Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Category: Auslaw

  • An open letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott

    On 2 March, over 500 academics from more than 30 Australian universities (including Castan Centre Directors and Associates) signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the immediate closure of the detention centres on Manus Island and in Nauru. Academics can still add their names at this link.  We have reprinted the full text of the…

  • LGBTI Rights and the UN – where to from here?

    By Paula Gerber In 2014, one can barely read the news without coming across a story concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) persons. Invariably these stories relate to violence, discrimination or other human rights violations inflicted on individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Occasionally, a good news story creeps in,…

  • Guest Blog: Protecting children’s rights in Asian tourism destinations: What more can be done?

    Guest Blogger: Afrooz Kaviani Johnson  When we hear mention of child exploitation in Asian tourism, often the first thing that comes to mind is the sexual exploitation of children. The shocking reports of young girls trapped in horrifying conditions to serve tens of foreign ‘clients’ day in and day out. Or, perhaps you’ve even witnessed…

  • New book offers a different perspective on torture

    A new book by Castan Centre Associate Dr Ronli Sifris, providing another angle on a feminist understanding of international human rights, will be launched in early March. The book, Reproductive Freedom, Torture and International Human Rights: Challenging the Masculinisation of Torture, examines restrictions on reproductive freedom through the lens of the right to be free from torture…

  • We should act on Uganda’s oppression of gays

    By Paula Gerber Since 2009, Uganda has been threatening to pass legislation further criminalising homosexuality and imposing even harsher penalties. The threat has finally become a reality with President Yoweri Museveni announcing, on Valentine’s Day, that he is now ready to sign the Bill into law, after initially expressing some reservations about it. Although the death…

  • Too big to be sued? US Supreme Court further limits corporate human rights litigation

    By Joanna Kyriakakis In 2013, the major story on big business and human rights was the US Supreme Court’s decision in Kiobel. For decades, US federal courts have provided victims of corporate related human rights abuses a rare forum to have their complaints heard. These cases often relate to corporate activity in the developing world…