Amnesty International Australia welcomes Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s assurances that despite Australia’s decision to purchase nuclear submarines, that “Australia has no plans to acquire nuclear weapons”. Sam Klintworth, National Director of Amnesty International Australia, has written to the Prime Minister, urging the government to backup its recommitment to nuclear non-proliferation …
Author Archives: Joel MacKay
Access to child care is a human right
By Emma Slee, Amnesty International Australia Intern Childcare is back in the news. While in the process of introducing a $1.7 billion childcare package announced in the latest Federal budget, the Australian government remains mired in debate around the place of childcare in modern families. On 22 June, the Coalition party room meeting descended into …
Belarus: Medical workers facing brutal reprisals for peaceful protest
Amnesty International Australia has written to Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, on a number of occarions in 2021 regarding the worsening human rights situation in Belarus. National Director, Sam Klintworth, has this time written about the escalation of the wide scale crackdown on dissent which is now also targeting the medical community. Despite chronic staff …
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Open Letter from Amnesty International Secretary General to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard has written to ICC Prosecutor on the commencement of his term in office. Amnesty International Australia has written to Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, to urge the Australian government to cooperate and support the ICC wherever possible as Prosecutor Khan serves out his term. Amnesty International highlights emerging human …
Hungary: New homophobic and transphobic law is an attack on LGTBQIA+ rights; Australia must speak out
Amnesty International Australia has written to Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, sharing its grave concern about a homophobic and transphobic law adopted in Hungary. The rights of the LGBTQIA+ community have once again been placed under dire threat in Hungary after the authorities passed a deeply problematic law. This new legislation outlaws education or advertising …
USA: Two men face execution by electric chair in South Carolina
Amnesty International Australia has written to Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, with grave concerns about the upcoming execution of two men in South Carolina, USA. If carried out, the executions will end a ten-year hiatus in executions in South Carolina, marking a disturbing return to a deeply flawed practice in the state. These two men …
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Greece: Pushbacks and violence against refugees and migrants are de facto border policy
Amnesty International has revealed new evidence of torture, ill-treatment and illegal pushbacks of refugees and migrants to Turkey from Greece in a new report: Greece: Violence, lies and pushback. The report documents how the Greek authorities are conducting illegal pushbacks at land and sea. It focuses primarily on unlawful operations in the Evros region, at the land border between Greece and Turkey. In …
Australia must declare Israeli “annexation” in Occupied Palestinian Territories illegal
Amnesty International Australia has written to the Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Marise Payne, to urge her to publicly reaffirm Australia’s commitment to international law by stating that “annexation”, including that of the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories, is illegal. On 3 June 2021 during Senate Estimates, Senator Janet Rice asked the Minister to clarify if …
Amnesty calls on Australia to work to ensure the UN Committee Against Torture is independent and diverse
In October 2021, the states parties to the UN Committee against Torture will elect five new members. Amnesty International Australia has written to the Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, calling on the government to nominate and vote in the elections to to take into consideration the following ‘checklist’ for key criteria for membership of the …
Targeted moves against Platoshkin and Open Russia Movement underscore threat to human rights in Russia
The recent suspended conviction of Russian prisoner of conscience, Nikolai Platoshkin, and the forced dissolution of Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia Movement), underscore the threats to the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in Russia. Prisoner of conscience, Nikolai Platoshkin joins the ranks of peaceful activists convicted on politically-motivated charges meant to silence …