Human Rights

Locals lead the way on an NDIS

Submitted by news on Wed, Apr 3, 2013 - 10:34am
Cabinet Minister Mark Dreyfus has urged Australians to wait until the federal government makes formal announcements on changes to superannuation, before speculating.

The federal government has come under fire following reports it wants to raise the tax rate on superannuation earnings to fund schools and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Mr Dreyfus says many of the allegations are without any foundation.

French government to reimburse abortion costs

Submitted by news on Wed, Apr 3, 2013 - 10:14am
The French government has implemented new legislation that fully reimburses women for the cost of abortions.

The change comes following new laws that were introduced at the end of 2012.

The program will also provide free and anonymous birth control to teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 18 to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Sex attacks reduce tourism in India

Submitted by news on Wed, Apr 3, 2013 - 9:51am
A new study has revealed that multiple sex attacks in India have altered how tourists perceive the country and has led to a decrease in foreign tourists.

One example of these attacks was the rape of a 23-year-old Indian student by six men on a bus in New Delhi, shocking India and the rest of the world.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India says the incidents have raised concerns about the safety of female travellers to the country.

Nearly 72 per cent of tour operators have reported a number of cancellations in the last three months by female visitors from countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia.

Tamil refugee sews lips together in protest

Submitted by news on Thu, Mar 28, 2013 - 11:25am
Two asylum seekers detained in the Broadmeadows Detention Centre in Victoria have sewn their lips together in a violent protest of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s refugee assessment procedures.

The asylum seekers came to Australia seeking refuge from the brutal Tamil Tigers and Hazara organisations, but ASIO have repeatedly rejected their pleas to be granted refugee status.

Feiyi Zhang from Refugee Action Collective, said that the refugee’s actions are an indictment on the cruelty of government policy towards refugees. Zhang claims that ASIO is keeping these asylum seekers in detention for no justifiable reason.

Death toll in Myanmar rises

Submitted by news on Wed, Mar 27, 2013 - 11:27am
The death toll from recent clashes in central Myanmar has reportedly risen to 40, after eight more bodies were removed from wreckage yesterday.

The violence initially broke out after an argument between Muslim shop owners and a Buddhist couple escalated.

Hundreds of people then became involved in the dispute, sparking riots in the streets.

The violence has raised fears that the long standing tension between Muslims and Buddhists in the western part of the country may now spread.

Immigration expert warns of more asylum seeker deaths

Submitted by news on Wed, Mar 27, 2013 - 11:13am
Labor’s immigration expert Paris Aristotle has said there will be more asylum seekers deaths at sea until the government implements the measures recommended to it last year.

In the wake of two recent asylum-seeker deaths, Mr Aristotle said this is not the first incident of it’s kind this year.

He said there are continuous reports of boats going missing and nobody knowing where they ended up.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie claims there needs to be foreign aid for countries such as Pakistan and Iran to prevent asylum seekers taking these risky boats to Australia in the first place.

Corporal under investigation

Submitted by news on Tue, Mar 26, 2013 - 10:22am
Australian soldier Corporal Aaron Sweet, who said the beating of an Afghan prisoner was covered up by a superior officer, has been accused of unacceptable behaviour himself.

Military policeman Major David Sperry Pratt is under investigation by a court martial in Canberra, examining whether complaint records about an Afghan captive's mistreatment were changed.

A witness, one of Corporal Sweet's supervisor's, told the court Sweet allowed a major security breach to occur and had to be returned to Australia because of his performance.

Community seeks profit from cash-for-containers scheme

Submitted by news on Wed, Mar 20, 2013 - 11:21am
Residents of a community in a remote part of the Northern Territory are hoping the cash-for-containers scheme will be made permanent.

The Northern Territory Government has committed another two months of funding to the scheme, which is helping Aboriginal people to profit from recycling.

This has come after Coca-Cola Amatil and other beverage producers successfully challenged the scheme in the Federal Court.

Kalkarindji resident Phil Smith says the scheme is beneficial for locals and has the potential to generate around $50,000 a year for the community.

Fear for two failed asylum seekers

Submitted by news on Fri, Mar 15, 2013 - 12:42pm
Refugee advocates said they fear for the safety of two failed asylum seekers set to be deported to Afghanistan and Pakistan this weekend.

The two men have also been invoiced for the cost of their deportations - one having been charged more than $20,000.

One man, who is a Shiite, is due to be flown from Sydney to Islamabad on Saturday and said he fears for his safety in Pakistan because of sectarian attacks.

Earlier this week members of the Afghan parliament wrote a letter to the Federal Government, warming it was not safe to send asylum seekers to Kabul.

China To Abolish Labour Camps

Submitted by news on Thu, Mar 14, 2013 - 10:34am
Senior Chinese government officials have promised to rid the country’s re-education through labour prison camps.

National People’s Congress delegates have called for the programme’s immediate end with several senior legal officials have promised the camps will be abolished by the end of the year.

In remote parts of China there are about 350 labour camps with 160, 000 prisoners who did not go to court before their detention.

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