Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Australian government's responses to the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas.
Over the years, Human Rights Watch's Australia office has been in contact with Australians arbitrarily detained in Cambodia, China, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as family members, legal representatives, diplomats, and former government officials. We have interviewed people about their experiences post-detention. We write this submission drawing on these experiences and recognising every case is unique and there is no "one size fits all approach" to solving the problem of arbitrary detention of foreign citizens abroad.
Oppressive governments wrongfully or arbitrarily detain Australian citizens, both historically and currently. Foreign governments have detained Australians on fabricated or unsubstantiated charges, denied them due process rights, and used them as political bargaining chips. They have held them in poor conditions with limited access to visits from lawyers, family and friends, and limited consular representation. If, and when, they are released it is often after significant public campaigning and high-level Australian government intervention in their cases.
This submission looks at:
- classification as consular cases not political cases;
- the role of public and private diplomacy;
- the need for a centralised, consistent approach; and
- recommendations to the Australian government.
While this submission focuses on Australians detained overseas, the same oppressive governments often arbitrarily arrest and detain their own citizens. Their conditions can often be even worse as they do not have regular foreign government oversight in trying to defend their rights.
Consular versus political
Cases of wrongful detention should be treated differently from regular consular cases when an Australian citizen is detained on allegations of committing a common (non-political) crime. First, those wrongfully detained often do not get the support they need because either what they need is beyond the scope of consular services, or because their cases are not immediately identified as wrongful detention. Second, government advocacy becomes fragmented and the government risks missing opportunities to use political leverage.
Consular support
To date, the Australian government has largely treated instances of Australians wrongfully detained overseas as consular cases. The consular services charter
