David Hicks 'wrongs must be righted'

David Hicks not confident appeal will succeed but 'wrongs must be righted'

The former Guantánamo Bay detainee and his lawyers say there is a legal precedent for having his terrorism conviction quashed

Helen Davidson

David Hicks and his legal team do not expect success in their appeal against Hicks's terrorism-related conviction in front of a US military court, but say it is "a first step" to a declaration of innocence.

Hicks lodged an appeal with the US court of military commission review on Tuesday night against his conviction for a crime which he and his legal team say does not exist – that of providing material support for terrorism.

His team also argue that his guilty plea was given under duress after an "inexcusable" six years in Guantánamo Bay. Recently overturned convictions in similar cases, including that of Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan, provide the precedence on which the team will argue.

At a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday morning, Hicks and his team revealed they are not confident of success, describing the process as "more a formality'' and inferring they expect the commission to deny the appeal. They will then take the case to US civilian federal courts where they hope to have the conviction quashed – the same process that led to the striking of Hamdan's conviction.

Hicks told reporters that he hopes to obtain "formal recognition of my innocence so that the wrongs of the past committed against me can be righted – allowing me to heal and put it all behind me and move on with my life''.

"If I ever leave Australian jurisdiction, I can be retained by the US as an enemy combatant," Hicks said.

"That means I don't need to be charged, I can never go in front of a court, can never go in front of a judge, and they'll never need to give an excuse, a reason or a justification for why I've been detained except 'he's an enemy combatant'. That's just one of a whole heap of reasons."

When asked why he would want to bring it all to the fore again, Hicks replied that it was because "it's not behind me".

Hicks, who now works as a panelbeater in Sydney, said he and his family are still dealing with the repercussions of his incarceration. He has received counselling and medical treatment for injuries sustained in Guantánamo Bay, including back pain, broken bones, dental problems from not being allowed to brush his teeth for six years and psychological issues.

A recent report detailed that a number of medical practitioners were involved in interrogations of Guantánamo Bay detainees. Hicks confirmed to GuardianAustralia that this included himself.

"They had teams called 'biscuit teams' – behavioural science consultation teams," he said.

"The way they interrogate you in Guantánamo is they find out as much as they can about your past life, when it comes to fears, likes, dislikes. Then they do various experiments on you to see how you react to different situations.

"There was a lot of medical personnel that were involved in the process as well. I was forced to have a lot of injections that had very negative effects on me and obviously that's medical personnel involved in that."

Hicks also said cases of post-traumatic stress disorder were used against detainees, including abusive punishments against people who attempted suicide.

Hicks said he has not thought about seeking compensation. His lawyer Stephen Kenny told Guardian Australia he thought it would be unlikely, as he had looked into other similar cases and "the American government has always stepped in and said these are matters of national security, and stopped the cases proceeding".

Kenny did say he'd like to mount a case against the Australian government. "My opinion is that they aided and abetted war crimes, effectively, in their support of the treatment of those in Guantánamo Bay," said Kenny, though he could not identify any particular action he could take.

At the time of his guilty plea, Hicks signed an appellate waiver, but it was not filed correctly. Kenny said that it was irrelevant because of their argument for appeal. "If the crime did not exist then everything else falls away."

"I'm very pleased the Howard government is no longer in charge of the place," Kenny said. "I hope the Abbott government is a little more supportive of the rule of law and upholding Australian citizens' rights, but we're not expecting, nor are we asking for any particular support."

Hicks said they were also awaiting a decision on a formal complaint lodged with the United Nations, which they expect a ruling on in the "not too distant future".

The prime minister's office has been contacted for comment.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/david-hicks-not-confident-appeal