Speaking of Nauru, our neighbours sank further into dictatorship yesterday when the Parliament passed legislation legitimising their unlawful seizure of an opposition MP Sprent Dabwido's passport and preventing the courts from overturning such decisions:
The Nauru government has passed amendments to the country's passport laws to give it broader powers to cancel passports.
It had earlier cancelled the passports of several former MPs and others who allegedly took part in an anti-government protest in June 2015.
The Justice Minister David Adeang introduced the amendments to the Passport Act 2011, which passed with a voice vote in the house, where the government enjoys a 16-2 majority.
He told parliament the new law allows the government to cancel passports of people it reasonably thinks might engage in acts that threaten the national or economic security of the country.
And of course opposing the government is considered a threat to national security.
In this case, Dabwido will die unless he receives medical treatment in Australia (Nauru's medical facilities are substandard, of course - gulag money goes to politicians, not hospitals!) So, the government is basicly trying to kill an opposition MP, or force a by-election by forcing them to become a foreign citizen in order to receive a travel document to leave the country. Australia could end this abuse in an instant by jerking its purse-strings. The fact that they don't tells you everything you need to know about their desire for democracy and human rights on Nauru.
