[AFP Answers to Questions on Notice asked in
Senate Legal & Constitutional Estimates on 20 November 2002 -
provided to the Senate on 9 January 2003
]

QoN 54

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Faulkner asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

I wonder whether you can inform the Committee whether tracking devices or listening devices were used as part of the disruption program in relation to the anti-people smuggling activities in Indonesia. I mean in this context whether these devices might have been placed in suspected illegal entry vessels.

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

The Commissioner recommended that the Minister request a claim of public interest immunity in relation to this issue. The Minister has accepted this position and has written separately to the Committee regarding this claim.

QoN 55

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

Provide an update on the investigation into Abu Quassey, especially in respect of SIEV X.

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

Since October 2001, the AFP has been investigating allegations that Abu Quassey is responsible for organising the movement of unlawful non-citizens into Australia.

On 3 June 2002, three first instance warrants for the arrest of Abu Quassey were sworn by the AFP with respect to three suspect illegal entrant vessels (SIEVs) known as the Donnybrook, Gelantipy and the Yambuk. The warrants allege three offences of organising the bringing of groups of unlawful non-citizens into Australia and seventy-two offences of bringing unlawful non-citizens into Australia, contrary to the provisions of sections 232A and 233(1)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act), respectively.

On 6 December 2002, the AFP swore a fourth warrant, alleging one offence of organising the bringing of groups of unlawful non-citizens into Australia and four offences of attempting to bring unlawful non-citizens into Australia, contrary to the provisions of sections 232A and 233(1)(a) of the Act, respectively. This warrant relates to SIEV X.

A total of four first instance warrants have now been issued for the arrest of Abu Quassey alleging a total of four offences of organising the bringing of groups of unlawful non-citizens into Australia and seventy-six offences of bringing or attempting to bring unlawful non-citizens into Australia contrary to the provisions of sections 232A and 233(1)(a) of the Act, respectively.

The swearing of the first instance warrants means an Interpol alert can be raised. Such an alert has been issued. It will ensure that the Commonwealth is in a position to seek the extradition of Abu Quassey should the circumstances allow.

QoN 56

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

a) Can you provide details of the AFP investigations regarding the interviewing of SIEV X survivors in Australia?

b) How many survivors did you interview?

c) I am also interested in what work the AFP officers in Indonesia may have done to ascertain details of the number of victims in the SIEV X tragedy and details of who they were.

d) I would like to know what knowledge the AFP has as to the individuals that may have been victims of this tragedy, and what role the AFP played in collecting that information.

e) I would like to know what knowledge you have of any lists of those that were involved, and the status of those lists.

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

a) Survivors in Australia were located and those who were willing were spoken to.

b) Six survivors in total were spoken to by AFP members: five adult survivors and a child. Four statements were obtained from those willing to provide statements.

c) AFP members in Indonesia made initial contact with the Indonesian National Police (INP) in relation to the arrival of survivors. Those members liaised with the INP in relation to the organising an investigative team to enquire into the SIEV X incident, which ultimately led to the arrest of Quassey by Indonesian authorities.

d) The AFP's knowledge of the victims of the tragedy is based on enquiries including interviews with survivors, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) and the Indonesian National Police.

e) Following the sinking of SIEV X, the AFP became aware of three lists which detail passengers purported to have boarded the vessel, those that disembarked the vessel shortly after it commenced its journey, and those that survived the tragedy. It is the AFP's understanding that the lists emanated from the IOM, DIMIA and AFP enquiries.

QoN 57

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

When we previously discussed evidence related to the SIEV X and other SIEVs, one of the difficulties that you took advice on and that constrained your ability to provide information to the Senate was various investigations and cases that may be afoot. Have any of those investigations or cases since been resolved?

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

Yes. Of the 12 vessels departing Indonesia bound for Australia post the Tampa incident in August 2001, four of the SIEVs were intercepted by the Navy and returned to Indonesia, the crews of five SIEVs have been sentenced and three matters are still before the courts.

QoN 58

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

Please detail the nature of the investigations to ascertain where precisely the SIEV X did sink. What other factors were relevant to a lack of ability to prove jurisdiction?

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

There is no information available to indicate the exact point where the SIEV X sank, despite all efforts to identify the site.

AFP members in Jakarta used information obtained from the Indonesian National Police and other sources, together with knowledge based on experience with previous people smuggling activities, to develop estimates of the characteristics of the SIEV X vessel. The members in Jakarta then sought the assistance of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) personnel at Post to calculate where the vessel may have foundered. Calculations were made based on:

  • The assessed weight and length of the vessel
  • Anticipated fuel load
  • Information from International Organisation for Migration (ie the number of passengers)
  • Speed of the vessel (maximum speed was assessed as 13 knots, realistically calculated at eight knots.)
  • Information from survivors that the vessel had stopped to let people off (timings of that from survivors)
  • The line of travel drawn from the departure point, Sunda Strait, to the intended arrival at Christmas Island.

I am advised that information was also obtained by the RAN from the company found to have owned SIEV X.

All avenues of enquiry have been exhausted.

QoN 59
SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

Can you apprise the committee of your understanding of where the case is at, in relation to the inquest regarding two deaths on SIEV7?

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

SIEV 7 did not land in Australia and was returned to Indonesia. If the question in fact relates to SIEV 10 the Western Australian coroner has handed down his decision and inquiries should be referred to the coroner's office.

QoN 60

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Collins asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

What investigations and/or legal cases relate to the milieu of issues around the various SIEVs during the period of our investigations in the Certain Maritime Incident inquiry?

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

As advised in the response to Question on Notice number 57:

Of the 12 vessels departing Indonesia bound for Australia post the Tampa incident in August 2001, four of the SIEVs were intercepted by the Navy and returned to Indonesia, the crews of five SIEVs have been sentenced and three matters are still before the courts.

QoN 62

SENATE ESTIMATES COMMITTEE
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Senator Faulkner asked the following question at the hearing of 20 November 2002:

What forms of assistance, technical and otherwise does Australia provide to the Indonesian National Police.

I am advised that the answer to the honourable Senator's question is as follows:

Since 2000, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) provided the following assistance to the Indonesian National Police: Under the Law Enforcement Cooperation Program (LECP), the AFP has provided a range of training opportunities to the INP aimed at increasing their capacities in the area of serious crime and law enforcement intelligence.

  • January 2002 - the AFP provided a Clandestine Laboratory (CLANLAB) Training course to the Indonesian National Police (INP) in Jakarta at a cost of approximately $65,000. Consequently, the INP has uncovered a number of significant CLANLABS capable of producing large quantities of ATS.

  • May 2001 - two INP officers attended a Strategic Intelligence Course conducted by the AFP in Singapore for SE Asian law enforcement agencies. There were 20 attendees at this regional training program, with the cost for the INP attendees being approximately $9,700 pro rata.

  • March 2001 - an INP officer attended the inaugural International Management of Serious Crime course conducted by the AFP in Singapore for SE Asian law enforcement agencies. A total of 18 attended this international training program with the cost for the INP attendee being approximately $10,000 pro rata.

  • During 2001 and 2002, a series of three Asian Amphetamine-Type Stimulants Workshops were held for regional law enforcement agencies in an effort to develop a complete strategic picture of ATS production and trafficking in the region. A total of four INP participants attended these workshops at a cost of approximately $4,500.

  • During 2001 the AFP provided Close Personal Protection training to the INP. A team of five AFP instructors delivered a three week basic training program for 20 participants. The approved budget for this activity totalled $120,000, including the supply of minor items of personal equipment.

  • November 2000 - an INP representative attended the joint AFP/Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) training program on the 'Total Approach to Illicit Drug Control' held in Singapore. The program sought to expose law enforcement practitioners from ASEAN countries to Singapore's drug demand reduction strategies and Australia's drug supply reduction strategies (hence the "total approach"). The AFP shared the total cost of the program with the CNB; therefore the AFP assistance to the INP representative was approximately $1,700.

  • July 2000 - two INP officers attended an Introduction to Law Enforcement Intelligence Course conducted by the AFP in Kuala Lumpur for SE Asian law enforcement agencies. A total of 18 attended this regional training program with the cost for the INP attendees being approximately $6,100 pro rata.

  • Five years ago, the AFP and INP formed a joint Working Group which meets annually to discuss transnational crime matters effecting both agencies. In June 2002, the AFP hosted the working group meeting in Perth where 12 INP delegates attended and the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of Australia on Combatting Transnational Crime and Developing Police Cooperation was signed. The cost of this was $45,000.

  • The AFP has established an Asian Regional Heads of Criminal Intelligence Workshop. This group meets on an annual basis to promote practical ways to deepen and broaden existing intelligence and operational cooperation and collaboration between law enforcement agencies in the region. Workshops have been successfully held in Bangkok in August 2001 and in Kuala Lumpur in August 2002. The INP delegates have taken a leading role in the workshops conducted to date.

People Smuggling
To enhance the cooperative relationship between the AFP and the INP on people smuggling issues, in the period February 2000 to September 2001, LECP funding of $99,800 was provided to the INP to assist with the establishment of a Special Intelligence Unit (SIU). The purpose of this Unit was to undertake investigations into persons committing offences against the laws and regulations of the Republic of Indonesia and Australia and support the prosecution of them to the fullest extent of the law and regulations of both countries. The funding included the provision of computers, facsimile machine, communications equipment and basic surveillance equipment.

In September 2000, a protocol was signed with the INP, which provided for 20 INP officers within the SIU to directly target the organisers of people smuggling in five police regions. Over the period February 2000 to September 2001, in excess of 3000 persons suspected of intending to enter Australia illegally were detained by Indonesian authorities pursuant to the cooperative arrangements.

In October 2000, one month after the commencement of the protocol, the AFP provided five days of investigation training to the INP SIU at a cost of $27,500.

In April 2002 the AFP sponsored the visit by the INP Chief of Police for the Nusa Tenggara Timor Region, his deputy and head of intelligence to Darwin and Canberra for Whole of Government briefings on People Smuggling issues relevant to this region of Indonesia. This visit was budgeted at $22,000.

Government Sector Linkages Program (GSLP)

Since 1998, the AFP has been able to access funds under GSLP, an AusAID funded program that provides up to $250,000 per year to complement existing relationships and activities where there is a strong development focus. The AFP has been able to utilise these funds to assist the INP in its reformation process to a conventional law enforcement agency following its separation from the military (TNI). During the financial year 2000/2001,the AFP expended $166,000 of these funds. For the financial year 2001/2002, the AFP bid was for $223,000. This amount was not fully expended and AusAID has approved extension of that funding into the current financial year.

Project activities supported under GSLP funding arrangements have focussed on strengthening the training capacities of the INP and include:

  • Curriculum development;
  • Workplace trainer and assessor;
  • Forensic exchanges;
  • Training Development officer exchanges;
  • English language training;
  • Instructor exchanges;
  • Human resource development;
  • Purchase of contemporary law enforcement texts; and
  • Organisational change strategies seminars.

X-URL: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/quest_answers/sup02_03/ag/qon51-62.pdf

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