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UN halts anti-torture mission to Australia after inspectors barred from jails

anakaine 4y ago
Just ro be clear, this was one state of Australia, where the local conservative party is in power. It is only one of two states (out of 8) in Australia where this is the case. The minister who denied access is using the visit as a political football to claim the prisons are underfunded and therefore cannot be presented to the UN because it will look bad. So... he's being honest that the prisons are not up to UN standards then. It's a very shitty, hypocritical move given how much Aussies like to play holier than thou when it comes to these things.
- chris1993 4y ago
  Two states denied access. New South Wales (Liberal coalition government - conservative) and Queensland (Labor party government - conservative but very slightly more socially progressive). Both states have things to hide when it comes to their prison systems and their confinement and treatment of asylum seekers.
  - throwayyy479087 4y ago
    Aren’t these “asylum seekers” basically abusing the refugee system to improve their incomes though?
    - ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
      > Aren’t these “asylum seekers” basically abusing the refugee system to improve their incomes though? Totally irrelevant; Australia has signed a UN agreement on minimum standards of confinement, which applies to everyone.
      - throwayyy479087 4y ago
        How is that irrelevant? They're abusing the system, why should the system coddle them?
        ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
        Adhering to international norms isn't "coddling". I'm going to stop feeding the trolls now.
ROTMetro 4y ago
Can we get these tours in the USA? I lived in overcrowded prison housing that was only allowed on an emergency basis for for no more than 3 months at a time (because of the psychological damage it caused, it was built in the early 1900s to early 1900s standards but had more than twice the population is was designed for then) due to overcrowding for 1.5 years, with people having been there for up to 6 years. We had overhead lighting 24X7 which the Supreme Court has declared torture, and which the USA has agreed is torture in multiple international treaties. But you see, it was determined not torture at a later point if it was needed for safety reasons. Sure still felt like torture not getting decent sleep for 5 years even if due to exceptions it was not technically torture in that specific situation (didn't realize how situational torture is in the USA).
- voxic11 4y ago
  The USA isn't a party to the treaty under which they operate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Protocol_to_the_Convention_Against_Torture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Protocol_to_the_Conve...

Just ro be clear, this was one state of Australia, where the local conservative party is in power. It is only one of two states (out of 8) in Australia where this is the case. The minister who denied access is using the visit as a political football to claim the prisons are underfunded and therefore cannot be presented to the UN because it will look bad. So... he's being honest that the prisons are not up to UN standards then. It's a very shitty, hypocritical move given how much Aussies like to play holier than thou when it comes to these things.

chris1993 4y ago
Two states denied access. New South Wales (Liberal coalition government - conservative) and Queensland (Labor party government - conservative but very slightly more socially progressive). Both states have things to hide when it comes to their prison systems and their confinement and treatment of asylum seekers.
- throwayyy479087 4y ago
  Aren’t these “asylum seekers” basically abusing the refugee system to improve their incomes though?
  - ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
    > Aren’t these “asylum seekers” basically abusing the refugee system to improve their incomes though? Totally irrelevant; Australia has signed a UN agreement on minimum standards of confinement, which applies to everyone.
    - throwayyy479087 4y ago
      How is that irrelevant? They're abusing the system, why should the system coddle them?
      - ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
        Adhering to international norms isn't "coddling". I'm going to stop feeding the trolls now.

ROTMetro 4y ago

Can we get these tours in the USA? I lived in overcrowded prison housing that was only allowed on an emergency basis for for no more than 3 months at a time (because of the psychological damage it caused, it was built in the early 1900s to early 1900s standards but had more than twice the population is was designed for then) due to overcrowding for 1.5 years, with people having been there for up to 6 years. We had overhead lighting 24X7 which the Supreme Court has declared torture, and which the USA has agreed is torture in multiple international treaties. But you see, it was determined not torture at a later point if it was needed for safety reasons. Sure still felt like torture not getting decent sleep for 5 years even if due to exceptions it was not technically torture in that specific situation (didn't realize how situational torture is in the USA).

voxic11 4y ago
The USA isn't a party to the treaty under which they operate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Protocol_to_the_Convention_Against_Torture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Protocol_to_the_Conve...