As a country that claims to uphold the human rights of all – including those before the law – Australia should take notice of international practice when it comes to life imprisonment.
Julian Assange sought asylum and has remained in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.
Reuters/Toby Melville
A UN panel has called on the UK and Swedish governments to ensure Julian Assange’s human rights are respected and to compensate him for his time in ‘arbitrary’ detention.
Strong evidence backs the increasing weight of international sentiment opposing Australia’s human rights record. Australia may already have pariah status in terms of its asylum policies.
New arrivals will be searched and told to give up items of value.
EPA/Claus Hansen
Argentina’s right-wing press wants an end to “revenge” for crimes committed under the old dictatorship. But revenge and justice aren’t the same thing.
An excavator clears land for a palm oil plantation in southern Sierra Leone for a Lichtenstein-based a company. Such projects are criticised by some as ‘land grabs’.
Reuters/Simon Akam
International development banks are supposed to ensure adherence to human rights in the projects they fund. Instead, their practices provide fertile ground for human rights abuses.
Suharto’s military regime in Indonesia was long challenged by the works of Indonesianist Benedict Anderson, who died there this month.
Reuters/Enny Nuraheni
Polls are revealing the vast popularity of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but is his rhetoric of reform simply a matter of appearance, or a sign of substantial change in Australian policy?
Most Australians are unlikely to be able to describe the doctrine of the separation of powers, but they’re quick to assert their liberties under the rubric of a ‘fair go’.
AAP/Richard Milnes
The government’s uncontested assessment of national interest and security often trumps the rule of domestic and international law, as well as Australia’s obligations under human rights treaties.
The second Universal Periodic Review of Australia took place under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council on November 9. Such reviews, which entail wide ranging scrutiny of a state’s human rights…
Australia’s response to its Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council may be influenced by its bid for a seat on the council.
UN Geneva
The #feesmustfall movement brought gains for democracy. As relatively free spaces for enquiry, universities have a public duty to fight, not facilitate, a slide into a national security state.