Australia is a stable, democratic and culturally diverse nation with a highly skilled workforce and one of the strongest performing economies in the world.
Australia welcomes the appointment of the new Special Rapporteur, and thanks him for his report. Australia welcomes Cambodia's ongoing engagement with the Special Rapporteur.
Australia condemns in the strongest terms racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances, particularly where this incites further hate, violence, discrimination and exclusion.
Australia commends the Expert Mechanism for its studies on self—determination and children. We are pleased to share information about relevant initiatives in Australia.
Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur for his report on indigenous peoples and COVID-19 recovery. We note in particular the report talks about the exponential risk of indigenous peoples being overlooked, both in pandemic mitigation efforts and in post-COVID-19 recovery measures. Indigenous women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons are especially at risk.
I commend the Council for this Annual Discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout its work and that of its mechanisms.
Increased reliance on technology for school, work and leisure has created further opportunities, particularly during COVID-19, for perpetrators to abuse, monitor, isolate, humiliate and control, both overtly and covertly.
Australia is deeply concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. We call on the Taliban to allow safe passage for citizens and visa holders and to allow unimpeded access for all humanitarian workers.
Australia thanks the High Commissioner and her office for their oral update. We note with deep sadness and concern the recent anniversary of flawed presidential elections in Belarus, and the arrest of human rights defenders in July 2021. We have also witnessed the regrettable erosion of media independence in Belarus.
Australia welcomes this interactive dialogue to maintain the international community’s focus on the breadth and gravity of human rights violations and abuses that have been, and continue to be, perpetrated in Myanmar.
We are deeply concerned by ongoing violations of human rights in Syria, and the continued suffering of the Syrian people after more than a decade of conflict.
Australia congratulates South Sudan on its 10th anniversary as an independent state. We welcome recent developments, including a reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly, and initial steps to develop the permanent constitution.
Australia remains deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar. It is over 7 months since the military coup in Myanmar, and with each month that passes, the death toll and number of arrests continue to rise. Many of those killed and detained have been young people exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression.
Australia thanks the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for its written report and welcomes its consideration of the Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations.
Australia thanks the High Commissioner for her presentation and welcomes her report. As a member of the core group of resolution 45/28, Australia supports strengthened linkages between the work of the Council and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.
Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur for his presentation and welcomes his report identifying factors that render displaced persons vulnerable to slavery.
We commend the IIMM’s important work collecting, preserving and analysing evidence of killings, violence and detentions, including those perpetrated in Rakhine State, and following the 1 February coup. The number of deaths, detentions and disappearances continues to rise in Myanmar, as do reports of torture, sexual violence and persecution.
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the promotion and protection of human rights globally. Australia is deeply concerned that States have used the shield of the pandemic to target human rights defenders, civil society, health workers, and journalists.
I have the honour to deliver this joint statement on behalf of the 27 EU Member States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.
One year ago, in this same debate, 37 States highlighted that it is high time for the Council to address human rights violations and abuses against intersex persons.
Over the few last decades, around the world, as a consequence of various social, cultural, legal, political, and scientific changes, there has been an increased recognition of diverse and various forms of families that go beyond the so-called “traditional model” - of a mother, a father and biological children.
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action states that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are a legitimate concern of the international community and must be considered as a priority of the United Nations. The universal nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond question.
The health emergency caused by COVID-19 and its consequences highlighted the essential role that care work plays in our daily life, in society and in the economy. Furthermore, it exposed that the unequal distribution of care work is one of the main root causes of gender inequalities.
More than 70 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth. However, in reality, discrimination, either de jure or de facto, persists, even in the diplomatic arena.
We thank the Special Rapporteur for his report, including his recommendations to member states and the wider international community on how to establish judicial and non-judicial measures to ensure accountability for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing.
We thank the High Commissioner for her oral update on the human rights situation in Nicaragua. The escalation of human rights violations as the November elections approach is particularly worrisome.
We remain gravely concerned by ongoing violence in northern Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government and regional authorities' cutting off of Tigray - and the TPLF's expansion of the conflict into neighboring regions - have caused a humanitarian catastrophe
Statement to the UN Human Rights Council – 48th session, 13 September 2021, Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, Chairperson, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions
