EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY BY THE COMPETENT NATIONAL TRIBUNALS FOR ACTS VIOLATING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS GRANTED HIM BY THE CONSTITUTION OR BY LAW.
this is problematic considering that the Oz Constitution has no Bill of Rights. 'COMPETENT' NATIONAL TRIBUNALS have been set up in Australia which are essentially an arm of the State to attack the basic rights of workers to strike or to bargain collectively (see article xx) These COMPETENT NATIONAL TRIBUNALS threaten massive fines and imprisonment for exercising the democratic right of labor to strike. In Colombia or the Phillipines, trade unionists or political activists are assasinated. In Australia they can now be 'legally' thrown in prison. CONSTRUCTION workers face jail if they refuse to attend secret interrogations by investigators from the Howard guberment's building industry commission. This can be for something as simple as stopping work due to the death of a fellow worker on the job. 'the Law' is not a neutral institution. Bad laws should be broken by conscientios citizens. This is the essence of democratic struggle.
# Article 9. [fail]
NO ONE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY ARREST, DETENTION OR EXILE.
-- the 'pacific solution' and the raft of anti-terrorist legislation (including sedition laws) which the Aust govt has passed leaves the door wide open for the abuse of state power, including ARBITRARY ARREST, DETENTION OR EXILE.
Human Rights Watch noted that Australia's once proud tradition of support for human rights had been replaced in recent years by hostility to the U.N. human rights system:
Australia has adopted some of the most radical and draconian measures against asylum seekers and refugees of any industrialized country, setting terrible precedents that threaten to undermine the system of refugee protection worldwide. Canberra has aggressively promoted these policies internationally, even questioning the basis of the Refugee Convention.
Australia is one of a handful of industrialized countries not to have issued an open invitation to the United Nations' human rights experts and investigative bodies. The Australian government faced criticism of its immigration detention regime by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and an envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights during their visits to Australia in 2002.
* Australia joined the ranks of some of the most abusive governments�including China, Cuba, Iran and Sudan�in resisting the adoption of a new treaty establishing an international prison-inspection scheme to prevent torture.
"Putting people under house arrest for a year by a control order is tantamount to jailing people without trial. This is a shocking departure from Australia�s proud tradition of protecting individuals from an overly powerful state. Locking people up or seriously restricting their liberty when they have not even been charged are characteristics of dictatorship, not a democracy. Unjust measures are likely to alienate the very communities whose cooperation is vital to an effective counterterrorism strategy through the criminal justice system." ~ Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
1. ASIO has power to hold a person in secret detention for a week and force them to answer questions. The person need not be suspected of any offence.
2. A person�s visa or passport can be cancelled if ASIO assesses the person adversely on security grounds.
3. A person assessed adversely on security grounds is not told what facts ASIO has relied on to reach the adverese assessment.
4. Mahommad Sagar is still held on Nauru by Australia after 5 years, even though Australian officials accept that he is a refugee. He has been adversely assessed by ASIO, but they will not tell him why. When ASIO officials went to Nauru recently to re-interview him, they forgot to get visas to enter Nauru.
5. The Federal Police have power to obtain a secret order (a �preventative detention order�) gaoling a person for up to 14 days if they suspect that the person is about to commit an offence of the prescribed sort.
6. The Federal Police have power to obtain a secret order (a �control order�) which can have the effect of holding a person under house-arrest for up to 12 months, without access to the telephone or internet.
7. The subject of a preventative detention order or a control order is not allowed to know the evidence against them.
[source; J Burnside]
# Article 10. [fail]
EVERYONE IS ENTITLED IN FULL EQUALITY TO A FAIR AND PUBLIC HEARING BY AN INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL TRIBUNAL, IN THE DETERMINATION OF HIS RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS AND OF ANY CRIMINAL CHARGE AGAINST HIM.
- contravened by the new anti-worker laws which criminalise the democratic right to strike
- contravened by Gmo Bay and 'rendition' in which the Australian govt is complicit in its approval.
# Article 11. [fail]
(1) EVERYONE CHARGED WITH A PENAL OFFENCE HAS THE RIGHT TO BE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVED GUILTY ACCORDING TO LAW IN A PUBLIC TRIAL AT WHICH HE HAS HAD ALL THE GUARANTEES NECESSARY FOR HIS DEFENCE.
anti-terror legislation, Guantanamo bay
(2) NO ONE SHALL BE HELD GUILTY OF ANY PENAL OFFENCE ON ACCOUNT OF ANY ACT OR OMISSION WHICH DID NOT CONSTITUTE A PENAL OFFENCE, UNDER NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL LAW, AT THE TIME WHEN IT WAS COMMITTED. NOR SHALL A HEAVIER PENALTY BE IMPOSED THAN THE ONE THAT WAS APPLICABLE AT THE TIME THE PENAL OFFENCE WAS COMMITTED.
# Article 12. [fail]
NO ONE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY INTERFERENCE WITH HIS PRIVACY, FAMILY, HOME OR CORRESPONDENCE, NOR TO ATTACKS UPON HIS HONOUR AND REPUTATION. EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO THE PROTECTION OF THE LAW AGAINST SUCH INTERFERENCE OR ATTACKS.
- Australians will now have an ID card - introduced by the back-door as a 'health' card. The last time there was an attempt to pass a national ID card [the Australia card] there was a referendum and it was rejected by the people. This time there is no referendum - only government advertising telling you how good it is.
- In legislation before the Senate, Centrelink staff will be given the power to obtain warrants and enter homes of those they suspect of welfare fraud. Staff will have to apply to a magistrate for the warrant or, if Centrelink considers the matter urgent, by email or phone.
The new powers apply to the 2.2 million households on family tax benefits, and those on unemployment benefits, student payments, disability benefits and the age pension. Centrelink says the new powers will help it investigate fraud and are in line with other agencies, such as the Child Support Agency. This may be true. Equally, the potential for these expanded search and seizure powers being abused is a concern.
Civil libertarians are alarmed at the move, and have every right to be. It is no small matter to invest in public servants the legal right to raid people's homes, whatever the cause. What guarantees can the Federal Government give that in trying to reduce fraud the civil rights of people, many of whom will be of lower socio-demographic groupings, will still be respected? This legislation smacks of cracking a walnut with a hammer.
according to one private investigator, "you wouldn�t see much change out of $3000 for a week�s worth of 24 hour covert video surveillance." This is what Centrelink is spending to go after the estimated 0.5% (one-half of one percent) of benefit recipients rorting the system, which is among the lowest rates of fraud in countries with welfare systems.