Antinuclear

Civil liberties under threat in Western Australia. UN urges WA govt to withdraw anti protest Bill

UN urges WA Government not to bring in anti-protest laws, ABC News, By Briana Shepherd, 16 Feb 16  The United Nations has called on the West Australian Government to withdraw controversial new legislation that imposes harsh penalties on protesters.

The proposed laws were first introduced into Parliament in March 2015, and the Government insists it will only target radical protesters using devices like chains or thumb locks to block or stop lawful activities.

But the UN said it would “result in criminalising lawful protests and silencing environmentalists and human rights defenders”.

“If the bill passes, it would go against Australia’s international obligations under international human rights law, including the rights to freedom of opinion and expression as well as peaceful assembly and association,” the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement.

“The bill would criminalise a wide range of legitimate conduct by creating criminal offences for the acts of physically preventing a lawful activity and possessing an object for the purpose of preventing a lawful activity.

If the offence was committed in circumstances of aggravation, the penalty could be as high as imprisonment for two years and a fine of $24,000.

The new laws sparked criticism when they were initially proposed, and in April 2015 more than 100 people gathered on the steps of Parliament to oppose them.

UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye said legitimate protest actions were disproportionately criminalised under the legislation, which “would have the chilling effect of silencing dissenters and punishing expression protected by international human rights law”……..

Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren said the Government was yet to prove the proposed laws were necessary. “That is one of the basic tenants of a good law, whether it’s necessary and whether it’s proportional to the problem that it’s trying to address,” Ms MacLaren said.

“Protests in WA are by-and-large peaceful.

“If you look at our history of protesting throughout the last 10 years – protesting to save Old Growth Forest, protesting to stop industrial development on James Price Point – all of them have been characterised by peaceful action by large groups of people.”

The Greens have opposed the bill but Ms MacLaren said unless the Nationals sided with them, they did not have the numbers to defeat it.

She called on the Government to withdraw the bill in light of the UN’s comments, and said a parliamentary committee should at least review the legislation.

“That’s the lesser of two evils,” Ms MacLaren said http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-16/un-urges-wa-government-not-to-bring-in-anti-protest-laws/7172738

February 17, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, Western Australia