STATEMENTS
12 December 2024
Joint statement
Calling on the Australian Government to Implement in Full the Recommendations of the Senate FADT Enquiry into the Wrongful Detention of Australian Citizens Overseas
We, the organisations and individuals undersigned, offer our full support for the Senate FADT Committee’s report into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens abroad.
We acknowledge the complex and challenging work that DFAT’s consular and diplomatic staff conduct on a daily basis to provide assistance to Australians incarcerated abroad and to negotiate for the release of Australians whose detentions are perceived as unjust. DFAT and the Australian government have achieved success in a number of cases which have seen wrongfully detained Australians freed and returned to Australia, for which they deserve gratitude and praise.
We remain however in agreement with the FADT Committee’s characterisation that the Australian government’s current processes for identifying and resolving wrongful detention cases, including those involving ‘hostage diplomacy,’ offer ample scope for improvement.
We therefore call collectively on the Australian government to commit to implementing all 18 of the Enquiry’s recommendations in full.
Signed,
Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, former Iran detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Prof. Sean Turnell, former Myanmar detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Cheng Lei, former China detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Prof. Peter Greste, former Egypt detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Dr Kay Danes OAM, former Laos detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Luke Cook, former Thailand detainee, AWADA member, Enquiry participant
Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi, Mongolia detainee, Enquiry participant
Mohammed Arif Munshi, private citizen, Enquiry participant
Desree Pether, wife of Iraq detainee Robert Pether, Enquiry participant
Michael Kovrig, former China detainee, Founder & Executive Director StrategicEffects, Enquiry participant
Peyman Jebeli, AWADA member, son of Shokrollah Jebeli, an Australian who died in an Iranian prison
Jason Ian Poblete, Lawyer and President of the Global Liberty Alliance, Enquiry participant
Geoffrey Robertson AO KC, Doughty Street Chambers, Enquiry participant
Peter Humphrey, former China detainee, Harvard University Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Enquiry participant
Sarah Teich, Senior Fellow Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Enquiry participant
Alison Battisson, Human Rights For All and Heretic Law, AWADA advisory committee member, Enquiry participant
Dr Dara Conduit, AWADA advisory committee member
Sara Kowal, AWADA advisory committee member
Elizabeth Wood, CEO Capital Punishment Justice Project, Enquiry participant
Dr Rana Dadpour, Director AUSIRAN, Enquiry participant
Marie Ryan and Craig Andrews, Alliance Against Political Prosecutions, Enquiry participants
Prof. Carla Ferstman, University of Essex Law School and Human Rights Centre, Enquiry participant
Justin Bassi and Dr John Coyne, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Enquiry participants
Janindu (Chith) Weliamuna, ANU Law Reform and Social Justice Research Hub, Enquiry participant
Nizar Zakka, former Iran hostage, President of Hostage Aid Worldwide
Carole Chedid, Hostage Aid Worldwide
Daren Nair, Host of Pod Hostage Diplomacy, Enquiry participant
Thomas Simpson, private citizen, Enquiry participant
Lisa Brandt, private citizen, Enquiry participant
REDRESS, Enquiry participant
Human Rights Watch, Enquiry participant
Amnesty International, Enquiry participant
Human Rights Action Group
29 November 2024
on the release of the report of the senate enquiry into the wrongful detention of Australians overseas
AWADA members offer their firm support for the Senate FADT Committee’s report into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens abroad. We pay tribute to the dedication of the Senate Committee members who devoted considerable time, care and attention to reading the submissions we made as a collective, and in our individual capacity as victims, and to hearing our testimony across several days of this Enquiry.
We acknowledge the complex and challenging work that DFAT consular and diplomatic staff conduct on a daily basis to provide assistance to Australians incarcerated abroad and to negotiate for the release of Australians whose detentions are perceived as unjust. DFAT and the Australian government have achieved success in a number of cases which have seen wrongfully detained Australians freed and returned to Australia, including those involving many of our own members.
We remain however in full agreement with the FADT Committee’s characterisation that the Australian government’s current processes for identifying and resolving wrongful detention cases, including those involving ‘hostage diplomacy,’ offer ample scope for improvement.
We were especially heartened to see that the Committee has broadly agreed with all of the recommendations AWADA made in its institutional submission to the enquiry. In particular, we would like to highlight the urgent need for the appointment of a standalone wrongful detention envoy who is senior in rank, has expertise in this particular area and is not subject to diplomatic rotation. We urge the government to ensure that this role is speedily appointed and adequately resourced.
We also welcome the Committee’s extensive deliberation on the need to clearly define the phenomenon of wrongful detention (or other preferred term) and to develop a set of criteria for case determination. We hope that once suitable criteria are adopted, DFAT will apply them via a review of all current consular cases.
We also call on the Australian parliament to legislate a ‘Foreign Hostage-Takers Accountability Act’ or similar, modelled on the relevant US and Canadian legislation, to achieve justice and redress for victims and provide the government with the necessary tools to deter future acts of hostage diplomacy.
AWADA urges the Australian government to commit to implementing all 18 recommendations in full.
PDF of statement available here
26 September 2024
on the arrest of Australian Cigdem ‘Lenna’ Aslan
AWADA members would like to express our grave concern for the welfare of Kurdish-Australian healthcare worker Cigdem Aslan, known as Lenna, who was arrested by Turkish intelligence authorities at Istanbul airport last week.
We urge the Australian government to immediately involve itself at the highest possible levels to protect Ms. Aslan from the very real risk that she may be subject to torture in custody.
We are concerned that Ms. Aslan’s arrest appears to be politically-motivated. Noting that there is an initial window of time within which strong pressure from government might resolve a case quickly before it is formalised within the arresting country’s judicial system, we urge the Australian government to undertake urgent political outreach to the Turkish authorities to ensure that Ms. Aslan does not become another Australian victim of wrongful detention.
25 June 2024
Australian senate enquiry into the wrongful detention of Australians overseas
Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance members are very excited to announce that we have been successful in our efforts to see the establishment of an Australian Senate enquiry into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas, including ‘hostage diplomacy.’
The enquiry will look into how Australia identifies and manages cases of wrongful detention, support for families, repatriation and post-detention care, and Australia’s broader policies toward states which engage in 'hostage diplomacy,' including deterrence and disincentivisation.
To view the enquiry’s terms of reference or to make a submission see: here
The deadline for submissions is 30th August 2024.
If you are a victim of wrongful detention and would like advice or assistance with making a submission please do not hesitate to reach out via AWADA’s contact form.
15 June 2024
The visit of chinese premier li qiang to australia
AWADA urges Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong not to forget the plight of Australian citizens wrongfully detained in China and Hong Kong when they welcome Premier Li to Australia this week.
Australian academic, writer and businessman Dr Yang Hengjun has been detained in China since 2019. In February 2024 Dr Yang received a two-year suspended death sentence in a closed-door trial which Australian consular staff were prevented from attending. It is vital that the Australian government communicate to Premier Li that Australia will under no circumstances tolerate the execution of one of our citizens, and that if Yang’s sentence should be carried out there would be serious consequences for the bilateral relationship between our two countries.
We similarly urge the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to raise the case of Gordon Ng, an Australian citizen who has been convicted in Hong Kong for supporting the pro-democracy movement in the China-controlled territory. As Gordon awaits sentencing, we trust that Australian officials will make clear to both Beijing and the Hong Kong government that Australia is taking a keen interest in his case.
AWADA members call for the unconditional release of both men.
7 April 2024
The 3rd anniversary of Robert Pether’s wrongful detention in Iraq
AWADA members would like to express their grave concern for the welfare of Australian engineer Robert Pether, who has reached the grim milestone of three years of wrongful detention in Iraq.
For Robert, these have been three long years of psychological and physical deprivation, and three long years of painful isolation from his loving wife and three children.
No innocent person should have to suffer the torment of having their liberty taken from them, and no family should be put through the unbearable trauma of forced estrangement.
AWADA members urge the Government of Iraq to accept the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has determined that Robert is arbitrarily detained.
We call on the Australian, Irish and Iraqi governments to do all that they can to secure Robert Pether’s freedom.
