Would you have me argue that all human beings are equal?
Frederick Douglass was a remarkable worker for human rights. Although he lived more than a century ago, his thoughts remain pressingly relevant. He began life as …
human rights
The work on this site seeks to learn from the human rights struggles of the past. How was legal slavery abolished? How has the emancipation of women been advanced? How did apartheid come to an end? Learning about these profound human rights achievements can help us better understand how to overcome human rights violations against non-citizens. It also reports on human rights issues of today as they impact on non-citizens.
Three reasons for Abandoning Mandatory Detention
A paper delivered at a roundtable on alternatives to detention held in Canberra, June 9 – 10, 2011 By Penelope Mathew Freilich Foundation Professor The …
Do Foreigners Have the Same Human Rights as the Rest of Us?
At the core of human rights is the axiomatic truth that human beings have inherent rights: that all human beings are equal and possessed of …
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Australia
As, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, today acknowledged there are a lot of human rights positives for Australia, but there were two issues …
Australia Ratify Now: Migrant Workers Convention
One by one the world has adopted the major human rights treaties. Early on the general ones: the ones that said everyone has human rights. Then the treaties …
Libya’s Migrant Slaves
Among the tragedies befalling the people of Libya, is the tragedy befalling its migrant workers. On 9 March the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that 30,000 …
Government should take lesson from Christmas Islanders
It appears from all reporting that what makes the tragedy that occurred on the morning of Wednesday 15 December, 2010 on the shoreline of Christmas …
Hometown Foreigners
We traditionally define a “foreigner” as someone who comes from a country other than our own. But that definition is too easy. It does not …
Book Review: The Strange Alchemy of Law and Life by Justice Albie Sachs
The victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses whisper from the pages of this short book. They speak to us of their struggle to realize …