Published 17:08 IST, October 23rd 2019
Australia HRC calls for public inquiry in immigration detention cases
A new report by the Human Rights Commission of Australia has called for a public inquiry and compensation money for the use of force in immigration detention
- World News
- 3 min read
A new report by the Human Rights Watchdog of Australia has called for a public inquiry on the use of force in immigration detention on October 23. The report has also considered the practices of handcuffing the detainees, the use of physical force within centers including arm and elbow locks, operations conducted by the Emergency Response Team (ERT), and the use of face masks. Along with the inquiry, the Human Rights Commission has also asked the authorities to pay compensation in the cases of irrelevant use of force.
The President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Rosalind Croucher said, “There needs to be effective oversight of the use of force in immigration detention. This requires robust authorization procedures, filming of all pre-planned uses of force in their entirety, and appropriate record-keeping so that incidents can be properly assessed.”
The different complaints
Reportedly, in a detention case, a 19-year-old woman was forced to dress in the presence of male guards who were masked. Another case included a mother who was also separated from her newborn daughter for nearly 32 hours while being denied access to a lawyer. In addendum to that, there was also a complaint including a 17-year-old boy who had injuries on his wrist for being handcuffed for more than eight hours along with a seven-year-old was transferred between detention centers. Out of 14 such complaints, the Australian Human Rights Watch had found a violation of human rights in 11 of them.
'Care for people in detention'
According to Croucher, it is the duty of the Department of Home Affairs to take care of the people in immigration detention. Moreover, force should only be used as a “last resort” wherein the given situation there are no more alternatives like negotiation and de-escalation techniques. The 130-page report by the Human Rights Commission has also found cases of bodyworn cameras along with the use of force over a man with mental illness and has no history of aggressiveness.
Updated 19:19 IST, October 23rd 2019