Australia under the spotlight in Human Rights Watch World Report 2015
Australia shamed in human rights report
AUSTRALIA has been named and shamed on a list of the worldโs worst human rights offenders โ but itโs not just our treatment of indigenous people and asylum seekers that has landed us there.
Sharing the dubious honours with the likes of Syria, Nigeria and Egypt, we have made the cut for reasons you might not expect.
According to Human Rights Watchโs World Report 2015, our counterterrorism laws โ hastily introduced by the Abbott government last year โ have been slammed as โvagueโ and โover-broadโ in the damning report, infringing on the basic rights of all Australians.
In response to the threat of home-grown terrorism, new laws extend to the use of control orders and preventive detention and also make it a criminal offence to travel to โdeclared areasโโ abroad, which overly restricts peopleโs freedom of movement, the report states.
The controversial proposal that would force telecommunications companies tin metadata for use by intelligence organisations has also been slammed.
The laws would essentially give Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) unprecedented power to monitor the entire Australian web with only one warrant.
โDraconian counterterrorism laws undermining free speech are causing incalculable damage to Australiaโs international standing as a rights-respecting country,โ warns Australian director of HRW Elaine Pearson.
โThe government rammed these measures through parliament despite their having lasting consequences on Australiansโ civil liberties.โ
โThese are excessive restrictions on freedom of speech, so a whole range of peaceful conduct can be prosecuted under these laws โ something that affects the civil liberties of all Australians.โ
The 656-page report, its 25th edition, reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries ranging from so-called democratic nations such as the United States, France and Australia to trouble spots including Iraq and Syria.
Last year, the Abbott government rushed through several new counterterrorism offences imposing criminal penalties for โadvocating terrorismโ and travelling to โdeclared areasโ abroad, as well as making unauthorised disclosures of information related to โspecial intelligence operations.โ
The reforms also contained tough penalties for journalists and whistleblowers, who could be jailed for up to 10 years for โrecklesslyโ disclosing information related to a โspecial intelligence operationโ.
โAustraliaโs new counterterrorism laws mean journalists, whistleblowers, and activists will risk prison for certain disclosures โ even if itโs in the public interest,โ Ms Pearson said.
But our counterterrorism laws arenโt the only thing to have landed us on the shame list.
FOREIGN POLICY HYPOCRISY:
According to HRW, Australia used its United Nations Security Council seat to promote human rights in Syria, North Korea, Central African Republic, and elsewhere, but failed to speak out and act on abuses taking place there.
It also accuses the Abbott government of muting its criticism of authoritarian governments in Sri Lanka and Cambodia โapparently in hopes of winning support of these governments for its refugee policy.โ
Australiaโs treatment of asylum seekers was also criticised in the Human Rights Watch report
โDISASTROUS OBSESSION WITH STOPPING THE BOATSโ:
Australiaโs foreign policy has focused on deterring asylum seekers from coming here at the exclusion of other issues, the report claims.
โAustraliaโs aspirations for a more powerful role in world affairs will get nowhere until it acts on human rights concerns both at home and abroad.โ
The Abbott government was also heavily criticised over itโs policy of transferring all asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Nauru and Papua New Guinea despite concerns about prolonged refugee status violence and poor conditions in detention.
โOn foreign policy, Australia used its seat on the UN Security Council very effectively to raise issues like human rights in North Korea and humanitarian access in Syria. However in the Asia-Pacific region, the obsession with โstopping the boatsโ is a main driver of foreign policy with disastrous consequences,โ Ms Pearson said.
HWR also noted that as of October last year, more than 2000 men, women and children were held in detention centres in Nauru and Manus Island, yet only 271 had been determined to be refugees.
Australiaโs offshore detention policy was also criticised by the United Nations Refugee Agency, which noted the detention centres were overcrowded and claims were not processed in a fair, transparent or fast manner, the report noted.
โHETEROSEXUALS ONLYโ:
The governmentโs response to same sex marriage was also criticised despite some states and territories moving to recognise it.
โDespite increasing public support for same-sex marriage in Australia, marriage remains restricted to heterosexual relationships in accordance with the federal Marriage Act,โ the report states.
According to HRW, all these issues undermine Australiaโs ability to call for stronger human rights protections overseas.
Australiaโs treatment of our indigenous people was also under the spotlight.
โTHEY CONTINUE TO DIE AT ALARMINGLY HIGH RATESโ:
The governmentโs decision to establish an indigenous advisory council while defending the Congress of Australiaโs First Peoples was also criticised as was the high numbers of indigenous people in jail.
โWhile some health and socio-economic indicators are improving for indigenous Australians, they still on average live 10-12 years less than non-indigenous Australians,โ the report warns.
Aboriginals also โhave an infant mortality rate almost two times higher, and continue to die at alarmingly high rates from treatable and preventable conditions such as diabetes and respiratory diseasesโ.
THE DANGERS OF BEING DISABLED:
The report notes the Australian Human Rights Commission found last April that Australians with disabilities have inadequate safeguards and poor access to services.
Forty-five per cent also live below the poverty line and are at an increased risk or violence or prison
Australians with a disability are at a greater risk than other Australians, the report warns
HOW THE WORLD COMPARES:
In the global report, HRW also highlighted growing problems in Iraq whose government โcarries out carry out killing and cleansing of Sunni civilians with impunity.โ
It also heavily criticised Syria for heinous human rights abuses, including President Bashar al-Assadโs decision to โattack civilians in opposition-held areasโ and their use of โindiscriminate weapons โ most notoriously, barrel bombs โ [which] has made life almost intolerable for civilians.โ
The report mentions the growing rise of extremist groups such as the Islamic State and how governments, including the United States and France, are using this to further โsubordinate human rightsโ including free speech.
The growing rise of IS has been noted and is being blamed for several reasons.
The growing rise of IS has been noted and is being blamed for several reasons. Source: Supplied
It also blames both a lack of policy in neighbouring countries as well as a power vacuum left by the US, for contributing to the rise of the militant group.
โISIS did not emerge out of nowhere,โ HRW warn.
โIn addition to the security vacuum left by the US invasion of Iraq, the sectarian and abusive policies of the Iraqi and Syrian governments, and international indifference to them, have been important factors in fuelling ISIS.โ
It also accused the United Nations Security Council of standing by because Russia and China use their veto power to stop unified efforts to end the carnage.
โThe United States and its allies have allowed their military action against ISIS to overshadow efforts to push Damascus to end its abuse,โ the report said.
โThis selective concern allows ISIS recruiters to portray themselves to potential supporters as the only force willing to stand up to Assadโs atrocities.โ
Nigeria was also heavily criticised in the report over its brutal rounding up of civilians accused of having ties to terror group Boko Haram, while the US was slammed over ongoing concerns of torture and its response to the CIA torture report.
Kenya, Egypt, and China, governments all came under fire after its security forces have responded to real or perceived terrorism threats with abusive policies that ultimately fuel crises.
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