Call to Free Child Detainees by Amnesty International The Age 6:16pm 1st Jul, 2003   July 1 2003. Sydney. Australia.    Activists from Amnesty International today marched on Prime Minister John Howard's Sydney home, demanding Australia immediately release child detainees being held on the Pacific island of Nauru.    Chairmen and directors from the rights group's Asian missions warned Australia was risking its reputation as a human rights leader by continuing to detain children.    Their rally today at Mr Howard's Kirribilli residence followed a recent Family Court ruling that the detention of children in immigration centres in Australia was unlawful.    Amnesty's 13 Asia Pacific leaders gathered at the gates to sign a joint letter demanding the release of 112 children detained on Nauru.    The group included representatives from South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and New Zealand.    Amnesty's chairman for Australia Russell Thirgood said while the court ruling was welcomed, it was of no use to the children on Nauru as it didn't extend to territories outside Australia.    "Amnesty International welcomes the decision of the Family Court last week recognising that children should not be detained," Mr Thirgood told reporters.    "Unfortunately, that decision and the Australian law will not apply to these kids (and) that is one of our grave concerns."    He called on Mr Howard to free the children so they could enjoy a "normal decent life". Mr Thirgood said his organisation had experienced constant difficulties accessing Nauru to properly assess the situation. "These kids have been out of sight, out of mind," he said.    "That is one of the big problems with Nauru. It is just very very difficult to get there. We have not been able to get there to assess those conditions."    Amnesty's director in Thailand Srirak Plipat said he was disappointed by Australia's asylum seeker detention policy. "We are very disappointed with the government's policy, especially now that the court has decided that the government should review its detention policy," Mr Srirat said.    Jessica Soto, representing the Philippines, said keeping children in detention was damaging Australia's human rights reputation.    "We look at the Australian government as one of the leaders in the protection of human rights, and if we see continued detention of children then of course it reflects the reality that the law is different from the practice," she said.    The Australian federal government has launched an appeal against the Family Court decision.    -By AAP. Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item