Human Rights
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Penal assassination: The gradual effort to kill Assange
They really do want to kill him. Perhaps it is high time that his detractors and sceptics, proven wrong essentially from the outset, admit that the US imperium, along with its client states, is willing to see Julian Assange perish in prison. Continue reading »
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International accountability: Myanmar, the ICJ and the genocide question
The indomitable spirit of Raphael Lemkin, bibliophile, assiduous documenter of humanity’s dark deeds and inexecrable conduct, is bound to be an unsettled one. Continue reading »
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The inexcusable “Immigration Refugee Determination” assessment system requires a deep clean
The stories of ‘invisible’ refugees who had entered Australia by plane on valid visas seeking protection from their persecutors and encountered even more unspeakably harsh oppression in this country cast a blot on our culture. Continue reading »
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Richard Falk: Biden’s blurred vision of Human Rights – China, Saudi Arabia and Israel
When the U.S. Government at the highest level criticised Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, because she went to China on a mission to develop opportunities for cooperation with respect to the protection of human rights. Continue reading »
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The Age of Women
 Leadership by wise women is indispensable if we are to escape the catastrophe that male leadership is presently building for humanity. Continue reading »
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Menace from George Brandis: how to represent state interests not Julian Assange
Appearing on last Thursday’s ABC Q&A programme, George Brandis, former Attorney General and former Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, behaved as though Australian citizens should always be grateful for the way he would protect their interests. Continue reading »
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The human catastrophe in Yemen. What a contrast to our media focus on Ukraine
In the last five years, an estimated 377,000 people have died in Yemen mostly from hunger, lack of health care and unsafe water. In Ukraine? Continue reading »
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Pardoning Witness K a no-brainer, but then what?
In this week of fiery church politics, perhaps Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is doing as the Good Lord himself does – moving in mysterious ways. Continue reading »
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What might our new Attorney do with Bernard Collaery?
A 22-year-old speech by the late, long-serving federal and ACT Judge John Gallop provides all that Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus needs to consider in the case of Bernard Collaery and Witness K. Continue reading »
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It’s time for a Human Rights Act for Australia. We have waited too long
Our record in protecting our human rights is being seriously eroded in many areas -the right to silence, the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence, freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment and freedom from arbitrary detention. Continue reading »
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Bring Home the Suffering Australian Children and their Mothers in Syrian Camps
The Albanese government has had bequeathed to it several unresolved human rights scandals which together have severely shrunk the moral character of Australia and Australians. Notable among them has been the plight of Australian overseas citizens who have fallen from grace. Continue reading »
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The Crimes of Julian Assange!
The US wants to cover up the crimes that Julian Assange exposed. Assange… Continue reading »
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The UN Human Rights report on Israel and Australia’s welcome statement
The UN special Human Rights investigation into Palestine/Israel which found Israel to be primarily responsible for ongoing unrest and violence received a strong rebuke from the US, which in turn sought support from its allies to sign its statement. Australia declined to do so, issuing its own statement. Continue reading »
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Greg Barns: Julian Assange and the Albanese Government – Enough is enough!
Now is the time to end a dangerous threat to basic freedoms and the rule of law. The Albanese government has a critical role to play in ensuring that outcome. Continue reading »
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Ilhan Omar says 49 million facing famine ‘Should be the biggest story in the world right now’
A United Nations study finds that Russia’s war on Ukraine and the intensifying climate emergency have pushed the number of people facing famine globally to an all-time high. Continue reading »
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Alfred de Zayas and Richard Falk: The unjustified criticism of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s visit to Xinjiang.
An artificial atmosphere of hostility, sustained by geopolitical agendas, double standards, fake news and skewed narratives has made it difficult to tackle specific human rights problems particularly in Xinjiang. Continue reading »
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Support for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who is under attack over Xinjiang visit.
Michelle Bachelet has announced she will not be seeking a second term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Former UN rapporteurs, Alfred de Zayas and Richard Falk, are supporting her against the attacks she has received for her visit to Xinjiang in May, which includes unjustified demands for her resignation. Alfred de Zayas and Continue reading »
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Fighting the first UK-Rwandan refugee flight
June 10 bore witness to a valiant effort on the part of refugee groups and a trade union to stop what promises to be the first journey of many as part of the UK-Rwanda plan. Their attempt to seek an injunction failed to convince the High Court. Next Tuesday, the first flight from the UK Continue reading »
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The Trial of Julian Assange: A story of persecution
Nils Melzer was UN Special Rapporteur on Torture between 2016 and 2022. In 2019 he began investigating the case of Julian Assange. The English language edition of his book, The Trial of Julian Assange, is the most well-researched account of the legal ordeals suffered by the WikiLeaks founder. A brave and an important book, it Continue reading »
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How reliable is the ‘research’ of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on forced labour in Xinjiang
My Paper concludes that, at best, the work of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch amounts to junk research. Continue reading »
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Bachelet in China:Â Insights into Human Rights and Xinjiang
UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s recent visit to China did not impress an international press that has made the treatment of the mainly Muslim Uighur people of Xinjiang province a major ground for the West’s political attacks on China. Their negative comments have missed the main point of the visit, which has opened a Continue reading »
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Why only bridging visas to Biloela family?
Interim Home Affairs Minister Jim Chalmers has granted the Murugappan family bridging visas to enable the whole family to return to Biloela ‘while they work towards resolution of their immigration status’. Continue reading »
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Scared to mention Palestinians lives and Israel brutalities: A challenge for new MPs
In six weeks of electioneering, and despite the election result, Australian politicians did not dare and appear unlikely to dare to condemn the Israeli government’s continued abuse of Palestinians. An Israeli sniper murdered the distinguished Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Israeli police attacked mourners at her funeral, but such brutalities make little impression on the Continue reading »
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What Ministers should do – Human Rights in the election
Human rights experts have welcomed Labor’s plan to restore merit appointments to the Australian Human Rights Commission, and to appoint a global ambassador for human rights. Nine years of partisan ‘captain’s picks’ by the Coalition government have shredded the Commission’s impartiality and subdued its voice as a champion of the vulnerable. Its funding has also Continue reading »
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Political appointments and downgrading the Australian Human Rights Commission
The international standards body on human rights has found that the Australian Human Rights Commission should be downgraded in its standing. Continue reading »
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Jacob Hornberger: Why not joint war crimes trials?
The U.S. mainstream media is calling for the criminal prosecution of Russian president Vladimir Putin, as well as Russian military personnel, for war crimes committed as part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading »
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Israel and apartheid
Readers will be aware that earlier this year Amnesty International released a report which made a determination that Israel was an apartheid State. The report was titled ‘Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians, a Cruel System of Domination and a Crime Against Humanity’. Continue reading »
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Herbert Wulf: Double standards
War criminals must be held accountable. But this rule of law is universal. And it is precisely those who emphasise the rules-based international order that should strictly adhere to these rules themselves. Continue reading »
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Is it people with disability or people with disabilities
The term “people with disability” as it is so often used when discussion turns to the “rights” of people sounds misleading and incorrect to me. Continue reading »
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Rodney Lewis -The Morrison Government is proposing astounding discrimination against vulnerable aged care residents
When our Parliament is presented with a Bill which removes fundamental rights and liberties of a discrete cohort of Australians only, a cacophony of objections may be expected. In this case however, the victims have no voice. Continue reading »
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