National 8:44 pm AEST August 29 2000 Govt to veto UN investigator visits to Australia AAP -- The federal government will veto nearly all visits by United Nations human rights investigators in response to critical findings about Australia's treatment of Aborigines and asylum seekers. The government will also scale down its participation in UN inquiries, and will not sign up to a new UN complaints body under a treaty on discrimination against women. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock and Attorney-General Daryl Williams announced the changes today in response to a review of Australia's involvement in UN committees. The review was called earlier this year after UN committees criticised mandatory detention laws in the Northern Territory, the government's refusal to compensate the stolen generation, and the mandatory detention of asylum seekers. Mr Williams said the UN committees had the wrong priorities, and paid too much attention to non government organisations at the expense of democratic governments. "The committees don't seem to have their priorities right," Mr Williams told reporters. "The focus seems to be on minor marginal issues in those countries and not on major human rights breaches in countries that don't have democratically elected governments." Under the changes, the government will only allow UN investigators into Australia if they have a compelling reason to visit. But Mr Williams said it was clear Australia's strong human rights record left little room for UN visits, compared to other nations with substantial human rights problems. "If you are comparing it with arbitrary arrest, detention and execution, and having your arms chopped off for belonging to the wrong political party, almost every issue in Australia seems to pale into insignificance," he said. The opposition and human rights groups condemned the decision. "It is an astonishingly poor show by the government and to be deplored by all thinking Australians," opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton told reporters. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said it was deeply disturbed by the government's decision. "This is an irresponsible over-reaction to recent poor report cards," Amnesty's Australian director Kate Gilmore said in a statement. "It has clearly signalled its willingness to dismiss the rights of the vulnerable - including indigenous Australians, women and refugees - as secondary to the needs of the state. "In placing the state above the individual, the government is tacitly encouraging other countries like Burma and China to set any standards they choose." Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission president Alice Tay said the government had displayed a bunker mentality. "It is an overreaction to criticisms levelled at Australia by two UN treaty committees this year on a number of grounds," Professor Tay said in a statement. "The ministers' position betrays a bunker mentality." Australian Democrats foreign affairs spokeswoman Vicki Bourne said the government decision deserved contempt. "Today's statement indicates that the Australian government now shares the attitudes of some of the world's worst and most oppressive regimes," Senator Bourne said. Australia's only indigenous senator, Democrat Aden Ridgeway, said the announcement was linked to another expected round of UN criticism. "The timing of the government's comments is clearly linked to the fact that another UN human rights committee is expected to criticise Australia about our treatment of indigenous peoples," Senator Ridgeway said. Mr Downer had used hostile language bordering on threatening, he said. "While the Democrats do not dispute that there may be room for improvement within the UN treaty committee system, we do not believe that the heavy-handed and arrogant approach which this government has adopted is helpful or likely to enhance Australia's international standing on human rights matters." -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
