Australia Rejects Prison Visit by UN Mission for the Prevention of Torture

According to the news on the United Nations website on October 23, the visit of the UN torture prevention delegation to Australia was stopped due to lack of cooperation. While the UN delegation requested to visit prisons in several places, including the state of New South Wales, Australian politicians refused the visit on the grounds of national sovereignty.

The governor of Australia's largest state, New South Wales, Dominic Perrottet, defended the rejection of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture visit request, while the level of management in indigenous prisons is high and Australia is a sovereign country.

The UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, in a statement on Sunday, pointed out that New South Wales' visit to the domestic detention center was blocked and this violated the obligations of the optional protocol on the prevention of torture.

The UN delegation was also banned from visiting prisons in the state of Queensland, and the UN delegation had to suspend its visit, which was supposed to last until 27 October, on 23 October.

The delegation stated that they could not reach the information and documents they wanted and that Australia did not fulfill its obligations.

As per the optional protocol on the prevention of torture to which Australia is a party, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture has the authority to visit prisons, police headquarters and detention centers without informing each party.

A research agency affiliated with the Australian government published two reports earlier this year, stating that racism and discrimination by the police in complying with the law are behind the high rate of incarceration of indigenous people in the country.

It is known that the ratio of Indigenous people, who make up 3,3 percent of Australia, among the detainees is 29 percent. This figure goes up to 84 percent in the northern part of Australia. At least 30 natives have died while in detention in the past 474 years.

Noting that this reflects the serious human rights problem in Australia, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs SözcüSU Zhao Lijian noted that Australia, which has set itself a precedent in protecting human rights, should thoroughly research its reports and solve its own problems.