Carr critical of DFAT over Zygier case

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says his department's handling of the Ben Zygier case was unsatisfactory. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has criticised his department's handling of the shadowy case of Melbourne man and suspected Israeli spy Ben Zygier.

Senator Carr last month ordered a review of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) handling of the case, shortly after Mr Zygier was named as Israel's mysterious "Prisoner X".

Mr Zygier, a dual citizen of Australia and Israel, was detained for alleged Israeli national security offences in February 2010 and died in a supposedly suicide-proof cell 11 months later.

It's believed he worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad.

Senator Carr says the DFAT review found Mr Zygier was granted regular access to a lawyer and more than 50 visits by family members during his detention.

But he criticised a lack of clarity in government decision-making over consular responsibilities.

"The Zygier case was complex and outside the normal bounds of consular activity," Senator Carr said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However it is unsatisfactory that there was a lack of clarity over the exercise of consular responsibilities."

Senator Carr says it's also unsatisfactory that details of assistance provided by Israeli authorities to Mr Zygier were not sought by or provided to DFAT until he ordered the review.

"I acknowledge DFAT's contemporaneous assessment that Israel would not have granted direct consular access to Mr Zygier," he says.

"However it would have been preferable for follow-up information to have been sought in 2010."

Senator Carr admitted for the first time Mr Zygier was an "employee of the Israeli government".

But the minister could not confirm or deny Mr Zygier worked for Mossad.

He also revealed then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and then-foreign minister Stephen Smith were not told of Mr Zygier's arrest.

The DFAT report notes it would have been "prudent" for Australian intelligence agencies - who knew about Zygier's arrest within days - to consult with Australia's ambassador in Tel Aviv about the likelihood of officials being granted consular access to him.

"A more coherent system for handling intelligence information on individual consular cases would have assisted management of issues around Mr Zygier's circumstances," Senator Carr said.

The report recommends any Australian agency that becomes aware of the detention of an Australian citizen tell the relevant ambassador or high commissioner, unless the foreign minister grants an exemption.

The report also recommends DFAT lead the development of a protocol for dealing with individuals detained on intelligence-related matters.

A better system should be developed to ensure senior consular officers can access written records, including intelligence, of sensitive cases, the report adds.

It also calls for a further review into the consular services that should be provided by Australia to dual nationals, like Zygier.

"I have directed that these recommendations be implemented," Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr says if it emerges Australian passports are being used by other countries to conduct intelligence operations, the government will be outraged.

"It's something to which we would take the strongest opposition," he told reporters in Sydney.

"We can't live with that."

Australia expelled an Israeli diplomat in May 2010 after it emerged forged Australian passports were used in the assassination of Hamas agent Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

"There is no evidence Mr Zygier was involved in the Dubai incident," Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr said there were questions about the Zygier case that remained unanswered.

"There's a lot about this that's odd."

DFAT secretary Peter Varghese met with Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem to seek information about the case while he was preparing the report, Senator Carr said.

But there was no information forthcoming, Senator Carr said.

Mr Zygier - also known as Ben Alon and Ben Allen - trained as a lawyer in Melbourne but moved to Israel in 2000.

Seven days after he was found hanged in his cell at age 34, his body was flown back to Melbourne, where he is buried in a Jewish cemetery.

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