Australian Government must re-build trust of civil
society – UN human rights expert
CANBERRA / GENEVA (18 October 2016) – United Nations
independent expert Michel Forst today called on the Government of Australia to
urgently dispel civil society’s growing concerns about the ‘chilling effect’ of
its recent laws, policies and actions constraining the rights of human rights defenders.
“I was astonished to observe mounting evidence of a range
of cumulative measures that have levied enormous pressure on Australian civil
society,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders at the end of his first fact-finding visit* to the country.
Recognizing Australia’s traditional safeguards of
constitutional democracy, rule of law and free media, Mr. Forst noted that his
initial expectation of his official visit was to “encounter only laudable
implementation of the State’s obligations under international human rights
laws, aimed at ensuring a safe and enabling environment for human rights
defenders.”
Instead, the expert found a number of detrimental
measures which include a growing body of statutory laws, at both federal and
state levels, constraining the rights of defenders. “These range from
intensifying secrecy laws to proliferating anti-protest laws, from the stifling
Border Force Act to the ‘Standing’ bill shrinking environmental access to
courts,” Mr. Forst specified.
“These laws have not only accentuated the disparity
between Government’s declared commitments at international forums and their
implementation within the country,” he noted, “but they have also aggravated
the situation after the drastic defunding of peak bodies by the Government,
following their advocacy or litigation on such topical issues as immigration,
security, environment and land rights protection.”
In his preliminary observations, the expert noted that
Community Legal Centres are facing a cut of nearly one third of their budget
nationally, and that Environmental Defenders Offices and the National Congress
of Australia’s First Peoples have completely been defunded by the Federal
Government. Those that continue receiving funds have to abide by the so-called
‘gagging’ clauses in their funding agreements, instructing them against
‘lobbying’ the Governments or ‘engaging in public campaigns’.
“In addition, I was astounded to observe what has become
frequent public vilification of rights defenders by senior government
officials, in a seeming attempt to discredit, intimidate and discourage them
from their legitimate work. The media and business actors have contributed to
this stigmatization,” the Special Rapporteur warned. “Environmentalists,
whistleblowers, trade unionists and individuals like doctors, teachers, and
lawyers protecting the rights of refugees have borne the brunt of the verbal
attacks.”
“Even the president of the Australian Human Rights
Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, faced Government’s intimidation and
public questioning of her integrity, impartiality and judgement, after the
Commission’s inquiry into the child harm in immigration detention,” the expert
said.
Mr. Forst noted that “the Australian Government has
historically made commendable efforts in pursuit of its human rights
obligations, so it is unfortunate that the combination of detrimental laws and
practices of the Government has recently instilled a ‘chilling effect’ on the
Australian civil society.”
“This situation can be reversed and improved. The
Government should start re-building confidence of human rights defenders,” he
said. “For that purpose, I urge the Government to consider adopting a national
action plan on human rights, through meaningful consultation with civil
society.”
The UN Special Rapporteur expressed his readiness to
continue a constructive dialogue with the authorities to identify ways to help
ensure an enabling environment for human rights defenders in Australia.
During his two-week visit, carried out at the invitation
of the Government, the expert met with a vast range of federal and state
officials, members of parliament and the judiciary, statutory bodies, as well
as human rights defenders and representatives of civil society, media and
businesses.
Mr. Forst will present a comprehensive report with his
findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in March 2017.
(*) Check the Special Rapporteur’s full end-of-mission
statement: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20689&LangID=E
ENDS
Mr. Michel Forst (France) was appointed by the Human
Rights Council as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders in 2014. Michel Forst has extensive experience on human rights issues
and particularly on the situation of human rights defenders. In particular, he
was the Director General of Amnesty International (France) and Secretary
General of the first World Summit on Human Rights Defenders in 1998. For more
information, log on to:
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights, is the general name of the
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council
that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts
of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are
not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent
from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Australia:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/AUIndex.aspx
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