Elaine Pearson

Elaine Pearson is the Australia Director at Human Rights Watch. Based in Sydney, she works to influence Australian foreign and domestic policies in order to give them a human rights dimension.

Elaine's recent articles

ELAINE PEARSON. What Next for Australian ISIS Suspects? Government Should Pursue Full Investigations, Fair Trials (Human Rights Watch)

The Australian government is taking an important step by helping eight Australian children of suspects of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) return home from northeast Syria. The children were held for months without charge under horrific conditions in Syrias al-Hol Camp. The youngest is two years old.

ELAINE PEARSON. Australian Children are Trapped in Syria and the Government Must Bring Them Home (Human Rights Watch)

AnABC Four Corners investigationhas exposed the callous indifference of Australian officials over the return of Australian children held without charge in foreign camps for families of Islamic State members.

ELAINE PEARSON. Chinas Efforts to Curb Australias Academic Freedom: What Universities Can Do.

Theres been a vigorous debate of late in Australia about the extent of Chinese government interference in domestic politics. Less has been said about what occurs on our university campuses. Pressure from the Chinese government comes in numerous ways, including censoring discussion topics, putting students from China under surveillance, and threatening those who participate in protests or events China deems sensitive.

Open letter to Marise Payne: Will Australia let James Ricketson unjustly spend 6 years in Cambodian prison?

Dear Foreign Minister, Human Rights Watch writes to urge you to press the Cambodian Government to quash the conviction and immediately release imprisoned Australian journalist and filmmaker James Ricketson.

ELAINE PEARSON. Cambodia's 'dirty dozen' have no place in Australia.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sens crackdown on dissent is in full swing ahead of national elections later this month. But who are the generals around Hun Sen who act like a praetorian guard protecting him and the ruling party, helping to crush or eliminate political opponents, and then obstructing efforts at accountability?

ELAINE PEARSON. Australia's Government must guard against foreign interference, but not by curbing our rights.

Authoritarian governments around the world use broadly drafted national security laws to silence human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, and critics of the government. Australia should not join them by passing a revised espionage and foreign interference law that excludes safeguards for legitimate disclosures in the public interest.

ELAINE PEARSON. Australia's lame response to Anwar Ibrahims detention was a mistake

The region looks to Australia as a functioning democracy. We shouldnt sideline human rights issues for trade and security ties.

ELAINE PEARSON. Human Rights Should Be a Focus of ASEAN-Australia Summit.

On March 17-18, 2018, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will host government leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sydney at theASEAN-Australia Special Summit. The summit will be preceded by a business summit and a counterterrorism meeting to strengthen our joint contribution to regional security and prosperity, including by addressing shared security challenges and securing greater opportunities.

ELAINE PEARSON and JOHN BLAXLAND. Myanmar Rohingya crisis: Australia needs to stand up and help as the situation worsens

The world seems to be sitting on its hands as the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar descends into what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

JOHN BLAXLAND AND ELAINE PEARSON. Myanmar Rohingya crisis: Australia needs to stand up and help as the situation worsens.

The world seems to be sitting on its hands as the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar descends into what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

ELAINE PEARSON. Australia Should Suspend Military Sales to Saudi Arabia

TheAustraliangovernment should immediately halt military sales toSaudi Arabiafollowing numerous unlawful Saudi-led coalition airstrikes inYemen, Human Rights Watch said today in aletterto Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Australia should also release details about military weapons and material it has sold to other members of the Saudi-led coalition carrying out the Yemen campaign and whether any Australian-made arms have been used in unlawful coalition attacks.

ELAINE PEARSON. Australia's harsh refugee policy is no global model.

This week in New York, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbullsaid, Our policy on border protection is the best in the world, and hell be touting the Australian model of offshore refugee detention and resettlement at two refugee summits this week. But Australias approach should give world leaders some pause. I understand the need to protect the safety of Australians, the need to control the borders, an Iranian refugee who had tried to reach Australia by boat told me. But sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to drown at sea than live here. I spoke with him on...

Elaine Pearson. Time for an Asia-Pacific Anti-Death Penalty campaign.

Many Australians are sickened that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two Australians sentenced to death by Indonesias courts for drug smuggling, have been transferred to an Indonesian island in preparation for their imminent execution. They are slated to be executed alongside three Nigerians, a Filipina, a Brazilian, a Frenchman, a Ghanian, and an Indonesian. I am sure that Indonesia understands it will have consequences, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told journalists. But the Indonesian-Australian relationship has been so fraught with tension lately its unlikely that unilateral measures Australia could take like recalling the ambassador or...

Elaine Pearson. Australia should reconsider refugee transfers to Cambodia

The Australian government should press Cambodian authorities to implement key reforms to improve treatment of refugees in Cambodia before transferring any refugees from Nauru. In new Human Rights Watch interviews, asylum seekers and refugees living in Cambodia described hardships as a result of the Cambodian governments failure to process regular nationality documents and due to poor economic conditions in the country. These include: difficulties in obtaining employment, denial of access to education, substandard access to health services, extortion and corruption by local authorities, and discrimination by officials and the public. Refugees said fear of mistreatment by the authorities kept...

Elaine Pearson. The civil war may have ended, but not the persecution.

Whats happening to boatloads of Tamil asylum seekers on the Indian Ocean?Allegationsthat Australian authorities have intercepted at leasttwoTamil boats and handed them over to the Sri Lankan navy after only brief telephone interviews are extremely troubling. Until now, the Australian government has neither confirmed nor denied these allegations giving the now long-tired excuse of secrecy around all operational matters concerning border security. If Tamils are being handed over to the Sri Lankan armed forces, then the Australian government may well end up with blood on its hands. Sri Lanka has a long and well known record of repression...

Elaine Pearson. Cambodia: A poor choice for Australias refugee resettlement

It's not about whether they are poor, its about whether they can be safe,Australias Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in defence of Australias plan to resettle refugees currently housed on Nauru to Cambodia. It appears Cambodia and Australia are in the final stages of signing such an agreement. But is Cambodia a safe place for refugees? Not if youre from China. In 2009, under pressure from China, Cambodia forcibly deported 20 ethnic Uighurs back to China. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had already issued persons of concern letters to the Uighursmost had fled China for Cambodia...

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