Category: Human Rights

Pirate Party disturbed by Manning conviction

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Pirate Party Australia finds the guilty verdicts handed down in the case of prominent whistleblower, US Pfc Bradley Manning, to be deeply disturbing. Fortunately for the former US Army Private, Mr Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, a bittersweet victory for both himself and journalistic integrity[1].

Mr Manning provided a wealth of classified material, including the infamous ‘Collateral Murder’ video portraying the murder of 11 unarmed civilians in Baghdad, including two Reuters’ journalists, in 2007[2]. The release of this video, among other material, elevated WikiLeaks from relative obscurity to one of the most well known and controversal journalistic organisations in the world today.

Pirate Party Australia is of the opinion that, in light of the war crimes exposed, the revelations of government corruption, and the evidence of a deliberate, systematic misinformation campaign targeted at the public, Bradley Manning should have been acquitted of all charges. Mr Manning has been held in conditions that have been publicly condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for three years before finally being sentenced. His treatment has been described by the Rapporteur as “cruel, inhuman and degrading” and prejudicial to the presumption of innocence[3].

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Pirate Party unveils asylum seeker policy

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Pirate Party Australia is pleased to announce its policy on asylum seekers that calls on all members of the region to share responsibility for the handling of refugees. The policy incorporates advice from leading experts including the Refugee Council of Australia and Julian Burnside, QC[1] and represents Pirate Party Australia’s commitment to evidence-based policies.

The policy was proposed at the National Congress this year, and its passing was almost directly followed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ condemnation of the Rudd Government’s plan for settling asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea[2].

Under the Pirate Party’s policy, Australia would lead a capacity building initiative to upgrade facilities across the region, encourage regional partners to sign the refugee convention, and create a shared processing arrangement. Asylum seekers arriving anywhere in the region will be subject to a single process, removing specific incentives to risk travelling all the way to Australia. A transparent allocation process would ensure each nation takes on a share of asylum seekers, reducing disputes and allowing information to be pooled.

“We currently spend over $1 billion annually on detention facilities, which could be diverted into actually solving the issue and making our region take collective responsibility for asylum seekers,” said Joe Miles, lead Victorian Senate candidate. “The hardline stance recently taken by the Australian Labor Party fails to take any responsibility for the root causes — people are seeking asylum here because we were one of the few countries accepting refugees. Settlement in Papua New Guinea, a nation with a crime rate so high that the Australian Government itself warns travellers, a nation that refuses to legalise homosexuality, is not a solution.”[3][4][5]

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