Tony Abbott reacts angrily to report criticising Australia’s detention policies, saying Australians are ‘sick of being lectured to by the United Nations’

Tony Abbott reacts angrily to report criticising Australia’s detention policies, saying Australians are ‘sick of being lectured to by the United Nations’

Tony Abbott reacts angrily to report criticising Australia’s detention policies, saying Australians are ‘sick of being lectured to by the United Nations’

Nauru children asylum seekers protest on Australia Day. The UN has found that their detention breaches the Convention Against Torture. Photograph: Supplied

Nauru children asylum seekers protest on Australia Day. The UN has found that their detention breaches the Convention Against Torture. Photograph: Supplied





Australia is systematically violating the international Convention

Against Torture by detaining children in immigration detention, and

holding asylum seekers in dangerous and violent conditions on Manus

Island, a United Nations report has found.





But the prime minister, Tony Abbott, reacted angrily to the scathing

findings, saying Australians were “sick of being lectured to by the

United Nations”.





The United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez,

has investigated allegations of torture and abuse of 68 countries, in a

report to be delivered to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.





The section on Australia is concerned entirely with the treatment of asylum seekers in immigration detention.





“The government of Australia, by failing to provide adequate

detention conditions; end the practice of detention of children; and put

a stop to the escalating violence and tension at the regional

processing centre, has violated the right of the asylum seekers

including children to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment,” Mendez’s report said.





Two asylum seekers on Manus Island,

referred to as Mr A and Mr B, allege they were tied to chairs by

security staff and threatened with “physical violence, rape, and

prosecution for ‘becoming aggressive’” if they refused to retract

statements they had made to police about the murder of Reza Barati

during detention centre riots.






Mendez’s report found those men’s rights were also breached.





“The rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations

presented in the initial communication, reiterated above, and thus, that

the government of Australia, by failing to provide any additional

information or details of the investigation into Mr A’s and Mr B’s

allegations, has violated their right to be free from torture or cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment.”





And Mendez found that two government amendments to immigration

legislation both risk violating international law prohibiting torture.





“The Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment ... violates the Convention Against Torture

because it allows for the arbitrary detention and refugee determination

at sea, without access to lawyers. The Migration Amendment (Character

and General Visa Cancellation Bill) violates the CAT because it tightens

control on the issuance of visas on the basis of character and risk

assessments.”





When asked about the report on Monday, Abbott said the UN’s

representatives “would have a lot more credibility if they were to give

some credit to the Australian government” for stopping dangerous boat

journeys by asylum seekers.





“I really think Australians are sick of being lectured to by the United Nations,

particularly given that we have stopped the boats, and by stopping the

boats, we have ended the deaths at sea,” the prime minister said during a

media conference in Western Australia.





“The most humanitarian, the most decent, the most compassionate thing

you can do is stop these boats because hundreds, we think about 1,200

in fact, drowned at sea during the flourishing of the people smuggling

trade under the former government.





“The best thing you can do to uphold the universal decencies of

mankind, the best thing that you can do to ensure that the best values

of our world are realised is to stop the boats and that’s exactly what

we have done.”





Asked again whether he accepted the UN’s findings about Manus Island,

Abbott said the conditions were “reasonable under all the

circumstances” and “all of the basic needs of the people on Manus Island

are being met”.





“Everyone’s needs for food, for clothing, for shelter, for safety are

being more than met, thanks to the good work of the PNG government, the

Australian government and the people who are running the centre,” he

said.





Abbott’s criticism of the UN follows his claim the Australian Human

Rights Commission, in particular its president, professor Gillian

Triggs, acted in a “blatantly partisan” way with its inquiry into children in immigration detention.





The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has also been contacted for comment on the UN report.









Australia ratified the treaty in 1989, and is legally bound by it.





The director of legal advocacy with the Human Rights Law Centre,

Daniel Webb, said the UN report confirmed that Australia’s offshore

processing policy was failing to meet basic human rights standards, and

that new legislation would risk further breaches of international law.





“Under international law, Australia can’t lock people up

incommunicado on a boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Nor can we

return people to a place where they face the risk of being tortured.

Yet these are precisely the powers the government has sought to give

itself through recent amendments to its maritime law.”





Australia relied on international law and to protect its own interests, Webb said.





“So it’s incredibly short-sighted for the government to start

thumbing its nose at the UN system just because it doesn’t like what

it’s being told.”





Ben Pynt from Humanitarian Research Partners said the government was

simply attempting to sweep torture allegations “under the rug”.





“The prime minister has attempted to discredit the special rapporteur

on torture in the same way as he attacked Professor Triggs, as biased

and disreputable. What he did not do is counter the evidence provided or

in any way attempt to disprove the allegations of torture, which the

global authority on torture found to be substantiated.”





The special rapporteur’s report addresses allegations of torture and

inhumane treatment in 68 countries. It criticises, as well, the United

States for holding a mentally ill man on death row for 30 years, and

raises concerns with the UK over several proposed deportations.





Papua New Guinea did not respond to inquiries from the UN over its handling of the Manus detention centre.





Australia is currently actively lobbying for a seat on the Human Rights Council, in the ballot to take place in 2017.





The foreign minister, Julie Bishop told Fairfax Australia’s bid was “consistent with our nation’s history of promoting and protecting human rights”.





“We abide by our international obligations and we are confident that

our experience and our commitment to human rights protection and

promotion makes us a strong contender for the UNHRC.”





Shadow minister for immigration Richard Marles described the prime minister’s attack as “absurd”.





“Instead of launching a cheap attack on the report’s author, Tony

Abbott should be providing an assurance that all the processing

facilities Australia funds are run in a safe, humane and proper manner.”





