I wonder how much the government spent on lobbying the UNCHR for a tame report? --- Trudy ================================================ UN provides Australia with mandatory sentencing advice Source: AAP | Published: Monday March 13, 3:49 PM The United Nations has reminded the Australian government of international obligations on sentencing children, including that incarceration should be a last resort. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer released the UN reference paper today which advises the government of obligations relevant to mandatory sentencing. These include the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 'The UN paper does not focus specifically on Australian law and practice, nor does it make any judgments about Australia's conformity with international standards,' Mr Downer said in a statement. 'The paper confirms the view expressed by the (UN) Secretary-General (Kofi Annan)during his recent visit that the mandatory sentencing issue remains one of domestic responsibility.' But the paper contains concerns raised in 1997 by the Committee on the Rights of the Child about mandatory sentencing in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. 'The committee is also concerned about the unjustified, disproportionately high percentage of Aboriginal children in the juvenile justice system and that there is a tendency normally to refuse applications for bail for them,' the paper said. 'The committee is particularly concerned at the enactment of new legislation in two states (NT and WA) where a high percentage of Aboriginal people live.' The paper was produced by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and UNICEF at the request of Mr Annan. Opposition Leader Kim Beazley had requested UN advice on mandatory sentencing during Mr Annan's Australian visit. -- ********************************* 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/
