Habib's Cuban-style interrogation by Tom Allard juxtaposed with Vital lessons in Holocaust memories by David Humphries.

I know when I hear the name Habib, I always think of Fat Pizza and the character on there... But this is something that's a bit more worrying than that. Well, a lot more worrying (ohmoygooowrrd Habibiieee).

It's bad enough that the government is now something to be a lil bit more worried by (alert and alarmed), seeing as they've given themselves extra powers to spy on Australian's e-mails and SMS's (although as some have pointed out, it's unlikely that they'll listen to anything contained in them, seeing as they never listen to the Australian public on any other matter), but the police?

Well, I guess the police have always been a bit of a worry. But they're meant to be the ones helping to protect us from the people who'd do us harm rather than being the ones beating seven kinds of heck out of us, detaining us when we're innocent and stealing from us. And then the totally moronic response from Inspector Gary Buckley from Parramatta police of, "We will investigate and concerns he [Mamdouh Habib] has about the way he was treated."

"Any concerns" makes it sound like, "It was just a routine thing, what's he complaining about anyways? That we didn't send him home with a box of chocolates? What a silly man..."

Personally, I hope Mr Habib does sue. No-one should be treated by the police in that manner. To excuse allegations of that sort of thing and not start your own internal investigation is inexcusable.

As Justice Michael Kirby says, "Every act of discrimination by our Parliament and governments dishonours our nation. We honour the memories recorded in this book [the Holocaust book - read the article above] most worthily when we resolve to respect the freedoms and dignity of all people and to be vigilant for our own."

The same applies to the police force and general citizens.

Some interesting letters about it from today's Sydney Morning Herald:

Alerted and alarmed

Some might think that Michael Kirby's warnings, expressed in "Learn from Holocaust, says Kirby" (April 3), are a little far- fetched but, across the page, the report on Mamdouh Habib's treatment by the NSW police ("Habib's Cuban-style interrogation") suggests otherwise.

We need to be alarmed and alerted by such overkill, and a free press like ours is invaluable, for it enables us scrutinise the actions of our "authorities".
Gerhard Fricke Bundanoon

Nice work, Herald. The juxtaposition of the Michael Kirby article and the report about the alleged questioning of Mamdouh Habib by our police is a timely reminder of where John Howard has led our country.

Habib has a growing number of strikes against him. Howard declared him guilty of terrorism without trial. He is a Muslim. His wife continues to wear her headscarf despite warnings from the gormless Bronwyn Bishop. Finally he made the mistake of offering information to police about a crime he witnessed. In fact he was acting on our Government's advice to "be alert …".

Now, like the rest of us, he is even more alarmed.
Peter Bennett Nelson Bay