Following the Australian Government’s rejection of the recommendation by its own Brennan Committee to enact a Bill of Rights, the Council issued a media briefing criticizing the Government for its decision that will result in a lack of human rights accountability: Media_Release_20100421
The Executive Director was asked to take part in the 3rd annual Intensive Course on Health, Development and Human Rights at the University of NSW
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The AGM of the Human Rights Council of Australia is to take place on 12 December.
The Council had endorsed a campaign by the St James Ethics Centre to promote an ethics-based complement to scripture classes in NSW schools. View the submission to NSW Education Minister Verity Firth here ethics-in-schools-submission
This was followed up with a letter to Minister Firth letter-to-minister-2-november-2009
In one of his last acts as Premier of NSW Nathan Rees announced approval for trial ethics course in NSW schools.
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Frontline, an Irish international NGO working for the protection of human rights defenders asked the Council for assistance with a campaign to encourage the Australian Government to adopt a version of the European Guidelines for Human Rights Defenders. The campaign was launched at a photographic exhibition opened by Kerry Rea, the Chair of the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in Brisbane in early November. The Council’s Executive Director accompanied Frontline Deputy Director Andrew Anderson and a human rights defender from Kenya, Njeri Kabeberi to Canberra on a round of lobbying. There was considerable interest from both government and NGOs. Link to the Frontline web site:
Frontline has launched an international petition addressed to Foreign Minister Stephen Smith urging him to consider following the European Union example in taking action to protect human rights defenders. You can add your name to the petition here
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/campaign
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The Council was invited by the Standing Committee on Migration to make a submission to its Inquiry into Migration Treatment of People with Disabilities.Here is the submission hrca-migration-disability-submission
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The International Council on Human Rights Policy called for comments on a draft paper on Irregular Migration, Human Smuggling and Human Rights. HRCA member Chris Sidoti has provided some suggestions for the draft which will be of interest to those concerned about the current treatment of refugees and asylum seekers by the Australian Government. ichrp-comments
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The Executive Director is a member of a group of experts working on a Human Rights Charter/Agenda for Cities. He was invited to attend a conference finalizing the draft Charter/Agenda in Nantes. The one-day event amended the current draft of the Charter with a view to presentation at the World Forum on Human Rights in July 2010.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed annually on 17 October. Its purpose is to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, to allow the poor to make their concerns heard and to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries.
The Human Rights Council joined other NGOs in issuing a statement reiterating the call for girls to have access to adequate and effective education as an essential prerequisite for the eradication of poverty and the realisation of the rights of the girl-child. Click on the following link for the text of the statement joint-ngo-statement-education-girls-2009-no-logo
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The Human Rights Council of Australia wrote to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiring into the Defence Amendment Bill 2009. This amendment would require approval from the Parliament before Australian troops could be deployed in conflict situations. The Council urged the Committee to recommend adoption of the amendment.See https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=86f54168-6691-4c7a-9e7e-b199a1e330b5.
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The Executive Director participated in a consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the forthcoming UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. Eleven NGOs exchanged views with officials from DFAT, the Attorney-General’s Department, AusAID and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Issues canvassed included the functioning of the Human Rights Council and the effectiveness of the Universal Periodic Reviews, possible forthcoming resolutions at both forums, Special Procedures, Indigenous issues, women’s issues, and the Durban Review Conference.
The Human Rights Council of Australia drafted a set of recommendations to the Australian Government on improving and enhancing Australia’s human rights diplomacy. Click here human-rights-diplomacy-final
Council Chair, Andrew Naylor attended a consultative meeting between Australian NGOs and the Department of the Attorney-General. The Attorney-General attended and addressed some of the NGOs’ concerns.
The Executive Director attended a workshop on the human rights-based approach to development hosted by the Australian Council for International Development. The workshop was also attended by Matilda Bogner, the regional representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a representative of the Australian Human Rights Commission and staff of AusAID.
The Executive Director represented HRCA at the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Diplomavy training Program at the University of NSW. The President of Timor Leste gave the oration and met with supporters afterwards.
The Human Rights Council of Australia endorsed the following letter to the high-level panel of experts on the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body drafted by Forum Asia:
“The Terms of Reference of the ASEAN human rights body should include protection mandate and appointment of independent experts
“One of the main purposes of ASEAN is to “promote a people-oriented ASEAN in which all sectors of society are encouraged to participate in, and benefit from, the process of ASEAN integration and community building” (Article 1.13, ASEAN Charter). Therefore, we, the undersigned organisations, would like to convey our concerns regarding the absence of a protection mandate and the appointment of independent experts in the draft of the Terms of Reference (TOR) on the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body.
“We urge the High Level Panel members to submit to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers at the 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 2009, the TOR which includes a) country visit, b) receive complaints and initiate investigation and c) conduct periodic review on human rights situation in the region as part of the protection mandate of the body.
“We also urge you to include the appointment and the selection of independent human rights experts in the TOR to ensure the independence of the body. To ensure the credibility of the human rights body that it will act on human rights violations without fear or favor, the body must be independent from ASEAN member state governments. The TOR should provide for the appointment of independent experts to the body through a transparent process and in consultation with civil society and the general public.
“Without a mandate to protect and appointment of independent experts, the ASEAN human rights body will be unable to effectively realize the purposes and principles of ASEAN as stipulated in Article 2 (i) to respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice. This would reflect badly on ASEAN for not being able to live up to the spirit of its own Charter and further dent the credibility of ASEAN in the eyes of the international community for setting up a sub-standard regional human rights mechanism as compared to those in the African, Latin American and European system.
“We respectfully request that you review the content of the draft TOR in light of our concerns outlined above and incorporate the necessary changes into the final draft of the TOR for submission at the upcoming ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.”
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The Human Rights Council of Australia of Australia endorsed the Equal Marriage Rights Campaign in Australia
http://equallove.info/sites/default/files/Equal-Love-Overview-2009.pdf
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The Executive Director facilitated a further two workshops on the rights-based approach for NGOs in Hong Kong.
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The Human Rights Council of Australia made a lengthy submission to the National Human Rights Consultation on a Bill of Rights for Australia nhrc-submission
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The Human Rights Council of Australia made an number of interventions at the latest sitting of the UN Human Rights Council
The Executive Director facilitated a workshop on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Treaty Bodies in Dili in mid-May for the Diplomacy Training Program. He caught up with with long-time HRCA member Pat Walsh.
HRCA endorsed a letter to the Australian Government regarding the practices of Australian mining company Anvil in the Congo. This letter is a follow up to the action HRCA took to instruct a legal firm about violations of human rights that Anvil was implicated in. The letter was drafted by the Human Right Law Centre in collaboration with the UK-based NGO RAID.
The Council’s Chair Andrew Naylor and former Chair Chris Sidoti continued to collaborate on the drafting of a submission on the proposal for a Bill of Rights for Australia.
The Executive Director is facilitating a workshop on the rights-based approach for Hong Kong NGOs at the end of May
HRCA wrote to the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka calling for the Sri Lankan Government to abide by its human rights commitments in in the context of the Tamil conflict as well as condemning human rights abuses by Tamil insurgents.
HRCA wrote to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade suggesting that it drafts a reference for an inquiry into business and human rights similar to the one initiated by the UK Government.