United Nations special rapporteur Juan Mendez denies Australia being lectured on human rights

Updated

The UN's special rapporteur on torture has rejected claims by Prime Minister Tony Abbott that Australia is being lectured on human rights.

A new report on Australia's asylum seeker policies found aspects had breached the international convention against torture.

Mr Abbott said Australians were sick of being lectured to by the international organisation.

But the special rapporteur, Juan Mendez, told AM the UN was just doing its job.

"I do give credit to Australia for having a very robust, democratic system with guarantees of human rights for everybody," Mr Mendez said.

"But it is my mission, my duty, to point out when any country, including Australia, falls short of its obligations under international law."

The report, compiled by Mr Mendez, found Australia was violating the rights of asylum seekers on multiple fronts under the UN convention.

Mr Mendez took issue with the detention of children, violence in offshore processing centres, and recent amendments to Australia's maritime powers.

The Prime Minister responded by saying Australia was "sick of being lectured to by the UN".

"Particularly given that we have stopped the boats, and by stopping the boats we have ended the deaths at sea," Mr Abbott said.

Report has led to more robust debate: UN

Mr Mendez said his remit was not immigration but policies that resulted in people being sent back to persecution and torture.

He said detention should not solely be used to discourage further boat arrivals.

"I'm sorry that he considers what we do lecturing, we don't, we think it's our role," Mr Mendez said in reference to Mr Abbott's comments.

"We treat every country the same way. We just try to uphold international standards as we understand them."

Mr Mendez said he was not disappointed that Australia had brushed off his report.

"At least we are getting a robust debate in Australia, and that's more important to me than the initial reaction of government," he said.

"In many other cases we get governments that either brush us off or don't respond at all, so I'd rather get an intemperate response than no response.

"And in the meantime if we can help stir some debate, because I know that the debate is already going on in Australia with or without my participation, I think that's a way things can correct, and performance of government can get improved."

Mr Mendez was asked to comment on the Prime Minister's view that the best way to uphold the universal decencies of mankind was to stop the boats.

"I don't dispute the fact that in the high seas the Australian forces behave in a humanitarian way and provide essential services to people that they find, even rescue people who may be at peril," Mr Mendez said.

"That is obviously to be commended, but that does not detract from the use of prolonged arbitrary detention of people just because of their status, when in fact there could and should be better alternatives, including appropriate screening with a fair opportunity to state a claim why they should not be returned to a country where they face torture.

"I don't think that keeping people in prolonged arbitrary detention on the basis only of the fact that they attempted an irregular entry is a good course of action."

Topics: rights, human, immigration, refugees, federal-government, australia

First posted