Detention center service providers
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2016-020-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2016
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: -25.274398
Longitude: 133.775136
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Australia
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 25 September 2015
- Type of record
- Preemptive statement made to ensure no reprisals will occur
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Migrants’/refugees’/IDP’s rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, following a series of discussions with the Government, announced the postponement of his official visit to Australia owing to protection concerns
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- 2016
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Reprisal information
had not received a written guarantee that no one cooperating with his mandate would be at risk of intimidation or reprisal in the form of sanctions under the 2015 Border Force Act, which stipulates that detention centre service providers who disclose protected information can be sentenced to two years in prison. The Special Rapporteur stressed that the perceived threat of reprisals against persons who would want to cooperate with him in relation to his official visit would be unacceptable.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- Yes
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
Following the postponement of the country visit, the Special Rapporteur and the Government of Australia continued to engage in dialogue, which resulted in written assurances provided to the Special Rapporteur in December 2015 and the agreement to conduct the visit to Australia in November 2016.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0