Antinuclear

Amnesty calls for re-instating Racial Discrimination Act

Australia: government must overturn law which discriminates against aboriginal people Amnesty International 18 November 2009

Slamming decades of failure by Australian governments to address the dire living conditions and discrimination faced by many of the country’s Indigenous peoples, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan warned the Rudd government not to squander its opportunity to right historic wrongs, and in particular to end the new discrimination suffered by Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory.

Visiting the impoverished Utopia region of the Northern Territory of Australia earlier this week, Irene Khan criticised the ongoing subjection of 45,000 Aboriginal people to state-sponsored racially discriminatory measures – including land confiscation and interference with income payments…………..

………Welcoming the commitment she had received from Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin that the Government would introduce legislation to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory, Irene Khan called on the Government to ensure that it does so in line with Australia’s international obligations not to discriminate against Indigenous peoples………….Irene Khan is visiting Australia from 15 to 20 November 2009, where she will be launching her book, ‘The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights’, which includes discussion of discrimination against Indigenous peoples……..http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18504

November 20, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL | aboriginal, antinuclear, Australia