A bloc of conservative countries is mounting a new push to enshrine “family values” in the UN’s Human Rights Council. What they really want is rather more sinister.
No-one is inclined to refer to human rights in public debate in Australia when its leaders either avoid the idea or attack it, and the news media are silent on it.
The contrast between rights with dignity and rights without is increasingly apparent with regard to two groups of Australians: retirees and those in aged-care facilities.
Despite international pressure, Myanmar’s government intends to continue the decades-long program of discriminatory policies against the Rohingya that denies them their human rights.
The Conservatives have got it half-right by seeking to repeal the Human Rights Act. Too bad they want to replace it with something almost as unhelpful.
Negotiations on the UN’s 15-year development strategy, which involve all 193 member states, have at last produced a set of ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. These focus on social justice, poverty…
Australia’s human rights record isn’t perfect, but it still good. if Australians aren’t able to take some pride in that and be inspired to do even better, over-the-top criticism could backfire.
Indonesians have long felt that Australia lacks respect for their nation’s sovereignty, but Indonesia’s status as a rising power adds to the urgency of recalibrating our approach to the relationship.
The AFP revised the guidelines on international co-operation since alerting Indonesia to the Bali Nine but there is arguably still an imbalance between security and human rights considerations.
In condemning Indonesia’s execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Australia has relied on the same human rights obligations that it rejects when applied to asylum seekers.
Political leaders have a ready culprit in people smugglers for drownings at sea. The problem is that this ignores responsibility for eliminating all other options for these people to avoid harm.