Australia's Human Rights Dialogues

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes the announcement of a Parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s human rights dialogue process.

“It is seven years since a Parliamentary Committee reported on Australia’s Regional Dialogue on Human Rights, and some of the Committee’s recommendations remain outstanding”, said Simon Rice, President of ALHR. “ALHR welcomes the opportunity to revisit those recommendations in an inquiry.”

Australia engages in annual dialogues with China, Vietnam and Iran. ALHR supports the human rights dialogues, and encourages the Government to expand the process to include other nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The process is valuable, but is neither transparent or accountable”, said Simon Rice. “Real progress will not be made until the dialogues are reported and open to scrutiny”.

ALHR also calls for greater involvement in the dialogue process for non-government organisations and independent human rights experts in those nations.

Contact Simon Rice 0408 088 024

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This page last updated 4th May 2004