Past Issues - The Human Rights Defender

Issue 15/1 (2006)

Although the articles in this issue of the Defender cover a range of issues, perhaps an implicit underlying thread is what can happen when a population is passive and fails to adequately respond to insidious and ever increasing infringements of human rights. The ability of governments to pass increasingly draconian legislation has been made much easier by the tragic events on September 11 and subsequent acts of terrorism. Governments are able to argue that legislation that challenges the normal recourses to the law and freedom of speech is necessary in order to protect the citizenry.

Andrea Durbach concludes her article on the slow but steady erosion of human rights in contemporary Australia by arguing that although we ‘can hold our leaders responsible for the … dismissal of essential values’ ultimately if the citizens ‘refuse to investigate, to doubt, to question [this] … will allow this nation to continue its relaxed and comfortable slide towards authoritarianism’. Christopher Michaelsen reaches a somewhat similar conclusion. He contends that although the Anti-Terrorism Act (No.2) 2005 represents a fundamental attack on our human rights, the Australian public has generally been indifferent.

George Williams in his article on the Human Rights Consultation Committee established by the Victorian government is more optimistic than Durbach and Michaelsen. He concludes that many Victorians want a Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities so that they are able to ‘shield themselves and their families from the potential misuse of government power’. Interestingly, the Committee found that many Victorians said that Charter ‘should also contain rights relating to matters such as food, education, housing and health … as well as more specific rights for indigenous people, women and other groups’. Sarah Maddison’s article on Indigenous Australians illustrates the enormous failings of government policy in this area and the article by Peter Saunders and Kelly Sutherland based on 13 focus groups with Australians on welfare, illustrates that for this group, access to adequate nutrition, education, housing and health is the exception rather than the rule.

Of course, if you are an Australian citizen you certainly do still have access to the spoils of citizenry in an advanced economy. However, if you are a non-citizen and find yourself in Australia your human rights are negligible. The article on the lot of asylum seekers on Bridging Visa E is alarming as it reveals the cruelty of government. The individuals in this unfortunate position have none of the basic rights associated with being an Australian citizen and can only survive through charity.

Steven Freeland and Samantha Newman both discuss international criminal justice and the end to impunity for the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights. Newman focuses on the trial and death of Slobodan Milosevic and concludes that although the trial had its limitations, the mere fact of the prosecution was a major feat and sends an important message.

Liam Burgess and Leah Friedman consider the threats to the rights of accused individuals under the current system of military justice and suggest reforms towards an impartial system.

We hope that you enjoy this issue of the Defender and welcome any feedback.

Alan Morris and Ronni Redman,
Managing Editors

 

Special Online edition on the Anti-Terrorism Bill (No.2) 2005

This free special edition of the Human Rights Defender has been developed as our response to the profound erosion of human rights in Australia with the introduction of the new legislative regime: 

>> Download the Human Rights Defender Special Edition

We encourage you to read this issue and to circulate it to your networks. We have also prepared a text-only version for those using slower Internet connections or bubble-jet printers:

>> Download the text-only version of the Special Edition

Issue 14/3 (2005)

Australia is at a critical juncture, faced with legislation that could turn our democracy into a police state. In this issue Melissa Lubowski looks at the role of writers under the proposed sedition offences, and Alex Conte compares the New Zealand and Canadian experiences.

Another urgent human rights issue is the Government's Workchoices package. David Chin argues that the proposed industrial relations changes undermine the collective underpinnings of our unique system of industrial arbitration and pose significant human rights concerns.

In October 2005 we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act, Australia's first major piece of human rights legislation. Tom Calma, the Race Discrimination Commissioner, writes about the successes and challenges of the legislation and Megan Davies examines the role that domestic and international human rights regimes play in achieving social justice for Indigenous Australians.

Lara Fergus writes eloquently about the plight of women trafficked into sexual slavery in Australia and Steven Freeland reflects on the genocide in Darfur in light of the mantra of 'never again' since the Second World War.

Alan Morris and Ronni Redman,
Managing Editors

 

Issue 14/2 (2005)

In this issue we introduce three new authors who are deeply committed to human rights. Eugene Schofield-Georgeson, Sarah Ngo and Gina Kawalsky's articles address international humanitarian intervention, advocacy strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and attempts to punish war crimes through domestic litigation.

In 'The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement - affordable medicines under threat' Elizabeth Thurborn, Linda Weiss and John Mathews argue that the Agreement will not only make it very difficult for the Australian government to keep medicines affordable, but will also have significant ramifications for the fight against entrenched diseases in the developing world.

Claudia Tazreiter and Tony Morris' article on the refoulement of asylum seekers indicates that there are people in Australia being returned to situations of danger. In addition to the serious consequences for the individual, they argue that this failure to protect asylum seekers weakens the international system of rights protection.

For the first time, we are offering you a chance to sample this issue of the Human Rights Defender before you subscribe. To download Ben Saul's article on the need for a legal definition of terrorism, click on the link below:

>>'Defining terrorism to protect human rights' by Dr Ben Saul

Alan Morris and Ronni Redman,
Managing Editors

 

Issue 14/1 (2005)

Several of the articles in this edition cover the new reality and the challenges to human rights post-September 11. The threat posed by terrorism has been used by many governments to rewrite the rights of individuals. This is probably most concerning and stark in the case of the United States. The article by Danielle Celermajer illustrates how in the public consciousness and formally it is now accepted that torture and cruel and inhuman treatment is a legitimate weapon in the 'war against terror'. The Geneva Conventions and various international treaties protecting human rights have been jettisoned by the US government using the argument 'that [the] Taliban and Al Qaeda did not fit squarely into any of the categories of combatants explicitly mentioned by the Geneva Conventions'.

There is little doubt that in the post-September 11 context there has been a significant diminution in generalised trust and the deliberate cultivation of an ‘us versus them’ mentality by those in power. All the articles implicitly and explicitly argue that in order to prevent any further erosion of human rights, we need to constantly assert a common vision for humanity and vigorously attack stereotyping of any group.

Alan Morris and Ronni Redman
Managing Editors

Issue 13/3 (2004)

This issue we welcome the new Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre, Andrea Durbach. Andrea’s article explores the art and music of the Apartheid regime through her own experience as lawyer to the 25 defendents in the Upington trial; a trial in which the brutality and racism of the Apartheid system was starkly evident. We are privileged to reproduce some of the work of William Kentridge, one of the great artists of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid eras.

We also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the federal Sex Discrimination Act. Enacted in 1984, this legislation was a critical milestone for Australian women. Ushered in by a coalition of women’s groups over often vociferious protest, it has become an important component of the fight for women’s equality. An article by Laurie Berg on the conditions in Abu Ghraib prison explores the human rights situation in Iraq, outlining the various international humanitarian and human rights law requirements for the detention of prisoners and argues that it is essential that states reaffirm ‘non-negotiable standards of human dignity’, even in a context where there is a perception of tension between security and human rights.

Ronni Redman and Alan Morris
Managing Editors

Issue 13/2 (2004)

The articles in this edition of the Defender address the gap between the statements of those in power and the actual reality reflected in their policies. Often it is difficult to grasp the intricacies of the policies in question and how they not only help perpetuate existing inequalities but also reflect a particular view of the world.

Jurgen Habermas, the great German social scientist and philosopher, argues that a genuine democracy needs as far as possible to strive for communicative rationality - a situation where arguments are backed up with clear and solid evidence, where distortion is eliminated and individuals and organisations are allowed to put their case without fear so that ultimately some degree of consensus can be reached. The articles in this edition of the Defender powerfully illustrate the importance of pursuing the ideal of communicative rationality.

Alan Morris
Acting Managing Editor

Issue 13/1 (2004)

There is agreement that globalisation is a fundamental feature of our contemporary reality. There is little consensus, however, on its impact.

All of the articles in this edition of the Defender, in different ways, implicitly and explicitly, address the uneven and contradictory effects of globalisation. In sum, the articles illustrate that in the realm of human rights, globalisation represents a threat, but is also an opportunity. Whether globalisation curtails or helps extend human rights is the challenge confronting human rights organisations.

Alan Morris
Acting Managing Editor

Issue 12/3 (2003)

This issue of the Defender examines how we talk about human rights and who gets to do the talking. We have an article on children and their capacity to ‘voice’ what is important to their lives and a piece on that unflagging voice for his people, Palestinian intellectual and activist, Edward Said. We are privileged to have an article by his honour Justice Michael Kirby about the debates over the death penalty in Australia and an article about why language testing of asylum seekers can be deeply problematic. We examine the power of ‘rights talk’ in the law and discuss whether we can have too much speech.

In its own way, each piece in this issue grapples with the question of what we mean when we talk about ‘human rights’ and together they demonstrate the continuing importance of having these conversations.

The editorial team is grateful to all our contributors, volunteers and supporters and to the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW which publishes the Defender. We very much hope you enjoy the magazine.

Ronni Redman
Managing Editor

1997: March

Volume 6 Number 1

1997: June

Volume 6 Number 2

1998: March

Volume 7 Number 1

1998: June

Volume 7 Number 2

1999 September

Volume 8 Number 1

1999 December

Volume 8 Number 2

2000 March

Volume 9 Number 1

2000 September

Volume 9 Number 2

2001 March

Volume 10 Number 1

2001 September

Volume 10 Number 2

2001 December

Volume 10 Number 3

2002 August

Volume 11 Number 1

2002 November

Volume 11 Number 2