional execution for the kingdom, which carries out death sentences in public.
A voice then reads out her crime.
Many Twitter users protested the video being circulated on the internet because it could be seen by the woman’s family, but did not object to the beheading itself.
ENDS
Never happen here. Our leaders are too strong. We would never deal with thugs and terrorists who cut women's heads off in the street, would we?
PS - a mate just dropped me a note reminding us all about these scenes in Sydney, 2012.
Note the slant that our news services put on this story, even describing the purported cause of the riots as a "vicious anti-Islam film about the prophet".
The only vicious behaviour on that day was from Muslims - all walking in the same steps as their vicious thug prophet.
