WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTION NETWORK AUSTRALIA - REQUEST FOR ENDORSEMENT
Call for endorsements closes: 5pm Wed. 14 June 2000. Endorsement form below
Please pass this request on through your networks. Endorsements on the form
below to be emailed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or fax to: (03)
9347-1505
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Dear All,
Below is a letter drafted by the Women's Rights Action Network Australia
(WRANA) concerning the Government's current review of Australia's
participation in the UN Treaty System. This review process was initiated by
the Government in response to the adverse findings of the UN Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in relation to Mandatory
Sentencing laws in W.A and N.T. We are seeking endorsement from women's
organisations and individual women to demonstrate to the government that
there is a constituency of concerned women, prepared to engage with this issue.
Please could you send organisational and/or individual endorsements to Di
Rokvic by 5pm on Wednesday 14th June. An endorsement form is below.
You can email Di at CASA House: at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or
by faxing (03) 9347-1505. If you represent an organisation could you
indicate roughly how many women your organisation is made up of? Please
also reply with your full contact details and postal address.
Thanks,
Di Rokvic
(For the WRANA Board of Management)
www.nwjc.org.au/wrana
5th June, 2000
The Hon. Alexander Downer, M.P
Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
R.G. Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent,
Barton ACT 0221.
Dear Mr. Downer,
We are writing on behalf of women's organisations regarding the
Government's review of the UN Treaty Committee system, announced on 30th March.
As women's organizations, we have always been proud of Australia's
participation in the development of an international system to enable the
realization of human rights for all people. In particular we have welcomed
the Howard Governments commitment to women's human rights, as evidenced
through your leadership in the adoption of an ICC Statute which provides
specifically for the protection of women's human rights; the Government's
constructive role in the negotiations which led to the adoption of the
Optional Protocol to CEDAW; and the Governments productive role in the
current negotiations surrounding the review of theBeijing Plus Five.
We are nonetheless concerned that the current review, and its announcement
immediately after release of the CERD Committee's recommendations,
undermines the Governments commitment to the promotion and protection of
human rights through the UN Treaty system, and also the role of the Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties review into Australia's relationship with
the UN.
We are concerned that in announcing such a review, the Government
misrepresented the role and structure of the UN Treaty Monitoring
mechanisms: in particular, the experts of the Committee are not delegates,
but rather experts; it is a provision of the Conventions that initial and
periodic reports are filed, not a political process determined by the
Committee; and finally, that the process for NGO engagement is ad hoc and
has disproportionate influence; the CEDAW Committee has been carefully
considering NGO engagement with the Committee since 1997, and is producing
a comprehensive and balanced practice in this regard.
The UN human rights system provides citizens in many countries in our
region with their only source of recourse for human rights
violations. Australia has consistently supported the promotion of human
rights within our region, and at a time when governments in the region are
increasingly ratifying or acceding to treaties, we are concerned that
Australia's review process sends a contradictory message to our partners in
the region.
We seek your assurance that this review will not limit the Australian
Governments participation in forthcoming reviews, including the fourth and
fifth periodic reports to CEDAW.
We also seek your commitment to a constructive and transparent engagement
with NGOs in this review process. The Women's Rights Action Network
Australia (WRANA) looks forward to cooperating in this process,
particularly to share the views of women's NGOs in Australia.
Australia has much to be proud of in its record on developing the human
rights system of the UN.
We urge the Government to continue to work to strengthen the UN Treaty
process in a manner that will ensure that this review contributes to such
a commitment.
Yours sincerely,
Dianne Rokvic
For the WRANA Board of Management
www.nwjc.org.au/wrana
ENDORSEMENTS
I ______________________________________ endorse the Treaty review letter
being circulated by the Women's Rights Action Network Australia (WRANA), as
an individual/organisation. (Please indicate which one applies to you in
this instance)
My Contact details are:
My Postal Address is:
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