Australia: Strengthen global advocacy against the death penalty

(Sydney) Australia The government should step up its global advocacy for abolition of the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report submit Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT), which is currently reviewing Australia’s international engagement in the promotion of abolition of the death penalty.

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is inherently cruel. 170 Many countries, including Australia, have abolished or imposed a moratorium on the death penalty, either in law or in practice.

“Australia has consistently spoken out against the death penalty at the United Nations, but the government has time and again missed opportunities to make strong public comments about certain countries.” Daniela Gafson“Governments need to be more vocal and put sustained political pressure on those that still use this horrific and globally condemned form of punishment.”

Most notably, the Australian government missed numerous opportunities to publicly express its concerns about the executions in Singapore. Singapore Authorities carry out most executions for drug crimes Over the past decade, include The first woman to be executed Over the past 20 years, the Singapore authorities implement On August 2 and August 7, 2024, two men were executed for drug trafficking, although their appeals had not yet been completed at the time of their scheduled executions.

Australia and Singapore Annual Leadership MeetingYet the issue of the death penalty was not raised publicly at these meetings, even though Singapore had carried out an execution just before the leaders’ summit.

The Australian Government should also update its 2018 Strategy for abolition of the death penalty This includes police cooperation in the context of government-to-government assistance and the death penalty. Currently, Australian police work with foreign police forces on drug trafficking cases, among other issues. This could have serious consequences if working with a country that executes people for drug offences. While the Australian Federal Police has an internal oversight board for “sensitive” investigations, there is no mandatory external and human rights oversight. Without this oversight, there is a serious risk that Australian police work with foreign police forces in a way that could result in someone being sentenced to death and executed.

“For an issue as serious as the death penalty, relying solely on internal oversight is not enough,” Gafson said. “Any police and government oversight committee in Australia should include at least one government human rights expert; the stakes are too high to risk getting it wrong.”