Call for the NT to commit to anti-torture obligations by January deadline

Human rights organisations have called on the NT government to honour its international ‘anti-torture’ obligations to Territorians in detention ahead of an impending deadline.

HUMAN rights organisations have called on the NT government to honour its international “anti-torture” obligations to Territorians in detention ahead of an impending deadline.

Under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which was ratified by Australia in 2017, each state and territory is required to have designated a “national preventive mechanism” for oversight of police and prison/youth detention cells.

But in a letter to Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Attorney-General Selena Uibo, Indigenous-led social justice coalition Change the Record warned the NTG was yet to explain how it intended to meet a January 2022 deadline for the work.

“To date, the Northern Territory government has not given a clear public indication of how it will meet this deadline to ensure that the rights of all people in places of detention in the Northern Territory are treated in accordance with OPCAT, and have their human rights protected,” the letter reads.

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Human Rights Law Centre legal director Meena Singh said the time was “long overdue for greater oversight and transparency” for all places of detention.

“Abuse thrives behind closed doors,” she said.

“It is vital that governments across Australia implement the UN’s anti-torture protocol – OPCAT – as a matter of priority and in advance of the upcoming January 2022 deadline.”

Ms Singh said it was “unacceptable” such little progress had been made in establishing and resourcing independent monitoring and oversight of lockups throughout the nation.

“We must shine a light on human rights abuses in prisons and police cells so we can end the use of cruel and degrading practices – like routine strip searching and solitary confinement – once and for all,” she said.

It comes after the Territory government agreed to settle a class action brought by up to 1200 former Don Dale and Alice Springs youth detention centre detainees with a $35m payout last month.

So far, Western Australia is the only Australian jurisdiction to have established an OPCAT national preventive mechanism for oversight of its prisons.

The NT government was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline on Tuesday.

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