"Terrorist attack" prompts apology
Ryan Heath* Police armed with machine guns from Tactical Response Squad closed off several blocks of the North Sydney business district on June 8, responding to reports that a group of armed terrorists had taken children and staff hostage in the Colombian Consulate. Here's what really happened... 9.30 am: A group of 16 protesters, including myself and an Australian Associated Press journalist, entered the Colombian consulate on the 12th floor of a North Sydney office block. We informed them that we wanted to speak to the representatives of the Colombian President in relation to the assassinations of 200 trade union activists by right-wing government death squads in Colombia in just 18 months. After about 30 seconds of discussion the staff agreed to let us use their phones and fax and assisted us in contacting the right people by providing Colombian phone directories and so on. The atmosphere in the consulate in that time must be made clear: visitors in the office were still having their visas processed by consulate staff; children continued to play with toys in the reception area; a man delivered stationery to the office; even though, according to the police, the "siege" was already under way. 10.30am: The protest seemed to be wrapping up so the AAP journalist and myself headed out to leave — only to find that the lifts had been locked and the building evacuated. We called AAP who told us the surrounding blocks had been cordoned off and the police were conducting a press conference about the "terrorist attack". We decided that leaving the building might lead to us being shot so we stayed put and relayed the news to those still in the consulate office. 10.45am: The phones and fax in the office were cut off but we still had two mobile phones. There were only four English speakers out of the 19 people present, and police had not made contact. 12pm: Te called the media, asking them to get the police to tell us what was happening. In doing this we emphasised: the staff were not being held against their will — they were too scared to leave just like us; we had no weapons; and we wanted to leave peacefully. 1.15pm: We told the police we were going to leave, which we decided to do in small groups to protect ourselves. The Police lied to the media and said 14 of the 16 refuse to leave. 1.20pm: As each small group attempts to leave by the fire escape, they were confronted by three or four police pointing huge machine guns in their faces. We were detained and had our bodies and possessions searched. They wouldn't inform us if we had been arrested, or what charges had been laid against us. 1.30 pm: Locked up at North Sydney Police station, we were all separated and interviewed Federal Police. Federal immigration authorities interview all the non-English speaking detainees. One man — and Australian resident — was detained as an illegal immigrant because he had no ID. Most of the police officers assigned to guard each of us think the whole thing is a joke, and go get us some McDonalds because they felt sorry for us. No-one had eaten all day. 5.15 pm: 14 of the 16 protesters are gathered up to the staff tea room for a joint address by the NSW and Federal Police who go to great lengths to apologise to us. Some of the specific phrases used were: "We made a mistake — we acknowledge you had no weapons"; "You are free to go, we are sorry this has happened"; "We recognise this was a peaceful protest". Later that night Commissioner Peter Ryan exploits the situation as a publicity opportunity for the NSW Police. He lies and says the police did not apologise and that the police did not over-react. Ultimately, we found out that the "weapon" which provoked Australia's largest "anti-terrorist" operation since the Hilton bombing in 1978, was the NUS flag I took to the protest. * Ryan Heath is NSW President of the National Union of Students.