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UN censures treatment of aborigines

by Matthew Brace

31 July 2000 - Australia has come under renewed fire from the United Nations for the way it treats its Aboriginal population.

A report by the UN's Human Rights Committee released at the weekend chastised Australia for its mandatory sentencing laws - the compulsory jailing of offenders for minor crimes.

Australia was also accused of failing to fully compensate the victims of the "stolen generation" - Aborigines who were forcibly removed from their families and brought up in white households.

The report added that the high levels of social exclusion and poverty facing indigenous people were a matter of urgent concern, and that the present levels of protection and promotion of traditional Aboriginal forms of economy and sites of religious or cultural significance were inadequate.

The Australian government came out fighting yesterday with the attorney general, Daryl Williams, saying that the administration had every reason to be proud of its human rights record.

"The government does not agree that many of the steps suggested by the committee are either necessary or desirable," he said.

Many Australians have been calling on the government to do more to bring white and Aboriginal communities together, and to work towards a coalition. Thousands walked across the Sydney Harbour bridge two months ago to protest at the lack of governmental action.

Some believe an apology is needed from the government for victims of the stolen generation, but the prime minister, John Howard, has steadfastly refused, saying that the government is not liable for the acts of previous administrations.

Some Australians and media commentators reacted angrily to the UN's criticism yesterday, accusing it of trying to portray the country as an international pariah, such as South Africa under apartheid.

A leading indigenous rights group, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, said the government should see the report as a positive document that could help it to comply with international treaties.

The report praised Australia for enacting some anti-discrimination laws and for partially helping those taken away from their homes as children. But it clearly levelled its sights at mandatory sentencing, currently active in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Juveniles (under 17) convicted of their third home burglary get a 12-month minimum sentence in Western Australia.

Juveniles aged 15-16 who have already been convicted of a property offence get a minimum 28-day sentence in the Northern Territory. Adults get at least 14 days for a first property offence in the Northern Territory, 90 days for a second and one year for further offences.

The report said: "Legislation regarding mandatory imprisonment, which led in many cases to imposition of punishments that were disproportionate to the seriousness of the crimes committed and would seem to be inconsistent with the strategies adopted by the state [Australia] to reduce the over-representation of indigenous persons in the criminal justice system, raised serious issues of compliance with ... the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]."

Arrests of Aborigines are currently more than four times those of whites in the Northern Territory.

"In addition, the mandatory detention under the migration act of "unlawful non-citizens", including asylum-seekers, raised question of compliance with covenant," it said.

The UN criticism comes just a couple of weeks after it emerged that Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Booth, in her role as a QC, was involved in presenting a case before the same committee, on behalf of Aborigines from the Northern Territory imprisoned for minor property offences.

Irked by the case, Mr Howard accused the UN of butting its nose into Australian affairs. He will no doubt be further perturbed by this weekend's UN report.

Sourse: Guardian Unlimited

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