Universal Periodic Review – Media Coverage and Press Releases


Media Coverage


Press Releases

Monday, 4 April 2011 – Australia in Breach of International Human Rights Law – Needs to Adopt UN’s Recommendations

A legal analysis of the recommendations the Australian Government received at a recent United Nation’s review of Australia’s human rights track record has found that 55 must be implemented immediately in order for Australia to avoid continuing breaches of its legal obligations under international law.

Providing an evaluation of all 145 recommendations received from Australia’s global peers – including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Ghana, Mexico and South Africa – the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) has urged the Government to take urgent steps to comply with international law. This action includes introducing legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and putting an end to its policies of mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

HRLC Director of International Human Rights Advocacy, Ben Schokman, said Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers received significant criticism during the review and was vastly out of step with the international norms.

“Not only do the Government’s regressive immigration policies continue to demean Australia’s moral standing on the world stage, but they also put Australia in clear breach of our international legal obligations,” Mr Schokman said.

A number of the recommendations highlight that Australia is falling behind the developed world in the area of combating discrimination.

“It is clear that as a matter of law, the Australian Government needs to legislate to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Comparable countries such as New Zealand addressed this in the 1980s, but we have not. Australia is simply not keeping up with social norms or indeed legal standards and obligations, including under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.” Mr Schokman said.

The analysis, prepared by the HRLC’s team of lawyers specializing in human rights and presented to the Attorney-General’s Department, assessed each of the 145 recommendations made to Australia and ranked them into four categories:

  • must be accepted as a matter of international human rights law;
  • should be accepted as a matter of international human rights law;
  • desirable to accept to better protect human rights; and
  • should be rejected as a matter of law as it is incompatible with international human rights law.

Mr Schokman said the recommendations should not be seen as a burden, but as a constructive and important opportunity to improve Australia’s human rights record and compliance with international law.

“The UN’s Universal Periodic Review provides the opportunity for Australia to receive frank advice and suggestions from its allies and international partners. We’re talking about practical measures that we could take to better protect and promote human rights in Australia. For example, if implemented, Russia and New Zealand’s recommendations for specific steps to combat the high level of deaths in custody, we might avoid repeating the situations that lead to the death of Mr Ward in Western Australia or teenager Tyler Cassidy in Melbourne,” Mr Schokman said.

Contact:

Ben Schokman, Human Rights Law Centre, 0403 622 810 or ben.schokman@hrlc.org.au


Tuesday, 1 February 2011 - Australia Commits to Give Full and Proper Consideration to 145 International Recommendations to Better Protect Human Rights

Australia has committed to the international community to reconsider issues including the absence of a national Human Rights Act, same-sex marriage equality and mandatory immigration detention in Geneva overnight.

Appearing before the UN Human Rights Council, the Australian Government committed to give full and proper consideration to 145 recommendations made by the international community last week to improve Australia’s human rights performance.  The recommendations arose from a major United Nations review in which 50 countries from across the world – including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Ghana, Mexico and South Africa – made a series of robust recommendations on how Australia could better protect and promote human rights.

Appearing before the Council, Australian Ambassador to the United Nations, Peter Woolcott, said that while the Government was not yet prepared to accept or reject any of the recommendations, it would fully consider and formally respond to each recommendation to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011.

“We trust that the Australian Government’s decision to delay its formal response to the recommendations means that it will give proper, meaningful and detailed consideration to each of the 145 recommendations to better protect human rights made by the international community,” said Ben Schokman of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, who was in Geneva to witness the Australian Government’s response.  “Between now and June, when it will provide its full response, Australia has the opportunity to close the gap between rhetoric and concrete action by accepting – and indeed taking steps to implement – these recommendations.”

Despite many countries during the review congratulating Australia on recent Government commitments to strengthen human rights, many also made strong recommendations on how Australia must do better to protect human rights, including urging that Australia enact a Human Rights Act, recognise same-sex marriage, abolish mandatory immigration detention and entrench the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution.

At today’s session, Ambassador Woolcott, addressed the UN Human Rights Council but did not indicate the Government’s position on any of the specific recommendations that were made.  He did, however, acknowledge that Australia has much work to do in many areas, citing the significant social and economic disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people, the prevalence of violence against women and children, and the continued practice of non-therapeutic sterilisation of children with disability as ongoing human rights issues that Australia must address.

“In the coming months, Australia’s true commitment to human rights will be put to the test both at home and abroad,” said Phil Lynch of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre.  “Australia should be held to a high human rights standard.  We tout ourselves as a ‘principled advocate of human rights for all’ and are a highly developed and democratised country.  Despite this, we are as well known internationally for Aboriginal disadvantage and our treatment of asylum seekers as we are for barbecues and beaches.  It is time for change.”

Les Malezer, of the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, said that this is particularly the case for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  “We’ve seen a number of positive steps taken by the Australian Government, such as the apology to the stolen generations and endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  However, now is the time for action.  How will the Government respond to these recommendations?  What concrete steps will the Government take beyond the mere rhetoric?”, asked Mr Malezer.

“As an affluent, highly developed, stable democracy, Australia has no excuse for continuing to neglect some of its most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations,” said Mr Schokman.  “Australia can and should do better, and adopting the recommendations made by the international community will be an important step to improving Australia’s human rights record.”

The review, known as the Universal Periodic Review, is a process which provides all 193 UN countries the opportunity to ask questions and make recommendations regarding the human rights performance of each country under review.

Many of the issues and recommendations raised during the review of Australia closely reflected many of those identified by an Australian NGO Coalition in submissions to the UN and meetings and briefings with foreign diplomats in Geneva.  The Coalition, which represents over 70 leading human rights organisations, includes the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres, Women’s Legal Services NSW, the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, Kingsford Legal Centre and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights.

Contacts:

Geneva – Ben Schokman, Human Rights Law Resource Centre, 0403 622 810 or ben.schokman@hrlc.org.au
Geneva – Les Malezer, Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, + 41 79 606 1859 or les.malezer@gmail.com
Melbourne – Phil Lynch, Human Rights Law Resource Centre, 0438 776 433 or phil.lynch@hrlrc.org.au
Sydney – Liz Snell, Women’s Legal Services NSW, + 61 (0)450 107 667 or lizs@wlsnsw.org.au


Sunday, 23 January 2011 – World to Hear About Australia’s Human Rights Record and Concerns

A coalition of over 70 leading human rights organisations will today brief foreign diplomats from around the world in Geneva about Australia’s human rights record.

The briefing will give diplomats the opportunity to hear first hand about areas of human rights concern in advance of a major international review of Australia on 27 January at the United Nations.

The Universal Periodic Review is a peer review process which provides all 192 UN member countries the opportunity to ask questions and make recommendations regarding the human rights performance of the country under review. This is the first time that Australia has been reviewed under this mechanism.

The NGO coalition will brief diplomats on issues including Indigenous exclusion and disadvantage, violence against women, homelessness, refugee rights and the lack of a national Human Rights Act.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience unconscionable exclusion and disadvantage in all areas of life,” said Ben Schokman of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre. “In a highly developed democracy it is a national shame that Indigenous peoples are imprisoned at a rate of over 20 times the national average and live on average 13 to 17 years less.” Mr Schokman added that “the Northern Territory Intervention, imposed with minimal consultation and in a manner incompatible with the Racial Discrimination Act, is symptomatic of the systemic racism that many Aboriginal and Islander Australians confront.”

“Almost one in three Australian women experience physical violence in their lifetime,” said Liz Snell from Women’s Legal Services NSW. “As a matter of priority, Australia must fully implement and fund a robust National Plan on Violence against Women and Children.” Ms Snell also said women continue to experience discrimination in the workforce. “Women comprise less than 10% of directors on ASX200 boards and suffer a widening pay equity gap,” said Ms Snell. “Mandatory targets in the workforce should be implemented to address gender discrimination and inequality.”

Many diplomats have already raised concerns with the coalition regarding Australia’s refugee and asylum seeker policy. “Australia continues to detain people fleeing torture and persecution, including over 1000 children, in detention centres that are often extremely remote,” said Philip Lynch of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre. “Mandatory immigration detention is not only contrary to international human rights standards but detrimental to the health of detainees and Australia’s international standing.” Mr Lynch also said that the fact that over 100,000 people are homeless across Australia shocked many diplomats given Australia’s affluence and level of development.

Among more than 50 recommendations made by the NGO Coalition, Mr Schokman said that the enactment of a national Human Rights Act is one of the most critical. “A comprehensive national Human Rights Act could contribute to the alleviation of poverty and disadvantage and promote a stronger, healthier and more inclusive democracy,” he said.

The members of the NGO coalition include the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres, Women’s Legal Services NSW, the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, Kingsford Legal Centre and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. The NGO Coalition has already held individual briefings with countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, China and Malaysia.

Contacts:

Ben Schokman and Phil Lynch, Human Rights Law Resource Centre, + 41 76 708 4738 or phil.lynch@hrlrc.org.au
Les Malezer, Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, + 41 79 606 1859 or les.malezer@gmail.com


Further Information

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