Fwd: Issued today to Australian media from the International Secretariat of Amnesty International: News Service 048/00 AI INDEX: ASA 12/03/00 14 March 2000 Crunch time for children's human rights in Australia As Australia's Senators debate mandatory detention of juveniles, Amnesty International urged them to give life to the children's human rights the government has promised to protect. The welcome findings of the Senate committee's report on mandatory detention assert federal responsibility for ensuring that Australia's international obligations are met. "Today's parliamentary debate is crunch time for respect for international treaties. If Australia wants to be taken seriously, it cannot pick and choose which treaty obligations matter," the human rights organization said. This is the second parliamentary report in two years recommending alternatives to mandatory detention. If this crucial children's rights issue is not resolved domestically, Australia risks facing further embarrassment before the United Nations (UN) this year. Under mandatory detention laws the courts cannot sentence children according to the seriousness of the crime, their maturity or circumstances. Nor can reparations to victims be taken into account in a mandatory prison term. "The findings on mandatory detention are clear -- it does not serve the community or provide justice for victims. The interests of Australian children should not be subject to politics. Those responsible for upholding Australian values and obligations should take decisive action." ENDS.../ ***********************************************************************= For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in Sydney on 0413 028 191, or in London, UK, on 44 171 413 5566, or visit our website at http://www.amnesty.org -- ********************************* Make the Hunger Site your homepage! http://www.thehungersite.com/index.html ********************************* ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/