Human Rights

Human Rights

THE NATIONAL ON-LINE PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

UNity

DEPUTY UN CHIEF CITES NEED TO ACT ON GENDER EQUALITY

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro

While there have been advances over the past 15 years to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, there was still a clear need to move from commitment to action in several key areas, the Deputy Secretary-General said at the start of a two-week UN meeting on women (1/3/10). Dr Asha-Rose Migiro visited Australia this week to speak at International Women’s Day events.

Addressing the opening of the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Asha-Rose Migiro said many countries had achieved gains in various areas, including education and the development of national laws, policy and programs, thanks in no small part to the efforts of women’s groups and networks around the world.

“More and more people now understand that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is not just a goal in itself, but a key to sustainable development, economic growth, and peace and security,” she told delegates at UN Headquarters.

This year’s session of the commission marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 – which remains the most comprehensive global policy framework to achieve the goals of gender equality, development and peace.

The platform called for action on 12 key issues: poverty, education and training, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and girls.

Member states, representatives of civil society and the private sector were meeting for two weeks to assess what has been achieved since the Beijing Conference, share experiences and good practices and discuss priority actions to deal with persistent obstacles and new challenges.

REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33926&Cr=gender+equality&Cr1=

WOMEN FROM BURMA TESTIFY ABOUT RAPE, TORTURE AND CRIME
On March 2 the Nobel Women's Initiative and the Women's League of Burma jointly convened a testimonial event in New York City when participants, and those watching a webcast, could hear the compelling testimony - for the first time ever - of 12 women from Burma who have suffered rape, torture and other crimes at the hands of the military junta. The stories were to represent thousands of other untold stories from across Burma - stories of fear, anguish, resistance, escape, perseverance and hope for change.

The testifiers in the third and final session of testimony spoke to violations of economic, social and cultural rights which continue systematically across Burma (Myanmar). They related their experiences of forced relocation, forced labour and living as displaced people, either in the jungles of Burma or as refugees beyond its borders. Consistently, they described the breakdown of community and their loss of "home".

One testifier described her family's ties to her home village: "In the old village, all my siblings were born. All my siblings grew up there. We also had our plantations, which gave us life". Another testifier said that though her family moved back and forth over the border many times to escape government oppression, they "always preferred to be in Burma, because it was where we felt was home". This testifier asked people to remember that while these stories are common across Burma, they should never be regarded as normal.

The last group of testifiers expressed deep concern for future generations. Forced relocation over generations, lack of education, poverty and continued violence pose real risks for the future of Burma.

WEBCAST: International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma: http://tinyurl.com/yzywzgn#burma.

STORIES OF WOMEN: http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/blogs/burmatribunal

MORE INFORMATION: http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/; http://www.womenofburma.org/;

DETAILS: Zetty Brake, Campaign Coordinator, Burma Campaign Sydney:
zetty@aucampaignforburma.org; on 02 9264 7694/0416 289 235

UNICEF SUPPORTS CHILDREN IN EASTERN INDIA AGAINST EARLY MARRIAGE

Girls learn to read in Bubel village in Orissa, India

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is supporting a new anti-child marriage movement in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, where nearly half of all girls become child brides and one-third become teenage mothers even though the legal marriage age is 18, the UN News reported (1/3/10).

“We need to have a zero-tolerance policy towards child marriage, so that every child, boy and girl, has the opportunity to live their childhood and gain an education,” said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF India Representative.

Some 225 children launched the movement – called ‘Amar Shaishab Amar Adhikar’ (My Childhood, My Right) – last week at a meeting jointly hosted by the UNICEF office in Kolkata (Calcutta) and the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, West Bengal Government.

“Today is a historic day for our children because they have decided to change the status quo and demand for what is rightfully theirs,” said Biswanath Choudhury, Minister in Charge of the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, West Bengal Government. He said that a child bride was “more vulnerable to poverty, hunger, abuse, disease and maternal mortality – a legacy that may well be passed on to her own children.”

As part of the launch, children released a manifesto they developed as a first call for action. The manifesto is the first time views of children have been gathered on child marriage and translated into tangible actions for parents, teachers and communities. In West Bengal, UNICEF efforts to prevent early marriages have included implementing a village- level monitoring system to track child marriages and support for a state consultation on child marriage.

UNICEF released a report in October of last year – Progress for Children: A Report Card on Child Protection – calling for improved child protection systems and for greater promotion of social change to prevent actions against children, such as child marriage.

REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33928&Cr=india&Cr1=

SEARING ALLEGATIONS OVER HUGO CHAVEZ’S VENEZUELA

The Organization of American States has failed to respond to the steady deterioration of Latin American democracy during the past few years, even though the defence of democracy is supposed to be one of its primary missions. Now the OAS -- and governments throughout the region -- have been shamed by one of its own branch organisations. Last week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a searing and authoritative report on the destruction of Venezuela's political institutions and the erosion of freedom under President Hugo Chávez. It's a powerful and sometimes chilling account of what OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and the organisation's permanent council have been ignoring.

In meticulous detail, the 300-page report documents how Mr Chávez's regime has done away with judicial independence, intimidated or eliminated opposition media, stripped elected opposition leaders of their powers, and used bogus criminal charges to silence human rights groups. Much of this has been reported. But the commission, made up of seven jurists and rights activists from Antigua, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States, offers a level of detail and a stance of impartiality that ought to discredit those defenders of Mr Chávez who paint his critics as Yanqui imperialists or coup-plotters.

Particularly shocking is the commission's account of the role that violence and murder have played in Mr Chávez's concentration of power. The report documents killings of journalists, opposition protesters and farmers; it says that 173 trade union leaders and members were slain between 1997 and 2009 "in the context of trade union violence, with contract killings being the most common method for attacking union leaders."

REPORT: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/02/28/AR2010022803492.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions

MOLESTED GIRL ‘SYMBOL OF EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH INDIA’

Girls are molested all the time in India; powerful officials often abuse their office to avoid criminal prosecution; sclerotic courts are painfully slow and often corrupt, the Sydney Morning Herald reported (2/3/10).

One case has become emblematic of the way India’s growing middle class, egged on by a lively news media hungry for sensational stories, is increasingly unwilling to accept these seemingly immutable truths and willing to fight back. Increasingly the courts of law and public opinion have forced the government to act against the grossest abuses of power.

Speaking of the case involving a girl from the middle class, Ranjana Kumari, a leading women’s rights advocate and director of the Center for Social Research in New Delhi, said, “The media, the activist groups and eventually the politicians could no longer ignore it. It has become a symbol of everything that is wrong with India.”

REPORT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/world/asia/03india.html?emc=eta1

EXTRA TENTS ERECTED ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND FOR MORE ASYLUM SEEKERS

Frantic construction work was under way to erect extra tents on Christmas Island, with the government barely a boatload away from failing to honour an election promise to process asylum seekers offshore, The Age reported (2/3/10).

Immigration Minister Chris Evans has long said Darwin detention centre would be used as a backup facility if Christmas Island filled up.

On Sunday, another boatload of 58 people, believed to be Sri Lankan, pushed detainee numbers to 1864, close to the facility's capacity of 1920.

Advocates reported growing frustration among Tamil asylum seekers there.

''The Sri Lankans are very angry,'' said Dr Siva Thayaparan, the secretary for Justice and Freedom for Ceylon Tamils. ''When other nationalities like Afghans come in, they are released within four or five weeks' time. Sri Lankans are waiting seven months. They spent a long time in Sri Lankan security force camps and when they escaped and came here, again the Australian government puts them into Christmas Island like a prison.''

Of 2013 Afghans who have applied for asylum in Australia since last year, 1181, about half, have been granted visas. But only 198, or about a quarter of 843 Sri Lankans, were granted residency in the same period.

REPORT: http://www.theage.com.au/national/christmas-island-filling-up-as-another-boatload-arrives-20100301- pdlj.html

FIVE UN-NAMED PEOPLE GO TO JAIL FOR LONGER THAN 'LIFE'

A sense of unease prevails when normality in Australia's courts is turned on its head as has occurred in the recent Sydney terrorist trial, in which sentences were handed down last month, comments Civil Liberties Australia newsletter (1/3/10). Unfortunately, Australians are being kept in the dark: we don't know whether our security and police forces have done a magnificent job, or whether circumstantial evidence has been cobbled together to produce an unfair outcome in the Supreme Court of NSW at Parramatta … Justice Anthony Whealy said the men had been inspired by "intolerant, inflexible religious conviction" and remained unrepentant. Someone who is pro-abortion could make the same comment about anti-abortionists...and vice versa, CLA says. Australian courts customarily convict and sentence people based on their actions, not on their views. This secretive trial may be a low-water mark in Australian justice.
REPORT: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election;

INQUIRY INTO INDIGENOUS YOUTH IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs are travelling to Melbourne, Sydney and Dubbo this week for public hearings and site inspections in relation to its inquiry into the high level of involvement of Indigenous juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system.

Roundtables are being held in both Melbourne and Sydney to hear from retired and serving judges, non-government community organisations, representatives from Victorian and New South Wales government departments, legal centres and associations, and youth representatives. The Committee will conduct site visits to a Koori Court in Melbourne and to Australia’s only female juvenile justice centre, Juniperina, in Lidcombe, Sydney. It is also travelling to Dubbo for private meetings with community organisations and groups that promote measures to divert young Indigenous people from the criminal justice system. A second site inspection is being undertaken at Orana Juvenile Justice Detention Centre.

The committee is investigating how Australian government and state jurisdictions can better coordinate diversionary measures, as well as the provision of services for Indigenous juveniles and young adults.

Bob Debus, Committee Chairperson, said, “Indigenous juveniles are highly over-represented in Australian imprisonment and recidivism rates, and it is important to identify those programs that act as circuit-breakers for Indigenous youth involved in the criminal justice system. We know that there are many good programs operating around the country, but there are also areas where there are no appropriate intervention services for Indigenous youth.”

BACKGROUND: Secretariat on 02 62774559; atsia.reps@aph.gov.au; http://www.aph.gov.au/atsia; http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/atsia/sentencing/hearings.htm

SENATE INQUIRY INTO WELFARE REFORM AND RACIAL BILL REINSTATEMENT

Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, and Graeme Innes, Race Discrimination Commissioner, appeared before the Australian Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into the Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination Act Bill 2009 this week.

Mr Gooda stated that the government’s bills make some positive improvements to the current measures and if implemented would improve the situation for Indigenous peoples in prescribed communities in the Northern Territory. However, in the commission’s view the Bills did not fully address entirely the breaches of human rights that currently exist and would not ensure full consistency with the RDA.

AHRC OPENING STATEMENT: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2010/20100225_opening_statement.html

‘NO HUMAN RIGHTS BILL’ FOR AUSTRALIA
Australia will not get a Human Rights Bill - certainly not in this parliament, probably not ever under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, says CLArion, newsletter of Civil Liberties Australia (1/3/10).

“The chances of one in the next parliament are very, very slim. Supporters from all sides of parliament are hanging on by their fingernails to one chance in a thousand that they can keep the issue on the agenda for another few years.

“As a sop to public opinion, following a huge national consultation process about a bill of rights, a schools education program on human rights is likely to be announced in the May Budget. Also probable is a national PR program, to make the government look as if it is extremely human rights friendly, when in fact it won't legislate to that end.

“There will possibly be some form of compatibility statement, tabled with each new Bill in future, if not in this parliament, then maybe in the next. The Scrutiny of Bills Committee has just announced an inquiry which includes this question (see later story). There may, at last, be a Human Rights Committee introduced in the next parliament, not this one.

From discussion around the two chambers last month, CLA believes the problem is that a human rights act is not supported by PM Kevin Rudd and a few very senior cabinet ministers. They dominate a more quiescent group within the Labor Caucus, probably numerically superior, who believe Australia should have a Bill of Rights. And in a clear sign that the proposed internet filter is being taken off the agenda, ready for an election, the government has set up a joint select committee on cyber-safety (see story below).

DETAILS: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election

RIGHTS OF CITIZENS LARGELY UNPROTECTED: FITZGERALD

Australia's major political parties are exploiting gaps in the law to produce an amoral "whatever it takes" culture, corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald QC argues, the Brisbane Times reported (3/3/10). Mr Fitzgerald makes the claim in a new book, The Fitzgerald Legacy: Reforming Public Life in Australia and Beyond, on the impact of his royal commission in Queensland 20 years ago.

Beyond elections every three years, “the electorate is little more than an audience to a substantially rule-free political contest," Tony Fitzgerald says. "The rights of citizens are largely unprotected by legal constraints on official power which elsewhere are considered a hallmark of democracy." The book was launched in Brisbane on Tuesday. He dismisses suggestions that a bill of rights in Australia would transfer power to unelected judges

He says the Australian constitution enshrines voting rights but does not dictate fair elections, provides independence for judges but does not insist on trial by jury, guarantees freedom of political communication but does not protect freedom of speech or association.

REPORT: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/fitzgerald-takes-fresh-swipe-at-political-dynasties-20100303- pgs4.html

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL TO REVIEW AUSTRALIA
Australia is due for its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the 10th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. The UPR reviews the human rights records of all 192 UN member states once every four years. While Australia's turn is a year away, NGO submissions to the process are due by September 1.

Civil Liberties Australia members are invited to submit brief items for CLA's contribution to the review: areas of interest might be: refugees and Christmas Island, Indigenous Australians and the Anti-Discrimination Act, internet filtering/censorship, equal suffrage in state/territory/federal voting, Australian taking part in the Iraq war 'illegally', etc.

DETAILS: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election;

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Documentation.aspx

NEW CRIME LEGISLATION AGAINST ORGANISED CRIME QUERIED
New, more draconian legislation against organised crime and the proceeds of organised crime has passed Australian Parliament recently.

"The increasingly sophisticated and aggressive nature of organised crime requires a tough response. It is important that we have strong, tailored and effective laws in place to combat serious organised crime," Attorney-General Robert McClelland, said when the laws passed.

However, the Civil Liberties Australia (CLA) says it believes some of the provisions in the legislation go overboard: They enable freezing of a person's total assets on a magistrate's order merely on police 'suspicion' - this introduces concerns that the laws could be used for 'witch hunts' or punitively by rogue police, it says.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Bill 2009 and the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Bill (No. 2) 2009 implements measures agreed to by State and Territory Attorneys- General - that is, by SCAG.

The laws: widen the net for confiscating assets and dealing with suspected money laundering;

require individuals suspected of unexplained wealth to demonstrate it was legally acquired - CLA says this is a reversal of Australia's traditional concept of 'innocent until proven guilty';

allow much wider phone, fax, email, SMS, internet interception; allow police to operate under cover for infiltration purposes; boost police powers to search and seize, and access electronic data; and create joint liability for Commonwealth offences, where it has not existed before.

"The passage of the Bills represents another important step in the coordinated national effort to combat serious and organised crime and delivers on the government's commitment to address organised crime as a priority," the ministerial media release says.

CLA said that, where similar laws have been used in WA and the NT, they have led to what appeared to be police and DPP abuse of the powers and how these national laws were used would require close watching.

DETAILS: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election;

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/www/ministers/mcclelland.nsf/Page/ MediaReleases_2010_FirstQuarter_4February2010-PassageoflegislationtoCombatSeriousandOrganisedCrime

SCRUTINY COMMITTEE SCRUTINISES ITSELF, SAYS CLARION
The Scrutiny of Bills Committee is inquiring into how it operates, now and into the future.
The key issue is whether every Bill tabled in parliament should have a human rights compatibility statement attached, prepared by the bureaucracy. In the absence of an Australian Bill of Rights, this would force ministers and the public service to pay more attention to human rights principles before putting draft laws forward, says Civil Liberties Australia. The inquiry will examine:
(a) whether its powers, processes and terms of reference remain appropriate;

(b) whether mechanisms for oversighting delegated legislation are optimal; and

(c) what, if any, additional role the committee should undertake in relation to human rights obligations applying to the Commonwealth.

The committee also plans to investigate what happens in overseas parliaments.

DETAILS: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election;

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/scrutiny/future_direction_2010/tor.htm

CHINESE POLICE CHIEF TO RESIGN AFTER TORTURE DEATH CLAIMS

A Chinese police chief has been ordered to resign and a deputy chief has been fired amid allegations that a man died in custody after being tortured, the BBC reported (1/3/10). Police initially said Wang Yanhui died suddenly while being questioned in Henan province over alleged theft, state media reported. But when his family saw his body they said his injuries suggested abuse. The incident has fuelled public anger over a series of reports of torture and deaths in police detention. REPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8543744.stm

GUANTANAMO: APPEAL REFUSED OVER CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES

The US Supreme Court has said it will not consider an appeal by seven Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay, saying the facts of the case have changed, the BBC reported (1/3/10). The case would have had implications over whether US judges could order Guantanamo detainees to be freed in the US if no other country will take them.

The seven men were among a group of Uighurs captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and have all been cleared of charges. Switzerland has offered to resettle two, the Pacific island of Palau five.

REPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8543953.stm

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS UNDER SCRUTINY

ABC TV’s Foreign Correspondent on Tuesday aired ‘U.S.A. - Fly Away Home’ with reporter Mary Ann Jolley. It is a story of how a 7 year old Ethiopian girl is portrayed as destitute and in grave danger. She is in fact 13 and has been well cared for much to the surprise of her adopting family. Then there are the children told they’re just visiting a foreign land who are in fact on a one-way ticket. This is the powerful next instalment of Foreign Correspondent’s investigation of international adoption in Ethiopia and the United States that began with 2009’s ‘Fly Away Children’: VIEW: http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/

‘WOMEN'S PAY WORSE THAN IN 1985’

Women’s lack of progress towards equal pay is to be placed on the federal election agenda, with unions set to conduct a public and political campaign calling for Australian Government intervention.

The ACTU executive will this week endorse a report stating that the issue of pay equity is to be the ''major union campaign priority'' this year, apart from the federal election itself.

Last year women in full-time jobs were paid just 82.5 per cent of men's pay - less than they were in 1985 - and the ACTU report highlights that fewer than 2 per cent of ASX 200 companies have a female chief executive and only one in 12 directors are women. The ACTU report says that, although women are now more likely than men to be university graduates, they earn $2000 a year less when they start work and continue to fall behind in wages and superannuation.

The union push will be a combined industrial, political lobbying and community campaign, the report says. It will demand improvements in paid parental leave and push for tougher government regulation of business. The ACTU president, Sharan Burrow, said employers ''should be held to account where they fail to promote women or pay them the same as men''.

REPORT: http://www.smh.com.au/national/womens-pay-worse-than-in-1985-20100301-pdkr.html

‘CHANCE TO RE-SHAPE CULTURE OF PUBLIC SERVICE’: CLA
Professor John McMillan will be Australia's inaugural Information Commissioner (IC).
Making the announcement, Cabinet Secretary Senator Joe Ludwig said Professor McMillan would have a significant role in implementing the Australian Government's information policy reforms and in promoting and leading a pro- disclosure culture across government."

OIC will be an independent agency with oversight of freedom of information and privacy matters. Professor McMillan will start as Information Commissioner Designate on March 8, stepping aside as Commonwealth Ombudsman after seven years in the role.

Prof McMillan said, "A key feature of the new reforms is the emphasis on pro-active disclosure of information by government agencies. There will be an irreversible change in government culture. The ground rules for information disclosure and publication are being rewritten."

CLA said the professor had a chance to re-shape the culture of the Public Service in Australia from one of introverted secrecy to being as open and transparent as possible: “It will not be an easy job, but the rewards for the nation will be better governance.”

DETAILS: http://www.cla.asn.au/ Mar '10 Newsletter;
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/clarion/2010/02/28/mar-10-newsletterlbr-g-no-human-rights-bill-but-blessed- election;

http://www.smos.gov.au/media/2010/mr_082010.html

POD RIGHTS EPISODE 3

The Australian Human Rights Commission releases instalment 3 of its first series of Pod Rights, a series of podcasts that will look at and delve into important issues in the human rights world. In this instalment of Pod Rights, Disability and Race Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, looks at 4 areas of human rights in which the involvement of the Australian Human Rights Commission has played a part in changing the human rights landscape - the case of Scott v Telstra, Teoh's case, P v P and the Bringing them home inquiry. Assisting Graeme in this discussion is Commission Executive Director, Susan Roberts. A new instalment of Pod Rights will appear on the Australian Human Rights Commission website every second Monday, commenced February 1 2010.

POD RIGHTS THIRD EPISODE: www.humanrights.gov.au/podcasts/index.html