Woomera 'breaches' children's rights
The Age
By KERRY TAYLOR
CANBERRA
Thursday 7 February 2002
Australia had breached the international rights of children by holding them in a "culture of despair" at Woomera, the nation's human rights watchdog said yesterday.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission called the Federal Government to account as Prime Minister John Howard played down the need for a United Nations inspection of the troubled Woomera detention centre, saying Australia was meeting its international obligations.
The Howard Government-appointed human rights commissioner Sev Ozdowski called for a rethink of the policy of holding children in detention centres.
"We as a nation need to look very seriously about how we can do it better. There must be a better way," Dr Ozdowski said.
There was a "miasma of despair and desperation" at Woomera which was psychologically scarring children, some of whom had slashed themselves and threatened to commit suicide, he said.
Dr Ozdowski said nine children had been at Woomera for more than a year and 70 for more than six months, even though children should only be detained as a last resort and for a limited time under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory.
He urged Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock to immediately rectify breaches of the convention after receiving a detailed report from two commission officers who visited Woomera at the height of last month's 16-day hunger strike.
The officers - who spent five days at the centre - found children were exposed to a high level of violence and were denied basic levels of education.
They found 24 children had harmed themselves, including one who slashed the word "freedom" on to his forearm and another who tried to hang himself.
A 12-year-old girl told the officers: "I am getting crazy, I cut my hand. I can't talk to my mother. I can't talk to anyone and I'm very tired. There is no solution for me - I just have to commit suicide - there is no choice."
A 16-year-old boy said: "Some of us, we not have anyone in here. What can we do except kill ourselves?"
The length of time asylum seekers spent in detention centres was of major concern, Dr Ozdowski said. Families who spent more than six months in detention became dysfunctional, he said.
Last night, Mr Ruddock hit back, saying the commission had produced a "coloured report" which had the aim of winding back mandatory detention of asylum seekers.
Australia was not in breach of the convention on the rights of the child and the commission had "beefed up" its conclusions to support its view against mandatory detention, Mr Ruddock said.
The commission said it found no evidence of parents encouraging children to engage in acts of self-harm, but Mr Ruddock's office said there had been cases of children whose lips were sewn together by adults.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson wants to send a personal envoy to inspect Woomera because of growing human rights concerns.
But Mr Howard and Mr Ruddock both refused to guarantee access to the centre yesterday, claiming Australia was well and truly meeting its convention obligations.
"UN committees have frequently asked questions and from time to time people have come to Australia," Mr Howard told ABC radio.
"I am not particularly bowled over by a request from Mary Robinson."
Dr Ozdowski said he had no problems with the UN sending an envoy and claimed the authors of the government's current policy on asylum seekers would be rejected by future generations.
Meanwhile the Immigration Department yesterday confirmed one detainee at Woomera had been given medical treatment after swallowing shampoo.
During last month's 16-day hunger strike, many detainees sewed their lips together in protest over their treatment and delays in the processing of their applications for asylum.