NEW LEGISLATION MEANS DEATH PENALTY CAN NEVER BE REINTRODUCED
The Australian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the passage of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Torture Prohibition and Death Penalty Abolition) Bill 2009 which criminalises torture and prohibits the death penalty.
“With this landmark legislation now in place, Australia has taken a further important step towards meeting our international human rights obligations,” said AHRC President Cathy Branson QC.
Upon signing the Convention against Torture, Australia made a voluntary commitment to prohibit torture in all its forms. The convention requires Australia to ensure that all acts of torture are offences under domestic criminal law.
“Torture, defined as any act by which severe pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted upon a person by a public official for purposes such as obtaining information or a confession, is barbaric and inhumane,” Ms Branson said. “This new legislation will criminalise acts of torture whether committed within or outside Australia.”
The Bill also amends the Commonwealth Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 to extend the application of the current Federal prohibition on the death penalty to state laws. “The death penalty has been abolished throughout Australia and the passage of this bill ensures that it cannot be reintroduced anywhere in Australia,” she said. “The passage of this bill fulfils Australia obligations under the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which requires that Australia take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.
“The death penalty has no place in a humane society. By ensuring that it cannot be reintroduced, the government is ensuring the enduring protection of fundamental human rights.”
DETAILS: Shyamla Eswaran on 02 9284 9656 or 0430 366 529.
SAFE HAVEN FOR THE VULNERABLE?
The Joint Standing Committee on Migration was due to hear from the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), a non- government umbrella body assisting refugees and asylums seekers with over 130 member organisations on Wednesday.
A committee introduction stated that before coming to Australia humanitarian visa applicants may have experienced extremes of social dislocation, persecution and displacement for long periods. Resettlement provides a safe haven for those affected, with the hope of eventual reunification with their families and a productive future.
Migration Committee Chairperson Michael Danby said, “Australia supports family reunification through a range of humanitarian visas, many of which allow for a health waiver or an exemption from the migration health requirement. Even so, the committee has heard that some refugees disabled in war or conflict, may fail to get a visa under the migration health requirement’.
The Refugee Council of Australia maintains that Australia will be enriched by taking a more compassionate approach to humanitarian visa applicants. It cites research indicating significant long term economic contributions are made by resettled refugees, who are more entrepreneurial than the general population. This is despite barriers such as discrimination and trauma.
Mr Danby said: “It is in Australia’s best interests to support a process that gives our most vulnerable migrants the best chance for successful resettlement. A less compassionate approach may have long term negative effects on a refugee family’s capacity to adjust, and so to become productive in our community.”
DETAILS: www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/disability/index.htm; Secretariat on (02) 6277 4560; jscm@aph.gov.au.
OLYMPICS AND WORLD CUP SOCCER MUST TAKE UP HOUSING CAUSE: UN EXPERT
The Olympic Games and the football World Cup must champion the right to adequate housing, as such mega-events often drive people out of their homes, according to a new United Nations report by an independent human rights expert (9/3/10)
“I am particularly concerned about the practice of forced evictions, criminalisation of homeless persons and informal activities, and the dismantling of informal settlements in the context of
mega-events,” said Raquel Rolnik, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. Stepped-up demand for space to erect sports venues, hotels and roads could result in the demolition of existing buildings.
“The importance given to the creation of a new international image for the cities, as an integral part of the preparations for the games, often implies the removal of signs of poverty and underdevelopment through reurbanisation projects that prioritise city beautification over the needs of local residents,” said the new report, released the day before.
Displacement could also arise from steps taken by local authorities to swiftly remove unsightly slums from areas visible to visitors, it noted, citing how 15 per cent of the population of Seoul, Republic of Korea, was evicted and 48,000 buildings torn down to prepare for the 1988 Olympic Games.
Redevelopment can also sharply reduce the availability of social and low-cost housing, including state-subsidised residences, the publication pointed out. In Atlanta, United States, 1,200 social housing units for the poor were destroyed in the run-up to the 1996 Olympics, while it is possible that plans to build hundreds of thousands of new low-cost homes could be affected by shifting budget demands ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup soccer tournament.
Mega-events, Ms Rolnik said, “can be an opportunity to potentially enhance the right to adequate housing” by promoting infrastructural and environmental improvements for host cities. But redevelopment projects all too often result in extensive human rights violations, she said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has adopted the Olympic Movement Agenda 21, which, among other elements, seeks to fight social exclusion.
For its part, FIFA has stressed the need to promote sustainable development through football and has committed itself to promoting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets agreed upon by world leaders with a 2015 deadline.
The report called on both bodies to consider the consequences of mega-events on the enjoyment of human rights. The selection of host cities should be open to scrutiny by civil society, and housing provisions should be incorporated into any hosting agreements – which must be in line with international and national standards – entered into. Authorities must protect people from forced evictions, discrimination and harassment, as well as provide redress for victims, it said.
Ms Rolnik, an architect and urban planner, was appointed as Special Rapporteur in 2008. She serves in an unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council
EQUAL RIGHTS/OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN ESSENTIAL FOR BETTER HEALTH
Statement by Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realise rights recognised by law. In many countries, women are not entitled to own property or inherit land, stated Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organisation, to mark International Women's Day 2010 (8/3/10).
Social exclusion, ‘honour’ killings, female genital mutilation, trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage among others, denied the right to health to women and girls and increase illness and death throughout the life-course.
“We will not see sustainable progress unless we fix failures in health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, education, employment and political positions,” she said.
International Women's Day is a day of celebration and reflection on how to eliminate discrimination against women and girls. “For instance, a few days ago WHO and five UN partners pledged to jointly build a future of gender equality and social justice for adolescent girls. We are convinced that educated, healthy and skilled adolescent girls will help build a better future. They will stay in school, marry later, delay childbearing, have healthier children and earn better incomes that will benefit themselves, their families, communities and nations,” she said. DETAILS: Monika Gehner, Gender, Women and Health, WHO, Geneva, on + 41 22 791 3941; mob + 41 77 458 0320; gehnerm@who.int
FECCA CALLS ATTENTION TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS AT WORK
On International Women’s Day, the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) called attention to the potential ill effects of the (work) award modernisation process on women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds (8/3/10).
“In particular, FECCA is concerned that modern awards tend to emphasise broader, more general workplace issues, at the expense of women, including those with family and carer responsibilities, FECCA states.
“Those with poor bargaining power in the workplace, such as CALD women, have traditionally depended on awards and are unlikely to be able to negotiate for better working conditions,” said FECCA Women’s Chairperson, Helen Sara. “Parallel to this, FECCA is concerned that the National Employment Standards dealing with the requesting of flexible working arrangements and the extension of parental leave do not translate into enforceable entitlements,” Ms Sara said.
“This International Women’s Day we need to recognise the social and economic contribution that CALD women make to Australian society, and ensure their needs are not sidelined in the award modernisation process,” said Pino Migliorino, FECCA Chairperson. DETAILS: FECCA on 02 6282 5755.
PROTECTION FOR WOMEN ‘IS PARAMOUNT TO END IMPUNITY’
The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) has called on governments to promote justice for women by ratifying the Rome Statute and by implementing its landmark gender provisions at the national level (8/3/10).
Its call came on March 8, International Women’s Day. The coalition is a global network of more than 2,500 organisations in 150 countries advocating for a fair, effective and independent International Criminal Court (ICC).
The coalition said it wished to recall the importance of the Rome Statute as a powerful instrument for protecting women’s rights.
“Countries are strongly encouraged to bring their national laws in line with the standards enshrined in the Rome Statute, both in terms of criminalising the serious crimes contained in the statute and by assuring that laws make full cooperation with the court possible,” said William R. Pace, Convenor of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court.
International Women's Day helps bring into sharper focus the urgency of the work of the court to end impunity for crimes against women and serves as a reminder that civil society needs to push states parties of the Rome Statute to continually move forward with effective and comprehensive implementation so that the protection of women’s rights were guaranteed at both national and international levels.
DETAILS: Mariana RodrÃguez-Pareja on (212) 687-2863 x17; rodriguez@coalitionfortheicc.org|www.coalitionfortheicc.org rodriguez@coalitionfortheicc.org; www.iccnow.org/?mod=gender; www.coalitionfortheicc.org
BOOST FOR RURAL WOMEN'S VOICE
Rural and regional women across Australia will have greater opportunity to engage with government with the announcement of funding for the National Rural Women's Coalition (NRWC), an Australian Government media release stated (10/3/10).
Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Maxine McKew, announced that the Australian Government would invest $600,000 over three years to ensure women from rural, regional and remote areas are able to bring forward the concerns and issues from their communities.
Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Maxine McKew, announced that the Australian Government would invest $600,000 over three years to ensure women from rural, regional and remote areas are able to bring forward the concerns and issues from their communities.
The NRWC provides a voice for over 250,000 women in rural and regional areas, as well as their families, communities and associated networks. REPORT: http://www.tanyaplibersek.fahcsia.gov.au/internet/tanyaplibersek.nsf/content/boost_rural_womens_voice_10mar2010.htm
MI5 DIDN’T KNOW ‘ABOUT US HARSH TREATMENT OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS’
US intelligence agencies misled allies, including Britain, about US mistreatment of suspected terrorists, the former head of MI5 has said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald (11/3/10).
Eliza Manningham-Buller, who retired as head of Britain's domestic spy agency in 2007 and is now a member of the House of Lords, said the Americans suppressed details of their harsh handling of some prisoners, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of organising the September 11 attacks.
REPORT: http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-kept-us-in-the-dark-on-torture-spy-chief-20100310-pzdt.html
CRITICAL TO REDUCING INDIGENOUS YOUTH CRIME RATES
The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs was due to hear from Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) on Thursday, 11 March, as part of its inquiry into the high level of involvement of Indigenous juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system.
In an introduction, ICV stated that intervention with children and youth at risk is critical to ensure they achieved their full potential and made a positive contribution to society. The ICV submission argues that good quality early intervention programs with youth at risk represent a cost-effective investment of public monies.
The CEO of ICV, Gregory Andrews was to discuss with the committee the relationship between community development and reduced Indigenous offending. ICV is engaged in diversion from the criminal justice system of Indigenous youth by creating enabling environments in communities through broad-based community development projects that harness Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s assets to overcome disadvantage and dysfunction.
The committee is investigating how the development of social norms and behaviours for Indigenous juveniles and young adults can lead to positive social engagement.
Bob Debus, Committee Chairperson, said, “Indigenous youth are highly over-represented in juvenile and youth detention centres and prisons. It is not enough that young Indigenous people simply avoid contact with the criminal justice system. We need to ensure that they are given every opportunity to positively contribute to not just their communities but Australian society as a whole.”
NEW COMMISSIONER TAKES TO ROAD OVER MOST PRESSING CONCERNS
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda hopes to gather first hand information on the most pressing concerns and the most innovative solutions being developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples when he takes to the road next week to meet with key organisations and community leaders around Australia.
From March to June, Commissioner Gooda will meet with communities, organisations, government, parliamentary, community, academic and private sector stakeholders, beginning in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Mr Gooda starts his visit this weekend in Cape York and throughout the coming week will meet with Cape York Land Council, Cape York Health Council and the Cape York Family Violence Prevention Unit in Cairns. He will also be meeting with the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council, key Yarrabah community organisations and Cape York Partnerships in Cairns.
He will also visit a range of metropolitan, regional and remote locations in Townsville, Palm Island, the Torres Strait Islands and Darwin in the coming month. He will also be meeting with key stakeholders in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Canberra over the next months.
DETAILS: Louise McDermott on 02 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597.
BOUQUET FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS’ RESCUERS
The Search and Rescue Team sited in Canberra spent the past 24 hours coordinating the search for a refugee boat in trouble, with very limited information, writes Pamela Curr, of the
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The boat was found early in the afternoon of March 6. With 60 - 70 people on board, mostly families and children, it could have been a tragedy, she says. They had been on the water for three nights, had run out of water and were lost. The last communication was at 6pm on the last night requesting help amid concerns about the windy, rainy conditions.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The boat was found early in the afternoon of March 6. With 60 - 70 people on board, mostly families and children, it could have been a tragedy, she says. They had been on the water for three nights, had run out of water and were lost. The last communication was at 6pm on the last night requesting help amid concerns about the windy, rainy conditions.
“The Search and Rescue team were fantastic. No politics, no recriminations, no veiled criticism as they were totally task focussed on finding this boat and getting help. Straightforward in their communication with no coy confidentiality, they deserve congratulations for their professional approach,” she says. The people are safe and presumably would go to Christmas Island to have their claims processed.
DETAILS: on 03 9326 6066 / 0417517075.
DETAILS: on 03 9326 6066 / 0417517075.
300,000 AUSTRALIANS TO GET SECRET BALLOT
Graeme Innes, Australia's Disability Discrimination Commissioner, is among the 300,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision that may finally have a secret ballot in Federal Elections, thanks to changes to the Electoral Act that were tabled in Parliament by the Australian Government.
"At the last Federal Election I voted in secret for the first time in my life," Commissioner Innes said. "However, that process was only a trial, with no ongoing commitment. These proposed changes will make secret ballots a permanent part of the voting process for me and many other Australians who are blind or have low vision."
The changes are included in amendments to the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Close of Rolls and Other Measures) Bill 2010, tabled in the Senate on behalf of Special Minister of State, Senator Joe Ludwig.
If the changes are passed, they will allow the Electoral Commissioner to determine the method of secret ballot. For the next election, this will mean that electors who are blind or who have low vision will have the option of attending an AEC divisional office where they can be connected to trained call centre operators to complete the ballot papers.
"I'm an Australian who is proud of our democratic values and system," Mr Innes said. "It will be wonderful to be permanently and fully included in that democratic process, and not to have someone else complete my ballot paper." He congratulated the government on the initiative and urged all political parties to support full inclusion for Australians who are blind or have low vision. DETAILS: Shyamla Eswaran on 02 9284 9656 or 0430 366 529.
CALL TO PUT HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: AI
Amnesty International has called on Australia to put human rights first in any agreements with Indonesia on people- smuggling and refugees, Radio Australia reported (10/3/10).
The human rights group says Australia must ensure bilateral co-operation is in line with its international commitments as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees.
People-smuggling was among the regional security issues to be discussed during a visit to Australia by Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The human rights group says Australia must ensure bilateral co-operation is in line with its international commitments as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees.
People-smuggling was among the regional security issues to be discussed during a visit to Australia by Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.