Economic and Social Council
Commission on Human Rights
61st Session
14 March – 22 April 2005
Item 6: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination
Oral Statement by Les Malezer, Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action
Mr Chairperson
Many members of the Commission will already be aware that on three occasions in 1999 and 2000 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) found that Australia was in breach of the race discrimination Convention, because it enacted legislation which extinguished or otherwise impaired traditional Aboriginal title to land.
The Government of Australia misled the Australian public when it told them CERD was out of order, some members of CERD were from despotic countries, and that the UN treaty body system was to be reviewed at Australia’s request.
The Australian Government did not appear again before the Committee until two weeks ago, four years late for their appointment.
CERD again confirmed in its Concluding Observations that the native title laws are racially discriminatory. It went further to express concern that the legal system, relying upon the discriminatory laws, was making it impossible for Aboriginal people to prove traditional title to land.
The Committee expressed concern in other areas, including the fact that Australia did not have an entrenched guarantee against racial discrimination.
The Committee also was alarmed by the pending abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, now abolished and which ends the elected representation of the Indigenous Peoples throughout Australia. We have referred this matter to the Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders.
Mr Chairperson
In the brief time available I will not elaborate further on the extent of Australia’s hostile and racist attacks on the Aboriginal peoples.
The Durban Declaration urged States to apply, in concert with Indigenous Peoples, constitutional, administrative, legislative, judicial and all necessary measures to promote, protect and ensure the enjoyment by indigenous peoples of their rights, as well as to guarantee Indigenous Peoples the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of equality, non-discrimination and full and free participation in all areas of society.
In December 2004 the General Assembly approved the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, from 1 January 2005, to further strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous peoples.
In concert with these positions we would like to see strong words of commitment from this session of the Commission on Human Rights to target those States, such as Australia, which continue overt acts of racial discrimination against Indigenous Peoples. This is not about developing new standards. It is not about further investigations. It is about condemnation by the Commission of overt racial discrimination and the offending States.
We note out that CHR Resolution 2004/62 (Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples) goes no further than to request Governments to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur, and to ratify ILO Convention 169.
We therefore humbly request that this session of the Commission will give particular attention to these most blatant violations of the rights of the Indigenous Peoples under existing human rights treaties.
Thank you, Mr Chairperson