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18C Report Raises Questions about Joint Committee on Human Rights’ role
The Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) wasn’t always as equivocal and uncertain as yesterday’s report on s 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (the RD Act) makes it seem. However, the JCHR’s role as one of the few Commonwealth bodies with a human rights mandate is becoming questionable. First, I will discuss the…
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Ratification of the OPCAT – what will it mean for Australia?
Yesterday at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s annual NGO Forum, the Foreign Minister and Attorney-General announced that Australia would ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). What is it all about? The OPCAT is a treaty which…
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The Historic Conviction of Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré was the President of Chad from 1982 to 1990. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Senegal on Monday (30 May) for crimes against humanity committed during his brutal reign, including sexual slavery, rape and ordering the killing of up to 40,000 people and torture of many thousands more. This was a momentous…
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Why Indonesia Should Not Resume Executions
Yesterday, following reports and rumours from two weeks ago, Indonesian police confirmed that the country is about to lift its de facto moratorium on the death penalty. This is a clear step backwards, both legally and morally. It has been a year since the “drama” (as the Indonesian Security Minister calls it) surrounding the executions…
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Criminal Convictions for Consensual Sex
Imagine a world in which you could be convicted of a crime merely for having sex with another consenting adult. It sounds like the sadistic, dystopian construct of a fictional fanatical regime, but the fact is it’s reality for people in (at last count) 76 countries today. In Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and…
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What does Human Rights Law say about Gun Control?
Opponents of gun control in the United States have a powerful ally in domestic law, because their Constitution contains a right to ‘keep and bear arms.’ Since the Heller Supreme Court case in 2008, this has been interpreted as an individual right which can trump legislative gun bans. In the context of the 2016 Presidential…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 
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