Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
On 21 December 2017, Australia ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), coming into force on 20 January 2018. OPCAT requires each state to nominate a body or bodies to fulfil the role of a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). The Tasmanian Government intends to introduce …
Continue reading “Tasmanian OPCAT Bill is a good foundation, but work remains”
The Climate Ambition Summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is an important milestone to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, 2021. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be attending the talks virtually. A key part of the Climate Ambition Summit is that governments will announce their revised climate pledges to the Paris …
Continue reading “Morrison needs to be more ambitious at the Climate Ambition Summit”
Amnesty International Australia congratulates the Victorian Parliament’s lower house for passing a world-leading bill to end harmful LGBTQA+ conversion practices*. The legislation was developed after extensive consultation with survivors of conversion practices and represents the gold standard in addressing these harmful and totally unnecessary practices. “What this Bill recognises is that there is nothing wrong …
Continue reading “World-leading conversion practices Bill passes In Victoria”
The International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute (ASP) is meeting in The Hague from 14 to 16 December 2020, and New York from 17 to 23 December 2020. The ASP is the administrative oversight and legislative body of the ICC and holds an annual meeting where States’ representatives discuss and …
Continue reading “Briefing: International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties meeting”
Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in 10 people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced, a group of campaigning organisations warned today, (optional, for UK version: as the UK begins vaccinations this week). By contrast, …
In Hungary, the Constitution and an omnibus bill that would prevent LGBTQIA+ couples from adopting children are currently being considered and will be voted on from 14-15 December. Amnesty International is concerned that the proposed measures would further undermine the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, including right to a private …
Continue reading “Reform in Hungary to prevent LGBTQIA+ people from adopting children”
In 2019, Australians elected their next government. In the leadup to the election, Amnesty International Australia called upon whoever was to form government to put human rights – both at home and abroad – at the heart of all policy decisions, and to re-establish Australia’s place in the world as a free, fair and caring …
Continue reading “Has the government put human rights at the heart of its decisions?”
Pakistani authorities should urgently and impartially investigate a surge in violent attacks on members of the Ahmadiyya religious community, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today. The authorities should take appropriate legal action against those responsible for threats and violence against Ahmadis. Since July 2020, there have been at least …
Continue reading “Pakistan: Surge in Targeted Killings of Ahmadis”
Amnesty International Australia today welcomed the confirmation that British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been released from detention in Iran. “We were always extremely concerned that Kylie was imprisoned solely for exercising her right to freedom of expression and association – including through her work as an academic – and it’s an enormous relief to hear …
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