Australia's efforts to present itself as a leading country in the field of human rights have caused the image of this country to be transmitted to the world as a multicultural society with a strong record of supporting human rights, but behind this hypocritical portrayal there are the widespread violation of human rights in Australia which includes various communities and issues, some of which are briefly mentioned below:
1. The rights of indigenous people in Australia are significantly violated
Systematic racism in the Australian health care system causes great suffering for indigenous people, who are also called Aborigines. Indigenous people in Australia die at a high rate from diseases such as rheumatic heart disease, which has been almost eradicated in Australia but continues to claim victims in indigenous areas.
Indigenous Australians are significantly oppressed due to discrimination in the justice system; They account for 30% of Australia's prison population, while they make up 3% of the country's population. The issue of Indigenous prisoner deaths in Australia is also shocking; at least 11 Indigenous prisoners died in Australia in 2021, and more than 500 Indigenous prisoners died in Australian prisons from 1991 to 2022.
The main causes of Indigenous deaths in Australian prisons are murder by prison staff or the neglect of prison authorities of the physical and mental health of Indigenous prisoners.
A 2018 pilot study of a sample of 134 Indigenous deaths in custody found that the coroner prepared only 11 deaths for referral to the prosecutor; the Australian coroner ultimately referred only five cases, and of these, only two went to trial, both of which resulted in the dismissal of indictments and acquittals.
In fact, since the Royal Commission in 1991, no one has ever been convicted of the 432 deaths of Indigenous people in Australian police custody.
At the same time, Indigenous children are 17 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous children; yet Indigenous children and young people in Australian adult prisons face significant challenges, including handcuffed visits, being placed with adult prisoners, and high telephone costs.
These children are often living in poverty and homelessness before being transferred to prison, and are at risk of alcoholism, drug abuse, and violence.
The Australian government has not yet explained why it is keeping Indigenous children and young people in adult prisons. Sending children to adult prisons contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child and only entrenches criminal behavior, further damaging both children and society.
According to statistics, at least 50% of children sentenced to imprisonment in adult prisons in Australia have experienced sexual abuse. According to statistics from 2021, about 500 children under the age of 14 were imprisoned in prisons across Australia.
2. Refugees; and human rights violations
In the context of continuing cruel treatment of refugees and violations of their human rights, Australia has put on the agenda a large-scale program of detention and transfer to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The refugees are housed in residences in these two countries that do not have access to sunlight and, in some cases, are locked in a room for months, and in fact, these residences are a kind of prison.
The aforementioned residences have repeatedly witnessed the outbreak of epidemics and the neglect of the Australian government and host governments to medical and treatment care for refugees; This has led to the deaths of at least 12 asylum seekers transferred to these accommodations between 2013 and 2021, 6 of which were suicides.
Immigration detention centers in Australia are also important centers of human rights violations in this country, because there are no basic facilities for living in immigration detention centers in Australia.
At the same time, according to statistics, one out of every three asylum seekers with a visa in Australia does not have the right to work and is forced to work illegally, which puts them in the process of exploitation. The latest asylum crisis in Australia is related to the wandering of Afghan asylum seekers who are in limbo due to the Australian government's broken promises.
Despite continuous international criticism, the Australian government has maintained its inhumane asylum policy.
3. Violation of the rights of people with disabilities
The rights of people with disabilities in Australia are also violated in various ways, and these people face violence, abuse, and exploitation. People with disabilities in Australian prisons also face deadly conditions; Human Rights Watch studies show that in the 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, about 60 percent of prisoners who died in Australia were disabled people.
The reason for the high mortality rate of prisoners with disabilities in Australia is resource constraints and inadequate health services.
4. Violation of environmental rights
Australia is among the top 20 countries emitting greenhouse gases in the world; this destructive gas plays an important role in the climate crisis and the resulting deaths worldwide. Australia has taken a strict approach to climate protests in this country, and the suppression of climate protests and the arrest of protesters are an important part of this approach. According to reports, Australia's new laws target climate protesters with disproportionate punishments.
5. Violence against women
Violence against women in Australia is a crisis that is growing due to the inattention of the Australian government; according to a report by the Law Council of Australia, 9 out of 10 Australian women who experience rape and sexual violence never contact the police.
New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of reported sexual assaults across the country has reached its highest level.
At the same time, the murder and disappearance of women in Australia is a trend that shows no sign of ending.
The number of women victims of domestic violence in Australia reached 43 in 2022.
In addition to the lives lost due to this epidemic, survivors of the aforementioned violence face numerous challenges due to physical and psychological trauma.
Missing women are another fate that befalls women victims of violence; of the 30,000 missing people per year in Australia, a significant portion are missing women.
In 2021, more than 31,000 people were registered as victims of sexual assault in Australia; this is a 13% increase in one year and is the only major crime category to increase. Human trafficking in Australia mainly targets vulnerable Asian women.
Regional and global human trafficking networks exploit the shortcomings of Australia’s border security and immigration system to traffic women for the purpose of exploitation.
It is necessary for progressive countries of the world, especially Iran, to expose the gross human rights violations in Australia and take the lead in addressing this situation in international forums.
MNA/
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