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	Australian governments have an opportunity to turn the tide on inequality by Shahleena Musk Human Rights Law Centre, agencies   Australian governments must work together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations to address one of the most significant human rights issues in Australia – the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A new report by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) outlines clear steps that governments must take to fix inequality and discrimination in the justice system.   Shahleena Musk, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that there must be cultural transformation of our criminal justice systems, and that Australian governments should do away with laws that discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.   "A person’s background should never impair their freedom or dictate how they are treated in our society. Prime Minister Turnbull and leaders around Australia should today commit to implementing the report’s recommendations, and once and for all end the harm caused by the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples," said Ms Musk.   The ALRC inquiry was called by the former Attorney General, George Brandis, to provide solutions to the ''national tragedy'' of the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ across Australia. The ALRC examined ''laws, frameworks and institutions and broader factors that contribute to this tragedy''.   Ms Musk said that the ALRC report demonstrates that our criminal justice systems are out of balance and weighted far too heavily towards locking people up.   "Right now men, women and children are being hurt by an unfair justice system – mothers are being separated from their families and communities are being torn apart by a short sighted culture of locking people up. The ALRC report lays out a clear path towards fairer and justice systems, our politicians just need the resolve to walk it," said Ms Musk.   The ALRC report made 35 comprehensive recommendations, including to: abolish mandatory sentencing; stop imprisoning people for unpaid fines; set criminal justice targets, federally and in every state and territory; fix bail and sentencing laws so that a person’s cultural experience can be taken into account; and increase access to culturally appropriate community based alternatives.   Ms Musk said that many of the recommendations can be implemented immediately.   "There is no room for mandatory sentencing in a modern and fair justice system. Every single government in Australia can today choose to cut the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being forced into prison by wiping these unfair laws from their statute books," said Ms Musk.   "Four years ago, Ms Dhu, a young Yamatji woman, died in police custody because she couldn’t pay some fines. Today, politicians continue to put peoples’ lives at risk by misusing prisons and unnecessarily locking up vulnerable people. Nobody should be locked up simply because they are poor," said Ms Musk.   The Human Rights Law Centre made a submission to the ALRC inquiry, which focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the criminal justice system. Women’s imprisonment rates across Australia have soared in recent years – governments are locking up Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women at 21 times the rate of non-Indigenous women. The majority are survivors of family and sexual violence and 80% are mothers.   "Governments around Australia continue to make decisions that are seeing vulnerable women imprisoned instead of given a helping hand. This is leading to profound upheaval – broken families, children moved into child protection, and the loss of housing and employment. We should be offering women support in the community, not locking them away in dead-end jails," said Ms Musk. https://bit.ly/2K6c9zL   http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/i-know-our-criminal-justice-system-inside-out-and-it-is-being-misused Visit the related web page
	Ideals and values that inspired creation of International Criminal Court still hold true by Adama Dieng Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide   The setting up of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a “reckoning” for those who had long disregarded the lives and dignity of their people, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide has said and warned that withdrawing from the tribunal could have grave implications for victims seeking redress for serious human rights violations.   “The establishment of the Court signified a global commitment to protect victims, when national judicial mechanisms lacked the capacity, willingness or jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes,” wrote Special Adviser Adama Dieng in an opinion piece published in The East African.   Since the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, more than half of the world’s States have joined the Court, 34 among them are African nations – the biggest regional block to date . In July this year, the Court’s founding Statue will mark the 15th anniversary of its entry into force.   Highlighting the significance of the Court, Mr. Dieng said that the fact that most of the cases in the continent were submitted by African States themselves, reaffirming their belief that it would strengthen the rule of law and respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the African people.   However, he added that despite the ICC’s achievements, it is increasingly coming under threat, with recent announcements by Burundi, South Africa and the Gambia to withdraw from the Rome Statute.   “Other States have threatened to do so, if certain conditions are not met,” he wrote, noting that key among the concerns raised by these countries included the “lack of fairness in the prosecution decisions of the Court, perceived by some to disproportionately target African leaders.”   Noting the need for a candid conversation between all stakeholders, in particular member States and the Court to identify and address legitimate concerns, he said: “Doing this will enhance mutual trust and cooperation and strengthen the capability of the Court to fulfil its mandate.”   But, he added that the States that want to withdraw from the Rome Statute have made little, if any, effort to present their grievances through the established forums, such as the Assembly of States Parties – the management oversight and legislative body of the Court, composed of representatives of the States that have ratified and acceded to the Rome Statute.   “To have done so would have presented an opportunity to have an open and frank dialogue, and discuss how to make the Court a better institution, one that is capable of responding effectively to the challenges it was established to address,” he emphasized, and “engaging and advocating for reforms should serve the interests of all stakeholders of the Court.”   Drawing attention to the ongoing atrocities in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan and in other parts of the world, he underlined that the time is not right to abandon the Court.   “Rather, States and non-State members should reaffirm their commitment to strengthen the Rome Statute and ensure accountability for these horrendous crimes,” Mr. Dieng said, appealing urging for them to work collectively to ensure the Court can effectively administer international criminal justice without fear or favour, contribute to the fight against impunity, and promote respect for the rule of law and human rights.   “As someone who witnessed first-hand the horrors in Rwanda, the Former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and elsewhere, and who has been closely involved in the delivery of international justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, I know too well the consequences when the international community undermines the efforts of international justice,” he said.   “We owe it to the victims of these horrendous crimes to strengthen rather than undermine the International Criminal Court, and to reaffirm our commitment to the Rome Statute to ‘put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus contribute to their prevention’.”   http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/ http://www.dw.com/en/fatou-bensouda-critics-dont-understand-the-icc/a-38372198 Visit the related web page
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