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URGENT ACTION ALERT:

US peace activist detained under terrorist charges in Australia. Call the Australian Embassy NOW!

September 10, 2005

Scott Parkin, a US peace activist from Houston, Texas, has been detained by police in Australia without formally being charged with any crime and threatened with deportation. His reasons for being held are ambiguous but his legal advisor has confirmed that among the reasons given for his detainment is that Scott has been identified as a terror threat to Australian national security. Scott is in no way a terrorist threat; he is a political activist, plain and simple, and is being detained because of his political activism.

Scott has been an essential component in organizing anti-war profiteering protests against Halliburton in Houston, Texas. He was a key organizer of the two large protests during Halliburton's 2004 and 2005 shareholders meetings that garnered negative publicity for Halliburton, and he has co-organized numerous teach-ins, rallies and other nonviolent actions about war profiteering. Scott is also an environmental activist and worked with Greenpeace on an action during Exxon Mobil¹s shareholder meeting in 2003.

Scott has been traveling in Australia since June, camping and hiking, and recently began doing some work with Australia Greenpeace. He has also recently has been participating in some anti-corporate protests in Australia, and has given presentations to Australian activists about strategic organizing, street theater, and nonviolent direct action. He has broken no known law or violated his visa requirements. According to his legal advisor in Australia, Marika Dias, "Scott has complied with that visa completely while he's been here. There's been no wrongdoing on his part."

Please take action TODAY to get our fellow progressive activist out of jail! Peace activists are not terrorists and should not be put in jail for their political opinions!

Call the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Embassy of Australia
1601 Mass. Ave, NW
Washington DC,
Tel: (202) 797-3000
Fax: (202) 797-3168

If you live in DC, please PROTEST AT THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY at 5 PM on Sunday, Sept. 11. Please RSVP for this protest by calling Andrea Buffa at 510-325-3653.