Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When the Senate rose in June, I was part way through remarks—and I think that Senator Coonan was here at the same time, so she gets to hear instalment No. 2—regarding serious human rights issues in a number of countries, both in our region and further afield. That evening, I raised concerns relating particularly to the welfare of the Assyrian people of Iraq. As I mentioned at that time, representatives of Australia’s Assyrian community had met with a number of colleagues in the parliament, through the parliament’s Assyrian friendship group, in June. I now note that representatives from the community will next week address a meeting of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which I chair and of which Maria Vamvakinou is the deputy chair.

There are very deliberate human rights violations that are both ruining and taking the lives of Assyrians in Iraq. They are obviously not the only human rights breaches that are occurring to a number of people in Iraq, but they are the ones on which I wish to concentrate this evening. Whether it is torture, kidnapping, extortion, harassment, bombings of their churches, the forcing of religious conversion, political disenfranchisement or the destruction of property, the whole range is being brought upon many of the Assyrian people in Iraq. Assyrians in Australia are justly concerned about the fate of their countrymen and countrywomen in that reconstruction process. I think it is important that we raise it and discuss it in this parliament.

I look forward to again meeting with members of that community under the auspices of the Human Rights Subcommittee next week and to the opportunities that our subcommittee and, indeed, this parliament can provide to advance human rights for all peoples in that country under the extraordinarily difficult process of rebuilding and reconstructing.

Since earlier this year, and specifically in relation to our own region, I have had very serious concerns about the fate of almost 30 ethnic Hmong in Laos—and that includes 22 children—who have been missing now for some months. They went missing in December last year. At the time, they were deemed illegal by Thai authorities. They were arrested while they were visiting a church from their refugee camp. They were deported across the river to Laos in December. There is a record of their names, their ages and their families. Unfortunately, Lao authorities deny that they have any information as to their condition and their whereabouts. Serious fears remain that the group, and the children in particular, may have been tortured.

I know that the Australian government, particularly via our ambassador in Vientiane, Alistair Maclean, has made serious representations to the Lao government. Concerned countries and organisations are pursuing all steps they can to confirm their whereabouts, their health and their safety and, where possible, hopefully, to return them to their families. It would be a very significant mark of the progress on human rights in Laos to see an open process of reconciliation with the Hmong people, most particularly because there have been recent reports of surrenders amongst rebels in the Hmong community. UN officials, diplomats and aid agencies are fairly routinely denied access to many of these people.

In April this year I raised a matter in estimates concerning reports of a massacre by Lao soldiers of unarmed Hmong. I think those reports bear further examination. They do point to a trend of very strong reactions by government to the Hmong community in that country. That massacre together with reports of other deadly attacks by government forces and concern about the alleged arbitrary detention of children deepen concerns for this particular ethnic minority. They have groups who are living in hiding, some of whom are reportedly surrounded by Lao army units and in desperate circumstances. They are struggling to find food and have little access to medical care. I would hope that there can be in the near future a more open process of reconciliation with the Hmong which will assist Laos in particular in moving forward as a strong member of the South-East Asian community of nations and which will address some of these key human rights issues.

In a completely different part of the world and in a very different context, I also want to make some comments tonight about work in another parliament on human rights. I refer to the development of the British Conservative Party Human Rights Commission in the United Kingdom. In October last year, a British Conservative Party MP, Dr Liam Fox, announced the establishment of that commission. This is a major Centre Right political party, the British Conservatives, taking a very positive and entirely appropriate position on the key issue of human rights.

The reports of the commission are very interesting reading. They say quite clearly that in establishing the commission they recognise and acknowledge that self-determination, freedom and the rule of law should be at the core of responsible foreign policy for every political party in every state of the free world. That is an admirable aim and a very important objective. That is not just about altruism on the part of developed nations. Hopefully, it is about doing housekeeping in our own world—in our own nations and in our own parliaments—where it is appropriate. It is also a recognition that the fostering of freedom abroad will be much easier to do if we are genuinely protecting freedom at home. It is not only in our own interests; it is in the interests of humanity to both oversee and assist in the promotion and the protection of human rights around the world.

A globe that protects the interests of its citizens has greater security, improved economic opportunity and a much better prospect for international cooperation. Dr Fox and his successor as shadow foreign secretary, Sir William Hague, have realised this in the creation of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, which is chaired by Gary Streeter MP. Over the coming months their aim is for the commission to hold a series of hearings on different countries and themes. Their process is to gather evidence, to produce reports, to ask questions in parliament and to develop ideas on how a future Conservative government can put the promotion of democracy, freedom and human rights at the heart of its foreign policy.

In my reading, I found that they had their first hearings quite recently on Burma. In my earlier remarks on the subject of human rights, I referred to Burma in this place as well. Can I restate in that case—and it is timely to do it this week, given the anniversaries that we mark in relation to oppression in Burma—that Burma is a nation which is ruled by an illegal military junta; that a million people are internally displaced; that it is regular, not unusual, for reports to be received of systematic violence and sexual abuse against women, in particular by members of the armed forces; that thousands of villages and communities have been destroyed by authorities; that the HIV-AIDS epidemic in Burma is described by USAID and UNAIDS as one of the most serious in Asia; and that children are routinely and forcibly conscripted as soldiers and slaves.

The work that this parliament does in relation to Burma and that this government does in relation to continuing to remind the regime in Rangoon of our views is very important, as is the work of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission in their endeavours to hold the military of Burma to account. I particularly commend Sir William Hague and the Conservative Party in the pursuit of that goal.

I spent a few days last week attending the 11th annual general meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions and a number of other meetings held in conjunction with that particular forum. It is the largest annual human rights event in our region. It has representatives from national human rights institutions, governments, NGOs and international organisations in attendance. This particular meeting was held in Suva under the auspices of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, which, I must say, is one of the most active and dynamic organisations that I have seen working in human rights in this region. It is a very impressive organisation.

Australia is represented around that table by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The president of the commission, John von Doussa, put a significant amount of time and effort into his attendance and participation in the forum. I commend HREOC for that. One of the bonuses and great opportunities of this particular gathering was the chance to see people like Dr Sima Samar, who is chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. She is also a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan. When you compare the role of the chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission with the role of the chair of the Australian human rights commission, not belittling either or aggrandising either, you will see the extraordinary challenge that faces the world. (Time expired)