'Protesting' at Australian Christmas Island Detention Centre

[The Commander]

Australia is a joke.
[url]http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/73901020/Kiwi-war-hero-detained-by-Australian-government-after-visa-revoked[/url]

[quote]A New Zealand war hero is being kept in a high-security prison by Australian authorities despite having committed no crime.

Decorated former Lance Corporal•Ngati Kanohi Te Eke Haapu, better known as Ko Rutene, has been detained because his visa was revoked on the grounds that he is a member of a motorcycle club.

New laws were introduced in December to crack down on foreign-born criminals. Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton had the power to deport anyone with a 12-month sentence who didn't have Australian citizenship, no matter how long they had lived in the country.[/quote]

[Passing]

[QUOTE=The Commander;49090532]Australia is a joke.
[url]http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/73901020/Kiwi-war-hero-detained-by-Australian-government-after-visa-revoked[/url][/QUOTE]

Yeah, That is a joke. Even in some parts of the country just having a tattoo is a criminal offense.

Ironically by them focusing on a bike gangs they've neglected everything else which has lead to a massive increase.

[shutter_eye5]

It was only a matter of time till something like this happened, in my opinion. The whole centre-right part of parliament (both Labor and Liberal) are to blame for building and maintaining such facilities in the first place. Combined with the scrutiny of our country's immigration policies by several other UN member-states*, it'll be a matter of time till common sense & justice prevails (hopefully.)

[QUOTE=Sydney Morning Herald]UN human rights review: Countries line up to criticise Australia for its treatment of asylum seekers

Australia has copped a barrage of criticism at a United Nations human rights forum over its treatment of asylum seekers on the high seas and in offshore detention centres. Countries taking part in the review also noted Australia's inadequate treatment of Indigenous people, the high level of violence against women, and the spread of Islamophobia.

But Australia was defiant as dozens of countries called on it to wind back or end boat turn-backs and mandatory detention, and grant refugees their full rights.
"UN Human Rights Council's official review of Australia's human rights policies took place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on Monday. The scrutiny comes at a time when Australia is vying for a two-year term on the council." During the review, representatives from more than 100 countries gave recommendations on how Australia should improve its human rights record.
[/QUOTE]
source: [URL="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/un-human-rights-review-countries-line-up-to-criticise-australia-for-its-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-20151109-gkusj4.html"]http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/un-human-rights-review-countries-line-up-to-criticise-australia-for-its-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-20151109-gkusj4.html[/URL]

[QUOTE=Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
Australia's asylum seeker policies have been heavily criticised at a session of the UN's leading human rights body in Geneva.

Key points

- Australia's asylum seeker policies heavily criticised at UN human rights review
- Concerns raised about detention of asylum seekers on Christmas Island, Manus Island and Nauru
- Australia's delegation says border policies have saved lives at sea
- Expert says Australia is a "pariah" on human rights issues
- More than 100 countries spoke during the three-hour session, with many calling on Australia to abide by international law.

Australia's border control policies, which have seen asylum seekers — including children — detained on Christmas Island, Manus Island and Nauru were a key point of contention.
The criticism came amid unrest on Christmas Island following the death of an asylum seeker who tried to escape the immigration detention centre.

This is the second time Australia has faced a periodic review by the Human Rights Council, which looks at every country's record once every four years.

The United States called on Australia to "closely monitor" the offshore processing of refugees and asylum seekers.[/QUOTE]
source:[URL="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/australias-asylum-policies-heavily-criticised-at-united-nations/6926032"]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/australias-asylum-policies-heavily-criticised-at-united-nations/6926032[/URL]

Official ICC response to Ms Aylmer obtained by nofibs (independent)
[URL="http://d310jagfe296yx.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/icc-reply1.pdf?13255d"]http://d310jagfe296yx.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/icc-reply1.pdf?13255d[/URL]
(article: [URL="http://nofibs.com.au/2014/09/27/allegations-of-abuse-against-refugees-outside-international-criminal-court-jurisdiction-jansant-reports/"]http://nofibs.com.au/2014/09/27/allegations-of-abuse-against-refugees-outside-international-criminal-court-jurisdiction-jansant-reports/[/URL] )

The one thing that needs to be emphasized here is, these policies are in violation of several international treaties we have ratified (i.e. UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the Geneva Convention (cite Common Article 3), Rome Statute (Article 17, section 2)), of which all Australia is a party (signatory) of.
There was some basic investigation carried out at the request of T. Aylmer (see above), a human rights lawyer and also backed up by a MP of parliament (Andrew Wilkie), but apparently they didn't continue as they said that it was out of their jurisdiction.

But, I personally think that they might reconsider in light of recent events and also the ongoing senate inquiries. Worse, even that the companies involved in running the facilities allegedly carried out surveillance on a sitting member of the federal senate (Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, South Australia) in which in one of the previous inquiries denied such activity but have possibly been proven true with former workers shedding light on this, thus possibly charging those companies with misleading such an inquiry (which is prosecutable under federal law) and could also be a contempt of parliament.

[QUOTE=Sydney Morning Herald]The Senate's most powerful committee is set to probe whether senior government, Transfield Services and Wilson Security officials gave false or misleading evidence about an alleged covert surveillance operation involving Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young on Nauru.

The President of the Senate, Liberal Stephen Parry, cleared the path on Monday for the privileges committee to investigate whether evidence on the scale of the operation constituted a contempt of Parliament.

Senator Parry said a letter from Greens leader Richard Di Natale raised the prospect that a select committee investigating conditions on Nauru had been given false or misleading evidence about the scope of the spying.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate-committee-to-probe-spy-operation-targeting-sarah-hansonyoung-20151109-gkumv4.html"]http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate-committee-to-probe-spy-operation-targeting-sarah-hansonyoung-20151109-gkumv4.html[/URL]