Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
An independent report presented to the UN has recommended that the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be at least 14. Manfred Nowak, the Independent Expert leading the global study on children deprived of liberty says that ‘States should establish a minimum age of criminal responsibility, which shall not be below 14 years of age’. …
Continue reading “Independent expert: Minimum age of criminal responsibility should be at least 14”
Amnesty International will divest from fossil fuel companies in acknowledgement that investment in an industry whose products are the primary source of the climate crisis is at odds with the organization’s mission of protecting and championing human rights. The decision was taken at Amnesty’s highest decision-making forum – the Global Assembly – which is formed …
Continue reading “Amnesty International votes to divest from fossil fuel companies”
Amnesty International Australia calls On Government to help return seriously ill Australian citizen Joseph Sarlak from detention in Qatar Amnesty International Australia today called on Foreign Minister Marise Payne to make representations to the Qatari government to return seriously ill citizen Joseph Sarlak from detention. Mr Sarlak suffers from several serious health conditions and has …
Continue reading “Return Joseph Sarlak from detention in Qatar”
Death during police operation raises serious questions about worsening treatment of migrants The death of a Central American man travelling with his eight-year-old daughter during a police operation in the city of Saltillo is yet another brutal sign of Mexico’s increasingly hostile approach to migrants and refugees, said Amnesty International today. “Mexican authorities should treat …
Today, (19 July 2019) marks the six year anniversary of the Rudd Government’s decision that anyone arriving by boat seeking safety would be deported to indefinite offshore detention, on Manus (PNG) or Nauru, and be subject to a permanent ban on settling in Australia. Since that date 3,127 people have been sent to Nauru or …
Continue reading “Six years on, refugees continue to languish in offshore detention”
No Home for Children: US Government Detention of Children at Homestead Facility Cruel and Unlawful, Says New Amnesty International USA Report The Homestead facility housing children who travelled alone to the United States must be shut down as quickly as possible, a new Amnesty International USA report finds, and children should immediately be placed in …
Continue reading “US Government Detention of Children at Homestead Facility Cruel and Unlawful”
Amnesty International Australia has joined more than 50 LGBTIQ+ advocates, organisations and allies in a joint statement in support of an affirming Religious Discrimination Act. Joint LGBTIQ+ community statement in support of religious discrimination protections We, the undersigned LGBTIQ+ advocates, organisations and allies, place on the public record our support for protections from discrimination for …
Responding to the UN Human Rights Council voting in favour of a resolution to monitor and report on the critical human rights situation in the Philippines – including unlawful killings in the context of the “war on drugs” Amnesty International Australia Campaigner Tim O’Connor said: “We’re extremely pleased Australia used its hard-fought position on the …
Continue reading “Philippines: Australian support of UN resolution welcome”
During NAIDOC week, Amnesty International Australia is joining the National Peak Body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) to call on the Federal Government to commit to retaining the Indigenous Legal Assistance Program (ILAP). In the Federal Budget 2019-20, the Government announced that from 2020 funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander …
Continue reading “Indigenous Legal Assistance Program must be retained”
Amnesty International Australia today called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to support a resolution before the United Nations (UN) to investigate and report on the campaign of extrajudicial killings in President Duterte’s “war on drugs”. We’re seriously concerned Australia is going to miss an opportunity to save people’s lives “We’re seriously concerned Australia is going …
