NT intervention an embarrassment: Amnesty

17 Mar 2009, 7:42 am   -   Source: AAP
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It is hoped that international embarrassment may incite government action (AAP)

It is hoped that international embarrassment may incite government action (AAP)

Amnesty says the government's intervention in the Northern Territory is in breach of human rights.

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Amnesty International plans to embarrass the Rudd government on the international stage this week over what it says are on-going human rights abuses in Australia.

Amnesty says the federal government intervention in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory is a "clear-cut" breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The intervention was launched by the former Howard government in response to claims of widespread child sex abuse and continued by Labor.

It required the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act in order to roll out some of the more controversial measures, including income management.

UN presented with report

In a report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, Amnesty said indigenous Australians continued to face "widespread discrimination" which was "exacerbated by state actions, including the Northern Territory Emergency Response".

Amnesty International's Robyn Seth-Purdie will address the UN committee in New York overnight.

Embarrassment a ‘potent tool’

She says Australia needs to be embarrassed on the international stage.

"International embarrassment can be a potent tool - particularly for a country like Australia which has aspirations to be a leader in the human rights area ... (and) to join the Security Council," Dr Seth-Purdie told ABC radio.

The Northern Territory intervention was a "clear-cut" breach of the ICCPR, while the income management regime was "humiliating" for many Aboriginal Australians.

"There's never an excuse for breaching the prohibition against racial discrimination, even in a national emergency," Dr Seth-Purdie said.

Reinstating protections against racial discrimination in the Northern Territory was crucial if Australia wanted to improve its human rights record.

The Australian government is required to report on its ICCPR compliance every five years.

Government officials will appear before the UN committee next week.

Further criticism

Amnesty's report is also critical of Labor's failure to support the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, despite promising to do so before the 2007 election.

The human rights group also takes aim at the on-going detention of migrants and anti-terrorism laws that allow arbitrary detention.

"Amnesty International regrets that in a number of fundamental respects Australia falls short of its obligations under the covenant," the report states.

Some praise

But there was some good news for the Rudd government.

Amnesty congratulated Labor for apologising to the stolen generations, introducing laws to end discrimination against same-sex couples and "a consultation process on a national mechanism to protect human rights".
    

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