Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission: Annual Report 2002 - 2003
Chapter 9: International Activities
In 2002–03, as in past years, the Commission participated in some bilateral international program activities, generally as part of the Australian Government’s development cooperation program developed by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).
The Commission’s international program role arises due to the expertise the Commission has developed in pursuit of its domestic mandate. The Commission also holds the belief that the strengthening of human rights protection and development everywhere ensures the enhancement of human rights activities and awareness anywhere, including Australia. In some cases regional countries wish to access this expertise in pursuit of their own human rights objectives, while in other cases the Australian Government wishes to use the expertise in pursuit of its development cooperation objectives. To respond to all requests for program activities could potentially distract the Commission from its primary domestic mandate. It therefore participates only when a number of pre-requisites are satisfied, including: all of the Commission’s costs are met; the program is clearly capable of achieving its goals, and; it does not detract in any way from the Commission’s domestic work.
China
The Commission’s most substantial international program involvement is with the China-Australia Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program (HRTC), which is an integral part of the annual Dialogue on Human Rights with China. The Commission participated in this year’s Dialogue meetings held in Canberra on 13–14 August 2002.
The HRTC program encompasses three principal themes: protection of the rights of women and children, protection of ethnic minority rights, and; reform of the legal system. Each year HRTC undertakes a series of activities intended to assist China to promote and protect human rights. In 2002–03, the program included providing scholarships for Chinese officials to study human rights in Australia and workshops on subjects such as measures to combat trafficking in women and children. The Commission has hosted visits to Australia by Chinese officials working in areas relevant to human rights protection to work with their Australian counterparts. This has included Chinese judges, officials of the prison system and officials involved in development of educational policies for minority groups. The project supported the translation into Chinese and subsequent publication of four seminal texts dealing with mass communication and the right to freedom of expression.
The 2002–03 HRTC was affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which resulted in some activities being postponed at the request of the Chinese authorities. Those activities, which involve workshops with Chinese judges and prosecutors, have since been re-scheduled to later in 2003.
The program has had an immediate impact on the formulation of administrative procedures. In the longer term the program aims to have an impact through increasing the level of knowledge of human rights concepts, with a resultant impact on the formulation of Chinese policies and practices. The program therefore seeks to work with the Chinese authorities to demonstrate the value of institutionalising the regard for human rights and to then work with those authorities to formulate and implement practical strategies to realise that value.
Indonesia
During 2002–03 the Commission continued to work with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, commonly known as Komnas HAM), although the formal program of cooperation concluded in May 2002.
The Commission hosted a visit by the newly-appointed Secretary-General of Komnas HAM in December 2002. In June 2003, Commission staff visited Jakarta to provide input into the development of Komnas HAM’s long-term cooperation plan.
South Africa
The Commission continued its assistance to the South African Commission on Gender Equality. This year’s program focused mainly on initiatives to strengthen the organisation’s capacity to manage sex discrimination complaints and undertake policy development work on sex discrimination issues.
Vietnam
The Commission participated in the second session of the annual Australia-Vietnam Dialogue on International Organisations and Legal Issues, held in Canberra on 27 June 2003. The Dialogue included discussion of human rights issues. As part of the Dialogue, the Commission hosted a study visit by officials of the Government of Vietnam on 29 June – 4 July 2003. The study visit examined Australian systems for the protection of human rights and their relevance to Vietnamese priorities and explored options for a longer term program of technical cooperation.
Iran
The Commission participated in the inaugural session of the Iran-Australia Human Rights Dialogue, held in Tehran on 8–10 December 2002. As part of the Dialogue, the Commission will host a visit to Australia on 9–17 August 2003 by officials of the Islamic Human Rights Commission of Iran.
Other countries
The Commission has worked with other countries on a small scale, generally in the technical areas of human rights protection. For instance, officials of the Commission have worked with the Government of Uganda to develop its capacity to conduct national human rights inquiries and with the Government of Indonesia to develop its capacity to implement ILO Convention 111 (guaranteeing equality in employment).
In addition to these bilateral programs, during 2002–03 the Commission participated in the preparatory stages of a project of regional cooperation to prevent trafficking in people, involving a number of countries in South East Asia. The initial stages included a consultation and design visit by the project team to countries in the region.
