Australia
25.03.02
Events
OMCT statement: CHR 58 Item 6: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination
- Event Date: 25.03.02
- Event Time: 00:00:00
Joint Statement
of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the FI.ACAT
58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights
(18 March - 26 April 2002)
Item 6 of the agenda:
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination
Mr Chairperson,
I speak on behalf of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), and the FI.ACAT in the context of the follow up to the Durban World Conference Against Racism.
Racism and racial discrimination occur in multiple forms. These are not simply socio-cultural inequalities or racist behaviour. In certain circumstances, discrimination is institutionalised. It is set down in law and is part of the methods employed by judicial and penitential authorities, and can lead to serious violations of fundamental rights, in the form of inhuman or degrading treatment. Both relevant U N Treaty monitoring bodies and regional human rights mechanisms have come to conclude that certain categories of person deprived of their liberty by the police (and in particular minority groups, migrants and asylum seekers) run a significant risk of being ill treated.
Mr. Chair,
OMCT, and the FI.ACAT, welcome the General Assembly’s decision to request the Secretary General to appoint five independent eminent experts to follow the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration and the Programme of Action, together with the Anti-Discrimination Unit activities within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The WCAR took up an important number of areas of major concern for OMCT and the FI.ACAT, and in particular, included a provision related to the legal assistance to be provided to victims of racial discrimination, including victims of torture and ill treatment. However, the Durban documents did not address crucial concerns relating to racism within criminal justice systems, notably the absence of any reference to the racially disproportionate application of the death penalty, the failure to address the racially disparate impact of mandatory sentencing, and the lack of reference concerning the detention of refugees, in contradiction with international law.
Mr Chair,
In October 2001, OMCT expressed its grave concerns in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers and migrants in Australia and, in particular, at the non-revisable mandatory detention policy for unauthorized arrivals of asylum seekers. These limits are especially important in the case of children and those who are survivors of torture. On February, OMCT urged the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to consider carrying out a visit into the country in order to investigate the conditions of detention of immigrants and asylum seekers who are being held in prolonged administrative detention without the possibility of administrative or judicial remedy. OMCT welcomes the Australian Government’s decision to invite the Working Group to visit the Woomera detention centre and examine the arbitrary character of the detention of asylum seekers, and believes that such a visit should take place at the first possible opportunity, as stated by Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on February the 1st. Furthermore, our organisation hope that the Australian authorities will allow the Working Group to visit other DIMA detention centers.
Mr. Chair,
The Roma population continues, throughout Europe, to face severe discrimination with regard to acts of violence perpetrated by the police or by private individuals. Throughout the year 2001, OMCT has documented several acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the police, including beatings, punching, slapping in the face, stepping on naked feet with boots and racial insults.
OMCT remains further concerned in relation to the situation of victims who continue to suffer from extreme forms of segregation, violence and exploitation because of their low-caste and outcaste status or because of other forms of discrimination based on work and descent. In this respect, OMCT and the FI.ACAT welcome the recent CERD decision to add to its agenda a thematic day of general discussion on "descent" for its next session in August, which general discussion will debate discrimination based on occupation and descent, for example like that affecting the Dalits of India or the Burakumin of Japan.
Mr Chair,
Given the outcomes of the Third World Conference Against Racism regarding the urgent need to implement measures to eliminate well-established racial discrimination throughout the entire criminal justice system, OMCT, and the FI.ACAT call upon the Commission on Human Rights to:
- Recommend that all relevant UN Treaties bodies and Charter based bodies, and in particular the Special Rapporteur on Racism and the Special Rapporteur on Torture pay a particular attention to these grave and sensitive issues and to conduct any specific necessary study in order to evaluate the seriousness and extent of the phenomenon of racism within the administration of justice.
- And to call on States to provide specific groups, including non-citizens, such as minorities, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, with legal assistance in the event of torture, ill-treatment or any kind of violence perpetrated on the basis of racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance, as recommended by the Programme Of Action of the Durban WCAR (para.161) in compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.
Thank you for your attention, Mr. Chairperson.
Geneva, March 22, 2002
Elsa Le Pennec
of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the FI.ACAT
58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights
(18 March - 26 April 2002)
Item 6 of the agenda:
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination
Mr Chairperson,
I speak on behalf of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), and the FI.ACAT in the context of the follow up to the Durban World Conference Against Racism.
Racism and racial discrimination occur in multiple forms. These are not simply socio-cultural inequalities or racist behaviour. In certain circumstances, discrimination is institutionalised. It is set down in law and is part of the methods employed by judicial and penitential authorities, and can lead to serious violations of fundamental rights, in the form of inhuman or degrading treatment. Both relevant U N Treaty monitoring bodies and regional human rights mechanisms have come to conclude that certain categories of person deprived of their liberty by the police (and in particular minority groups, migrants and asylum seekers) run a significant risk of being ill treated.
Mr. Chair,
OMCT, and the FI.ACAT, welcome the General Assembly’s decision to request the Secretary General to appoint five independent eminent experts to follow the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration and the Programme of Action, together with the Anti-Discrimination Unit activities within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The WCAR took up an important number of areas of major concern for OMCT and the FI.ACAT, and in particular, included a provision related to the legal assistance to be provided to victims of racial discrimination, including victims of torture and ill treatment. However, the Durban documents did not address crucial concerns relating to racism within criminal justice systems, notably the absence of any reference to the racially disproportionate application of the death penalty, the failure to address the racially disparate impact of mandatory sentencing, and the lack of reference concerning the detention of refugees, in contradiction with international law.
Mr Chair,
In October 2001, OMCT expressed its grave concerns in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers and migrants in Australia and, in particular, at the non-revisable mandatory detention policy for unauthorized arrivals of asylum seekers. These limits are especially important in the case of children and those who are survivors of torture. On February, OMCT urged the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to consider carrying out a visit into the country in order to investigate the conditions of detention of immigrants and asylum seekers who are being held in prolonged administrative detention without the possibility of administrative or judicial remedy. OMCT welcomes the Australian Government’s decision to invite the Working Group to visit the Woomera detention centre and examine the arbitrary character of the detention of asylum seekers, and believes that such a visit should take place at the first possible opportunity, as stated by Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on February the 1st. Furthermore, our organisation hope that the Australian authorities will allow the Working Group to visit other DIMA detention centers.
Mr. Chair,
The Roma population continues, throughout Europe, to face severe discrimination with regard to acts of violence perpetrated by the police or by private individuals. Throughout the year 2001, OMCT has documented several acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the police, including beatings, punching, slapping in the face, stepping on naked feet with boots and racial insults.
OMCT remains further concerned in relation to the situation of victims who continue to suffer from extreme forms of segregation, violence and exploitation because of their low-caste and outcaste status or because of other forms of discrimination based on work and descent. In this respect, OMCT and the FI.ACAT welcome the recent CERD decision to add to its agenda a thematic day of general discussion on "descent" for its next session in August, which general discussion will debate discrimination based on occupation and descent, for example like that affecting the Dalits of India or the Burakumin of Japan.
Mr Chair,
Given the outcomes of the Third World Conference Against Racism regarding the urgent need to implement measures to eliminate well-established racial discrimination throughout the entire criminal justice system, OMCT, and the FI.ACAT call upon the Commission on Human Rights to:
- Recommend that all relevant UN Treaties bodies and Charter based bodies, and in particular the Special Rapporteur on Racism and the Special Rapporteur on Torture pay a particular attention to these grave and sensitive issues and to conduct any specific necessary study in order to evaluate the seriousness and extent of the phenomenon of racism within the administration of justice.
- And to call on States to provide specific groups, including non-citizens, such as minorities, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, with legal assistance in the event of torture, ill-treatment or any kind of violence perpetrated on the basis of racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance, as recommended by the Programme Of Action of the Durban WCAR (para.161) in compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.
Thank you for your attention, Mr. Chairperson.
Geneva, March 22, 2002
Elsa Le Pennec