An alliance of civil society and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, along with reintegration service providers, lawyers and academics endorsed a joint submission to the Australian Senate Select Committee on COVID-19.
The submission states that the pandemic presents an opportunity to rethink detention and sentencing policies generally, and to fully implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) regarding best practice in oversight and transparency of places of detention.
The Federal Government must take immediate steps to meet its international human rights obligations, and its obligation to stop the spread of COVID-19 through places of detention and the broader community, by adopting human rights-compliant preventative measures.
Joint submission to the Australian Senate Select Committee on COVID-19.
You can read the joint submission, which includes six recommendations here.
